Tuesday, September 13, 2011

Hardass Fitness / CrossFit Hawaii

31 Heroes crew at Hardass Fitness / CrossFit Hawaii!

I believe all the boxes on Oahu participated in the 31 Heroes WOD on Saturday, September 3rd to honor the Navy SEALs killed in action on August 6th, 2011.  I registered on the website to participate at Hardass Fitness / CrossFit Hawaii.  The WOD was very dear to this box as some of the members knew the service men who died.  We even made the local news, KHON2: here and here, and Hawaii VA Loans: here.

The 31 Heroes WOD class was scheduled at 10am.  There was also a small regular CrossFit class at 9am, but most people showed up for the 31 Heroes WOD.  Afterwards, there was a party!
  • Warm-up and skills practice: One of their standard warm-ups involving jumping jacks, lunges, leg stretches, air squats, etc.
  • 31 Heroes:
    31min AMRAP: 
    • 8 Thrusters 155#/105#
    • 6 Rope Climbs (15ft ascent) -- we did 12 rope climbs with a 10ft rope
    • 11 Box Jumps 30"/24"
    This is a partner WOD.  Partner #1 performs the work listed above while Partner #2 does a 400m run with a 45#/25# sandbag.  Then switch. --We made a few additions: the first 31s of the WOD was spent in silence.  Also, the plate was treated like the American Flag, so it could not touch the ground at any point during the WOD.
    My partner was Heather.  She's an excellent rope climber!


Some things I really liked here:
  • EXTREMELY tight community.  Almost everyone hung around after class.  Apparently this is pretty common.  After the 31 heroes WOD there was a party afterwards.  I could not stick around but a lot of people did!
  • Very, very friendly members!  Definitely one of the friendliest communities I met so far.  I met almost everyone who did the 31 Heroes WOD on Saturday.  Most of the people I met came up to me and introduced themselves.  We talked story and I even became Facebook friends with a few!  The community here is like one big family and it is very prominent.  I did not have enough coins to pay for parking so one of the members Paul gave me enough quarters to cover 2 hours worth of parking.  Thanks Paul!!
  • Motivation and energy by members during the WOD.  WODing here was like WODing in front of an audience of close friends or family members.  During the run people would encourage each other as they passed one another.  People who had trouble with rope climbs, like me, got help on technique from those waiting to climb next.  Members who were not WODing were cheering people on.  Even the kids were cheering us on!
  • New location!  They just moved into their new location just off of South street in Honolulu!  They are still in the process of setting up.  Their new location is much larger!  The place also has high ceilings.
  • Showers, very clean bathrooms.
  • Keiki area.  Kids are not bored here!  Lots of members bring their kids.

Some things that could use improvement:
  • Limited parking.  Only a few dedicated stalls, else it's paid (with coins) street parking in downtown Honolulu.  You have to pay Monday - Saturday.  I got lucky with my spot since someone pulled out just as I pulled in, and this was on the weekend.
  • Daily blog updates!  I would love to know what you guys are up to everyday.
  • Bring your own water.  There are no water fountains but you can buy water.

Some pictures:
2. Entrance to Hardass Fitness.

3. The pull-up area.

4. Early birds for the 10am class.

5. Racks.  Very consistent color scheme.



6. Lots of kids!  This is about 1/2 of them.



7. 31 Heroes WOD action! 

8. Tire jumps!

9. Thrusters, rope climbs, plate carry!



10. Heather, all-star rope climber and my partner, for this WOD!


10. The owner, Kimo, and his wife, Diane!  Thanks for letting me stop by!


11. Post Fiesta food.


Another thing I forgot to mention was that there are a lot of Vietnamese members here.  I am half Vietnamese and I always seem to live and go to places where there are no Vietnamese people.  It was nice to meet some here, and even better, Viets who CrossFit!  Thanks for letting me stop by!!!


Additional visits: 12-24-2011 
Related Posts: Travel Packing CrossFit Style