Three of the guys behind Cape Callisthenics: Adrian Alberts, Alwyn Marx and Matthew Kriel. Enough six-packs between them to make anyone blush…

Outdoor gyms are very popular overseas and although they are few and far between here in SA, they are gaining popularity and hopefully soon the right people will take notice of how providing outdoor exercise equipment for free will inspire people to exercise and perhaps even curb the growing obesity problem.

But what Cape Callisthenics do isn’t just gym. It’s something else. Something far more primal and manly. It makes you gasp in awe as you watch them swing from the bars, hoist themselves effortlessly into the air and hold impossibly difficult positions at extremely difficult angles for an ungodly amount of time.

According to one of the group, Matthew Kriel, the Cape Callisthenics project was started “in order to promote awareness of the sport and fitness movement of callisthenics in South Africa”. He says that although he has only been with the group for a few months, he has seen such progressions in his fitness and strength in that time that he could previously never have done in an ordinary gym environment.

“When I started here in December I could only do like 3 push-ups, now I’m popping out muscle-ups,” he says. And for anyone who doesn’t know what a muscle-up is (trust me, it’s a tough move) check this pic out:

This my friends is a muscle-up. They make it look easy but it’s actually a very difficult move to get right.

The guys (and some girls) meet at the outdoor gym every evening where they do their inspiring callisthenics workouts. However, they have taken this one step further and have a following of people who now join them in the evenings to learn how to do what they do. And they gladly offer advice and assistance where they can – all for free too.

Matthew says that there has been so much interest that half their time is now spent helping others at the outdoor gym.

Alwyn Marx, another member of Cape Callisthenics says it’s all about finding out how well ur body can perform what it is is designed to do. They may use some of the bars for pull-ups and dips, but the exercises are primarily bodyweight exercises that require a lot of muscle strength and a tonne of core strength.

“Anyone is welcome, any fitness level,” says Alwyn, adding that the classes aren’t ego-driven at all. “We don’t compete against anyone else. Here you compete against yourself and be inspired by others.”

They popped up into this position while still talking to me. That takes a mighty strong core!

So if extravagant gym fees are putting you off going to the gym, or you just feel like a different challenge, why not get in touch with these guys and see if you can’t learn a little something from them?

They’re not experts and none of them have any fitness or gymnastics qualifications to speak of, yet watching them in full swing you’d swear they’d been at it their whole lives. And given the number of six pack abs between them, taking a few pointers from some guys who have built their bodies doing very difficult bodyweight exercises with very little equipment.

I’ll leave you alone now to ogle the pictures. What’s nicer than watching three strong, shirtless men working out on a warm winter’s day by the beach? Stumped? Me too… enjoy….

Adrian Alberts holds this insanely hard position in rings for what felt like at least a minute, if not more. This my dears, is how abs are built.

What’s this you ask? Why it’s one guy doing a push-up while the other does a handstand on him. Duh!

Matthew Kriel demonstrates a dip with a kick-through and hold. I don’t know if that’s what it’s really called but that’s what it looked like

Just when I thought my 5RM pull-up was impressive I had to meet this guy – who does a muscle-up INTO a handstand. I got some way to go….

I know right? Just when you thought it couldn’t get any better this guy pops out this lever move. He must have triceps of steel I tell ya!

However, while the pics may show off their muscles and strength, a video goes even further to illustrate just how strong these guys are. Check this out:

Ass to the grass…. this ladies, is a very good front squat. But don’t let those little weight plates fool you, this lady can lift a LOT more.

In the recent 100% RAW power-lifting drug-free competition in Cape Town she also proved just how strong she is with a staggering deadlift of 145kg, squat of 100kg and a bench-press of 67.5kg, the deadlift and benchpress which are now new SA records. It’s little wonder that she claimed first place in both the women’s category and her 60-67kg weight class. That’s a lot of power in a small (and rather toned) package.

Don’t you love the touch of pink in the equipment at Progressive Edge Performance gym?

