Grit

It’s been about 1.5 years since I started working out at Grit and wow, where did time go? The gym is now located on the 3^rd floor of a shophouse in Carpenter Street and it’s much bigger, but still has that man cave vibe. Even though the client base has grown quite bit since I’ve started, the Grit team has not compromised on class sizes (4-​to-​1 instructor) and if popular classes get booked up consistently, they add more sessions or tighten up on no-​shows.
The class formats have also evolved and we now have a choice of strength/​power, met-​con (see my earlier review for an explanation), unconventional strength (really fun if you like challenging yourself by swinging a long hammer or sandbag), boxing (my favorite class to apply all that functional training and let out some stress), BJJ, kettle bells, outdoor HIIT, a running clinic etc. In other words, it’s hard to get bored at Grit even after training here for a long time. If I want to torture myself, I go for F’s met-​con sessions as it really gets my heart rate up and he switches up the course to make sure you have a fun workout. G is great at strength/​power as he corrects form very quickly and A encourages me to take up my weights/​reps. The boxing coach is also super funny and precise with his instructions.
My overall take is that the quality of classes is still very good and you pay a very reasonable price for them. Since the program is updated every month now (vs weekly previously), I do get bored sometimes with the strength/​power combinations but they are a necessary foundation (plus exercises like deadlifts efficiently hit a whole bunch of muscles on your posterior chain and core all at once). The other effect of monthly programming and the variety of classes means I use a smaller range of exercises if I only attend strength/​power and met-​con regularly. In the old format with only 3 types of classes, we went through a wide range of exercises, which have since been streamlined to really meet the specific class goals. My two cents for newbies would be to learn and develop your body awareness and breath control by asking questions if you’re unsure of your form, so that you can learn quickly and progress. Thanks to Grit, I’ve been able to pick up new sports like surfing really quickly and keep improving on my existing ones :)