Exercise Program Says 'Suck It Up, Buttercup'

Some local residents are leaving behind the world of the air-conditioned, we-have-a -machine-for-that, mocha double-latte-serving, TV-on-every-wall gym for something a little more basic, a little more hardcore.

It’s called Crossfit, an exercise program that until now has been the preserve of many law enforcement agencies and top athletes across the nation, as well as the military.

According to its founder, “Coach” Greg Glassman, Crossfit  “delivers a fitness that is, by design, broad, general, and inclusive,” he says in a statement on his website, www.crossfit.com.

“Our specialty is not specializing. Combat, survival, many sports, and life reward this kind of fitness and, on average, punish the specialist.”

In other words, every Crossfit workout aims to be well-rounded, giving the participant an even serving of aerobics and strength training.

In the New Tampa/University area, the closest gym that offers that experience is the Crossfit Sparta gym, located on the corners of Bearrs and Nebraska avenues.

The gym was started by the Ltief family, according to master trainer Jessica Ltief, 24.

“At first, we started it for just us, just for our family,” she said. “Then friends wanted to join and before you knew it we had an army.”

When you go there, the first thing you’ll notice is what the gym doesn’t have.

There are no bikes, rowing stations or any other “machines” in sight.

There are rings, mats, lift bars, weights and, perhaps its most important element, E.J. Diaz, a barrel -chested ex-S.W.A.T. trainer who will be happy to show you around.

As a business partner with the Ltiefs, Diaz has been training the Crossfit way since 2007, after discovering the program when he was in charge of physical training for the Tampa Police Department.

While he does say the “regular” gyms offer some benefits, he also said it’s just not going to do a body good in the long run.

“I just think the way a lot of those workouts are designed, it’s just about a lot of pretty muscle,” he said. “A lot of those machines are designed to make the movement a lot easier for you to do. You’re not using stabilizer muscles; you’re not using a lot of other parts of your body that are required to do those types of exercises.”

He added it’s the main reason why he sees a lot of seemingly fit people from those types of gyms have a difficult time at first, because they aren’t trained to use their muscles at such an intense level.

“It’s higher intensity for a lower duration,” he said. “So the philosophy is not about running on a treadmill for two hours at a slow pace.  Crossfit’s about working at a lot higher intensity, working as hard as you can for a shorter duration.”

A typical class at Crossfit Sparta consists of supervised warm ups, weights and a run, then the main workout. That’s it. Just about an hour, an hour and half, start to finish. People then usually move on to enjoy the rest of their day or evening. Crossfitters call their workouts the “W.O.D.” -- short for workout of the day.

On this day, Diaz was having the students do his “Sir Lunge Alot” work out, which consisted of a 400-meter lunge walk around the perimeter of the gym’s parking lot. Even though it was 90 degrees out, they all seemed to enjoy it, even if some were gasping for air by the end and collapsed in a heap afterwards on the gym floor.

Long time member Margie Jenkins, 62, from St. Petersberg, was one of those collapsing on the floor afterwards, but to her it was well worth it.

She recounts the first time she heard about Crossfit, and in particular Crossfit Sparta’s own version of Crossfit.

“I really wanted to try it, but I was afraid at first,” she said. “I thought they might think I’m too old, or I might get embarrassed. But they were like ‘no, no, no’. You do what you can. If you can’t run, you walk. If you can’t do 20 pushups in a row, you do one and you rest.”

Jenkins recounted how when she first started she couldn’t even think about doing one lunge, and how on some days, it took her at least 30 minutes of sitting in her car after a workout and wondering if she was going to get her breath back. Today, she went all around the gym doing her walking lunges and finished at 39 minutes, 29 seconds.

She said she never once thought about not coming back.

“The workouts make you tired, but after, when you’re rested, you feel better. It makes you have more energy so you want to go back and do it again,” she said. "You eventually get real excited about it because you look back on all that you did and you can’t believe you did all that, but you did. It makes you feel good.”

Surprisingly, those who came in first during the workout, feel the same way about that feeling of accomplishment as Jenkins does.

Willie Rose, who was going to play for the Tennessee Titans football team before he was injured, respects the gym’s Crossfit philosophy.

“Everything is metabolic conditioning, where you do every exercise non-stop, and for time.” he said. “That forces you to push yourself in different ways depending on what type of exercise your doing.”

Rose also worked out at other gyms as well and says Sparta is really the only one that’s challenged him mentally.

For Ashtin Newman, 24, a middle school teacher, the mental accomplishment almost outweighs the physical.

“It’s the way you feel when you’re done,” she said. “That feeling you get when you’ve done something that seems impossible. That’s what Sparta has given me. The ability to face something in life that seems impossible and say, hey I’ll see you at the finish line.”

For More Information:

Go to crossfitsparta.com. The gym also offers martial arts classes, and the telephone number is (813) 971-9348.