Yet she does no cardio.

Yup, you heard me. NO cardio. Zero. Nadda.

So how does she keep so incredibly lean and toned? By lifting heavy weights. (*and BTW she takes NO steroids or other funny stuff either… it’s all hard work and good nutrition). And when she “wants to drop body fat” she does tabata-style sprints (8 rounds of 20 seconds of all-out work and 10 seconds rest). Other than that though, it’s all about lifting weights and doing body-weight workouts like pull-ups. Which she pops out like she was born doing a pull-up btw! Check it out….

Sigh…. one day I will be able to do a pull-up with such style and ease… one day!

It’s not hard to see why she says that women should lift heavy weights too – if they want to see an improvement in their physique that is. And those 2kg dumbbells with lots of reps just ain’t gonna cut it I’m afraid. Not if you want to look lean and toned like Kelly.

But there are lots of other reasons you should lift heavier weights if you’re a woman too – it helps improve your bone density which can lower your risk of developing osteoporosis, it helps with your posture, it helps in every-day life from lifting shopping, boxes, children… but it also helps with your confidence. It might sound trivial in the grand scheme of things, but let’s be honest here…. the better we look, the better we tend to feel about ourselves. Right?

And if you got to looking good by training hard with the right form and with a proper coach like Kelly, and had a good, clean diet to go along with it, then why SHOULDN’T you be proud of your new physique?

Read more on Health24 about what Kelly says about women and lifting heavy weights and how it won’t bulk you up if you do it right.

Check out Kelly’s specialist gym Progressive Edge performance.

Do you lift heavy weights? Show off – send us your numbers! 

So I signed up for a session with SUPsistas, they’re a Cape Town-based SUP club especially for women. I figured if I was gonna see my ass I might as well do it in the company of other women.

Fortunately for me the wind has been so hectic here lately that they moved their usual Small Bay classes on the icy Atlantic to the Waterfront Canals in town. I say fortunately because I think it was probably a lot easier to learn how to get up on the board and stay up when there aren’t ocean waves thwarting your efforts every few seconds. Baby steps ok?!

So one glorious Cape Town morning I arrived at the canals. Karina met me and together with a group of about 12 other women we warmed up before she showed us newbies the basics. I.e. how not to fall off or crash into anyone.

Such a pretty setting.

Bottoms up!

The lack of a wetsuit makes you even MORE determined NOT to fall in…

One of the trickiest things to learn was how to handle the paddle. We practised a few times on land, but it’s very different when you’re on the water.

It’s like sweeping. But I’m not very good at that either.

See that boat in the background? It makes waves as it goes by. It’s also filled with tourists who I’m SURE were willing me to fall off just for a pic!

Once we were warmed up and prepped we took our giant boards down to the water. They’re freaking huge to carry, even harder to get into the water with cause they start floating away as soon as they’re in. So it’s a fine act trying to keep them close while climbing on.

So on I got, on my knees at first to get a feel for it.

If only you could see how wobbly I was…

It was a VERY weird sensation. My legs were trembling and my core was tight. And this was on flat water. So I paddled around on my knees for a little while before I felt brave enough to stand up. And that was something altogether different.

I don’t think my legs have ever felt so shaky. My thighs were like jelly. You see you can’t really straighten up and just stand. You have to keep your legs slightly bent (at least at first) so when the water moves – which it inevitably does- you don’t tumble off. You’ve also got to keep your ‘hips loose”. I didn’t know what that meant until the little boat came past and I started doing an involuntary salsa on the board just to keep upright.

Take the pic quick I’m focusing here!

It took about 15 minutes for my legs to stop shaking. Then my toes went numb, and they stayed numb for a while. But by then I was totally into it and enjoying myself FAR too much to worry about some stupid toes.

Once I got a rhythm going it felt amazing. My whole body was getting a workout, it was sociable and once I got a little more confident I even got a few peeks at the passing scenery. The women who were in my group were all from various backgrounds, various countries and were aged from early 20s to late 60s (I swear, one lady was in her 60s and not only was she kicking my ass she looked amazing).

