THE IRON TRIBE: THE NEW CROSSFIT?

Cool name, right? I thought so, and just like wine bottles I like to try things based on names and look.

Not always the best idea, but hey, you know never.

Anyway, right now because of my traveling between Birmingham and Fort Rucker, I don't have any sort of gym membership. I can go for free on base while I'm there, and there's a small crappy gym in my hotel. It made me rather lonely, and was much hard to push myself. I missed the sense of community and friendships I made at Lincoln Park and Edgewater Crossfits in Chicago.

There's a lot of controversy out there right now about Crossfit, but to me, it's a tool in my box that helps me become a better triathlete and runner. I learned about lifting and strength training, and working with a group of people feeds into my competitive spirit and pushes me harder.

With a half-iron man pending next year, I found a gym and paid $150 for ten classes, intending to go twice a week on top of running and biking.

Like most Crossfit gyms, the people were great. I went to their Halloween party, and made several friends during the WODS. However while the coaches seem knowledgable about becoming a great power lifter, I didn't feel like they totally know what they are doing when it comes to important things like warming up, stretching, and strength endurance which makes me a little afraid of getting hurt.

 I was really disappointed because 1) I'd paid 150$ already 2) Being a giant muscle lady is not my focus 3) I had such a great experience in Chicago and was looking for something similar. So I tried an alternative: IRON TRIBE

They are a crossfit-esque gym that's franchising out across the country, and are already a house hold name in Alabama. Like Crossfit, they have WODS, work on strength and skill, and focus on shorter, more intense work outs and community. They say they don't cater to "performance" and rather it's about their clients (I still don't know what that means.) With the over all intensity dialed down, people seem less intimidated and seem more inclined to join if they aren't in great shape, which perhaps is what they are talking about.

POSITIVES:
- Always at least two coaches on the floor, making sure form is correct
- The WOD at every gym is the same, so no matter where you go it's consistent and you can compare to the entire country.
- When I pay for Iron Tribe, I can go to any one, any where.
- I can count on really great coaching at every gym. A good warm up, mobility, strength, stability and power.
- Like Crossfit, there's a big sense of community

NEGATIVES:
- $250/Month. Are you kidding me? No way.
- More focused on "community" means being open to a wider variety of people, which is good, but rather than just scaling a work out, they are kind of easy and I left feeling far too perky.
- While no one tried to make me buy, just talking to the owner made me feel like I was being brain washed.

TODAY'S WOD:

Strength
10-8-6-4-2 Snatch position dead lift

Work out:
10-8-6-4-2  Jumping squats with 35lb barbell, Chest to bar pull ups, explosive push ups (no clapping)


Iron Tribe seems to be spreading like wild fire down here, and it's probably a good choice for a lot of people. Keep a look out for it, and maybe try it for yourself.

 For me though, I decided to stick with my current situation and just be cautious. As I'm working on becoming a personal trainer, I think it will be a great exercise for me if I show up early and do my own warm up, and do post-work out stretching etc on my own.