ChiroFitness Xtreme - Rock Island

Looking for a worthy series of features for this blog in the New Year, I decided to write about local businesses, trainers, gyms, and others related to fitness in the Quad Cities and surroundings. Wanted to give the emphasis on local people, independents doing something just a bit different.  The larger businesses, the for-profit, nationally known chain gyms have their own megaphone. The little guy, especially someone more focused on the craft, depends on word of mouth.

Did not intend these blog posts as a QCRunner stamp of approval or blanket endorsement.  I was hoping more towards information, and general impressions of a person encountering the business for the first time...the consumer end of fitness.

I've driven by ChiroFitness Extreme, also known as CFX many times in Rock Valley Plaza in Rock Island.  The business is located in a busy commercial corridor. A couple of enthusiastic CFX members Brad Ellis and Johnny Hawkins did Wildcat 50k, and through them I also met CFX owners Dr. Chris Molke and Shawna Nylin who also did Wildcat.

Dr. Chris Molke is a chiropractor and Shawna Nylin is a chiropractic technician and personal trainer.  CFX is their chiropractic office, gym and workout space.  Shawna tells me they have been at this location for four years,  CFX offers chiropractic care, personal training, nutrition, and fitness classes.  The fitness classes are what intrigued me on the day after New Years 2012.  I had a day off work, and decided to pay CFX a visit.

CFX offers group classes on a Warrior theme....Warrior Fit, Warrior Endurance, Warrior Strength and others.  Focus is on body weight strength, endurance, and use of more non-traditional objects....tires, sledge hammers, kegs, kettlebells, weighted backpacks.   CFX also offers other group fitness, such as Body Pump, Zumba and yoga classes.

The space is a retail store front, next to a Dollar General store. This provides a large open workout area measuring perhaps 40 ft x 100 ft, with offices and examination rooms to one side, traditional exercise equipment around the edges. As I hung up my coat on a peg, I noted a big tractor tire on the floor, and was greeted by name. A promising start.

The class I attended was Warrior Endurance, a cardio strength circuit of 10-12 stations, with 30 secs at each station and 10 secs transition between.  Repeat for as many rounds as you want in 45 mins to an hour. Some example exercises. My names and descriptions...I was sweating and not taking notes, trying to pay attention to instruction.

• Horizontal body rotation, with feet on the elevated on a tire, hands on floor. Rotate body 360 deg, supported by hands, side to side.
• Weighted ski moguls.  Jump side to side over tap mark on floor with dumbells, like a skier.
• Weight carrry.  Pickup kettlebells and walk from one end of room and back. Tape marks on carpet.

There also were a variety of box stepups, stability ball rollouts, jumping jacks, and leaps.  Basic fitness, very approachable.  A wide variety of body types, ages and genders present in the class I attended.

Folks have asked..."Isn't this like Crossfit?"  I have attended Crossfit workouts, and there are similarities.  Fitness freed of traditional machines, geared towards free weights, body weight and lifting non-traditional objects.  Encourages more balance, more real life "functional" fitness.  Crossfit tends towards more traditional barbell work, heavier weights, lots of reps. CFX seems to have a more straight forward, no-nonsense approach.  You would see more, higher box jumps at a Crossfit gym. I saw more step ups, jumps and hops at CFX, with less height and fewer reps.  Emphasis appears on controlled movement, without as much of the clock and competition aspects.

I received instruction and form correction during my workout, which is a good thing.  Attention to form is a feature sometime missed.  Each workout station had tape lines on the carpet, and a few lines of written exercise description on a piece of construction paper at each.  In case you forget what you are doing, like a I often do.

It was a good experience. Some workouts are scheduled at 10 am and 4 pm, which offers some options in addition to gyms that offer classes morning, noon and evening.  I was treated well, offered instruction and form correction.  The drop-in or punch card price of $5 per class is very competitive and reasonable compared to other options.

I'd recommend giving CFX a try. I was treated well.   

-Larry