An hour later I didn’t want it to end, but my body was actually feeling quite tired. Not sore, just nicely tired. My shoulders and arms were worked, my core was worked and my legs were worked (despite much protesting from them).

Next I’d like to try it out on the sea. But on a VERY calm day. Like I said, baby-steps.

No I didn’t fall in… I jumped. I swear! SUP-ing is sweaty work!

I would highly recommend this sport to anyone. It’s easy on the joints, fun and a great addition to a fitness routine. I’m sure out at sea it would be an even harder workout too.

Ladies check out SUPsistas if you’re keen, not only are they a great group of ladies but they’re also completely non-profit with all proceeds from board and paddle-hire going towards supporting orphaned children. You could get a double whammy workout AND be socially responsible. What more could you ask for?

Check out their Facebook page here or visit their website here.

First of all meet my team:

The rocking team ‘WOD you looking at’ comprised of Hermann, Francois, Daniel, moi, Kirsten and Tania

Not a bad-looking bunch eh? I was very proud to be a part of such a strong team. We’re all from Cape CrossFit but we all go to different classes so until Saturday morning about 10 minutes before this picture was taken I had only met Kirsten and Hermann. Nonetheless we still made an awesome team!

The first team event was tug-of-war. I know right? When last (if ever) did you do that? I don’t remember it being quite so brutal in my school years though. When they announced it I thought “OK, that’s not too bad…”

But I was wrong. It was a rookie crossfit mistake. NEVER underestimate a workout. It’s usually those ones that jump up and bite you in the ass with big shiny teeth.

Not only were we not allowed gloves, which made pulling on a rope very sore, but you should have SEEN some of the people we were up against. Holy shit, they were BIG. And strong.

But we held our own. First the girls pulled against the girls from another team in our pool (which we won!) then the boys, then we pulled as a team. We had to do this 6 times. It was brutal.

I only realised when we got the pics back that I hadn’t taken my sunglasses off. I’m not usually so ‘dolled up’ during a workout

This is what happened after the first team pull:

Rope burn. My badge of honour from FICT 2013

Sexy huh? By the end of the weekend I had another 2 of those.

Then we had time to eat and rest and watch the amazing men and women individuals compete before the next team event.

Could there be a more stunning view?

The next event was ball tosses and sprints. It was quite complicated and very hectic. By now it was about lunchtime and there was not a breath of wind on the field and it was a blistering hot day. So sprinting wasn’t much fun. But we gave it our all.

Basically it started with tossing a 14lb medicine ball then running and touching it, running back and tagging a team mate. We did this for 100m. Then back 100m. Then we had to sprint to the opposite side and try fit in as many individual 100m sprints as possible before the time cap of 9 mins ran out. THEN we had to try get as many ball tosses as possible in 1 minute. It was very hectic. But we did damn well and finished top in our pool.

Sprinting to the end

Team celebrations

After that we had a nice 2 hour rest before our final event for the first day. Which was great because by then we were all buggered and it was so hot everyone scattered to find shade and water.

The final event proved to be just as tough. It consisted of front squats (29kg for girls/ 50kg for guys) then partner carries, then 10 burpees. It was a tough one to coordinate and we were the first group up after they revealed the event so we didn’t have much time to prepare a strategy, but we still did quite well. Big bonus was having really strong guys on our team so they could carry us girls across the field to do the burpees.

Partner carries

Me on a very tired Francois’ back.

And we’re done for the day! Thank god!

And that was the first day done. Little did we know what lay ahead for the next day… a gruelling 5.45am start with a  seriously hectic 6.5km run up Kloof Road (if you don’t know it, suffice to say it’s f#*ing steep) and back down carrying an 11kg weight plate.

