The first CrossFit gym I visited in Minneapolis was CrossFit MSP | MSP Fitness in St. Louis Park. From the pictures, it looked like they were a weightlifting gym and I had to get my workout in. They were also the first gym to contact me back about my request and lucky for me, happy to accommodate!
I arranged with the owner, Michael to come in outside of class to do my programming. I had an awesome time working out with him and Tyler to the Spice Girls Pandora station!! I didn't do a class here, but the workout for the day was:
- Strength: Back squats
- Strength: Push Ups
- Workout: 5 sets:
- 30s Row @ 85%
- 30s Rest
- 30s Burpees @ 85%
- 30s Rest
Some things I really liked here:
- Quite possibly the cleanest CrossFit gym I've visited to date. Not even chalk marks or dust on the ground!
- USAW gym. Not just that, but a CrossFit USAW gym that actually has high quality weightlifting equipment including: leveled non-slip platforms, nice Olympic barbells, plates and fractional plates in kilos, jerk boxes, etc.
- Variety of equipment: legit weightlifting equipment (mostly everything), prowlers, benches, ropes, airdynes, mats, sandbags, etc.
- Interesting blog format. Instead of telling you exactly what the workout is or not posting at all, they post the movements you will be doing for each day.
- Cool programming format. Barbells typically for strength work before the metcon and body weight and/or conditioning exercises for the metcon. You won't be finding Grace or Isabel programmed here very often. They actually almost rarely do any named CrossFit workout in the general class. If you're interested in competition, they have a separate competition class that includes all types of CrossFit workouts.
- Knowledgeable trainers and awesome to hangout and train with. Michael and Tyler know what they're talking about. They have a good eye for technique. Your safety and making sure you move properly is a priority. They'll also happily workout to the Spice Girls station on Pandora. Bonus points!
- Cold water fountain
- $20 drop in fee, or buy a shirt
Some things that could use improvement:
- They are a USAW gym and they have all the weightlifting goodies, but no weightlifting class? From the site, it looks like they just have CrossFit classes, Performance/Competition classes, on-ramp, and fundamentals
Some pictures:
3. Inside.
4. inside.
5. pull up structure
6. platforms and kilo weights!
7. another lifting area
8. barbells and plates. they even have training plates and nice barbells.
9. airdynes
10. workout board
11. PRs & happenings
12. The owner, Michael, me, and Tyler post lifting
CrossFit MSP is probably one of my favorite gyms to visit. I'm going back to Minneapolis next week and this is a gym I would definitely like to revisit!
