Olympic Heroes Open Gym in Auckland City Centre

Olympic Heroes Open Gym in Auckland City Centre

Aucklanders can now take their fitness classes with some of New Zealand’s Olympic stars at a new gym in Eden Terrace. Wreck Room was opened in June by women’s Olympic boxer Alexis Pritchard along with her husband and coach Cameron Todd. The gym offers boxers and non-boxers alike the chance to give their fitness an Olympic-style boost.

While Wreck Room will function as a training facility for New Zealand’s premier boxers, Pritchard and Todd’s central aim is to make boxing’s time-tested fitness routines available to a much wider audience.

“People look at boxers and know they’re in shape”, says Todd, current Head Coach of the New Zealand women’s Olympic boxing team. “Our routines work the whole body aerobically and anaerobically. It’s the best way to burn fat, tone up and get fit.”

Just as important as the fitness side of the gym is the couple’s desire to create a welcoming, supportive environment.

“The gym is really inclusive”, says Pritchard, who became the first ever New Zealand woman to win an Olympic boxing match at London 2012. “Everyone supports each other, whatever their fitness level and no one is ever pressured to feel like they have to get into the ring.”

Pritchard herself attended fitness classes at one of her husband’s previous gyms for several months before making the decision to strap on the gloves.

“Doing your fitness classes while people are sparring in the ring across the room does give it a very authentic atmosphere though,” she adds.

There are currently eight different classes offered at Wreck Room, all of which are derived from the Olympic boxing team’s regimes. Sessions range from ‘Smash’, a strength-building mixture of bodyweight exercises and core work, to ‘Blast’, which focuses more on building aerobic capacity. Those looking to learn the basics of boxing can attend the Purist class, which Alexis teaches with a focus on correct technique.

If Alexis is not teaching your class, you may well find yourself training next to her. She attends the conditioning sessions as part of her own preparations for the Rio Olympics in 2016.

“It’s part of what we love about the gym and epitomises the atmosphere we wanted to create” Todd says. “A corporate guy could be training next to a taxi driver or a student, or an Olympic athlete. Whatever their ability they’re all getting a sweat on and supporting each other. It’s like a family.”

Wreck Room is located on Glenside Crescent in the Eden Terrace area of Auckland. Current offers include a two for one deal to members who bring a friend, as well as a number of membership packages including “Fight Like a Girl”, which includes three private sessions with Alexis.
http://www.wreckroom.co.nz/

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