My Obsession Passion for Exercise has gone a long way to helping me through the process of losing weight and getting fit… and to a large extent, I attribute my new found interest in exercise to 12RND Fitness…
12RND Fitness is an Australian based Gym Franchise, founded by Tim West and Danny Green in 2014. It is based around a “circuit” oriented exercise “system”, focused around boxer fitness training techniques.
A 12RND workout session is designed to be like a 12-round championship fight – 12 x 3 minute rounds with 30 seconds rest in between. That’s 36 minutes of total training time at high-intensity with structured breaks in between.
Each round, includes two movements (which change daily) that involve either punching combos on a bag, bodyweight exercises (sometimes with dumbbells, medicine balls, or sand bags) and/or functional fitness movements.
Here are some of the things I LOVE about 12RNDS :
- No Scary Machines – some rounds may include a simple exercise machine (Rower, Ski erg, Cycle), but there are NO treadmills in sight and definitely no scary exercise machines (with more cables, weights, pulleys and levers that you know what to do with). Most exercises are bodyweight based. I’ve done machine based gyms before and are OK with them… but have been surprised how many people feel overwhelmed and put off by all the scary technical exercise machines at the typical gym.
- No Fixed Start Time – 12RNDS are not 24×7 Gyms, and they only open certain hours of the day (times vary depending on location)… but you don’t have to turn up at a particular time for the start of a “class” or session. You can arrive whenever you want and start your session at a time that suits you.
- Quick Workout – a “full” 12RND Session of 24 different exercises takes less than 45 minutes, but you can easily do fewer rounds if you are pushed for time (or more if you want a longer workout)
- High Intensity Training – Each of the 12 rounds includes 2 different exercises, and typically at least one of the exercises in each round is based around High Intensity Training.
- MyZone – 12RNDS supports the MyZone Heart Rate Monitoring System… this is a fantastic way to measure and monitor your activity level – providing feedback on how you are doing, and motivating you to push a little harder.
- Variable Workout – The exercises that make up each of the 12 rounds change EVERY day… so you are not “stuck” doing the same boring exercises over and over. Every day/workout brings a new set of exercises (and a whole news set or sore muscles – in a “good” way).
- Flexible – You don’t have to do the assigned exercises at each round… you can choose your own alternative exercise -e.g. if you need to go easy on a particular exercise, or are working on a specific muscle group… or if you just don’t like it… You can also do fewer, or more rounds if you choose… When I first started I could only manage 6 rounds.. but these days I often do 16 or more…
- Not Cheap – 12RNDS membership is cheaper than comparable gyms, but it is more expensive than some of the 24×7 gym franchises… I think that paying a bit more is actually a bonus. It is a great motivator… because I damn well want to get my moneys worth (and I really do… I typically do 6-9 sessions a week, costing me less than $5 per session).
I know too may people with “cheap” or even free gym memberships who just don’t value it, and go weeks or even months between workouts. - My own Personal Trainer (for free) – at 12RNDS there is ALWAYS at least 1 personal trainer on hand (and sometimes 2 or 3 at busier session times). They will :
- explain any exercises you are not familiar with…
- point out any “technique” issues you may have…
and (most importantly) - encourage you to work harder – at least once per workout (and sometimes 2 or 3 times) a trainer will tap you on the shoulder and coax you through a quick (but often Very High Intensity) sparring, padwork or HIIT session – pushing you way harder than you can yourself, and reminding you of your capabilities 🙂
I am definitely a BIG fan of 12RND Fitness as it is a perfect fit for my lifestyle and the type of exercise regime I need.