We were SO lucky our guys were so strong that they opted to carry the weight plate the whole way and just let us girls focus on running. Did I say running? So silly. I meant SPRINTING. Yes. More of that stuff from the day before. We were trying to make up points and I ran alongside our team captain Hermann who pushed me to sprint as fast as my little legs would carry me all the way down some of the steepest roads. All I could think about was not tripping – which fortunately I didn’t. We came 18th out of 37 teams in that run so all my heavy breathing, red-faced dry heaving was worth it.

Until the run I actually wasn’t’ very sore – no more than after a normal workout at the gym. But AFTER that mad sprinting I was stuffed. My hips were sore, my legs were aching, my arms hurt… basically everything hurt.

But it wasn’t over yet. We had one more team event which would see the top 8 teams go through to the next round. At this stage we were in position 25 so we knew it was unlikely we would make it through to the next event (which my body was not-so-secretly thrilled about).

And what was it? Tug-o-war! Yup. My old nemesis. This time I had a sleeve to wear to protect my already battered arm, but with an aching body I wasn’t so sure how well I’d manage.

But we did OK, we got through the first heat and got knocked out by a team of giant heavyweights in the second round.

Overall our team came 27th out of 37 teams. Which isn’t too shoddy considering how strong some of the teams competing were AND the fact that we only met as a team on the morning of the event.

I’m SO happy I took part though, I have never had so much fun doing things that hurt so badly with a bunch of people I don’t really know.

Go figure!

One thing I forgot to mention is how amazing the vibe was – it was awesome. You couldn’t hear yourself think with all the cheering going on, teams cheering for other teams, everyone rooting for the individuals, spectators and athletes like. There was nothing but good sportsmanship throughout the competition, from all athletes. Sure it’s a competition, but everyone was so supportive of each other that it made it a lot more fun than other sporting events I have been to with an “each man for himself” attitude.

Check out some of the awesome videos of the team finals and individual events on the Fittest in Cape Town Facebook page. These people are amazing. I can only hope that one day I am as strong and fit as they are.

Then came December with it’s chaotic times and debauchery and alas I didn’t manage to do as many crossfit classes as I would have liked. I kept on doing running, hill sprints, burpees (I know… who the f#%! does burpees of their own accord… clearly the brainwashing is working).

So I’m still fit. But FiCT-fit? I dunno so much…

If you don’t have the foggiest about what I’m talking about check the website out here FiCT. Watch the video from last year’s event and see what it’s all about. But if you’re feeling uninspired to do that here it is in a nutshell – it’s a team and individual competition that takes part over a weekend, where teams and individuals compete against each other until there is a winner. Except… and it’s a BIG except…. the actual workouts are not known until the morning of the event.

Crazeee right? Well that’s part of the charm that is crossfit. Gotta be prepared for anything. It could be rope climbing (must remember to pack super-sexy long socks), or rowing, or sled pushing and pulling, or running or burpees (eish) or ALL of the above.  For three rounds. For time.

I know I know… it’s a MOFO of a thing to sign up for. Especially since you don’t really know what kind of pain is heading your way.

So I am in a team with 2 other girls and 3 guys. I think I know one of them. It’s gonna be like a group blind date. But weirder.

So it should be bucket-loads of fun (until I wake up the next day and can only move my eyeballs to ask for water). I just hope that it’s not too hot over that weekend (the 26th and 27th Jan… TWO WEEKS AWAY *silent scream*) or windy. But it’s Cape Town, so the chances are it will be both. Oy vey.

So if you want to see me kitted out in my sweaty best, grinding out reps of madness with a team of people that I haven’t even met yet, then come support! If nothing else I’m a good sport for the point-and-laugh crowd.

Camps Bay High School, January 26 and 27 from 8.30am.

I’ll be the sweaty Ginger Ninja on the field… if you’re REALLY lucky I might even give you a sweaty hug. No promises though… it all depends on the workouts I’ve had to do and whether I can still lift my arms without having to jump first.

TRX  (Total Resistance eXercise)  uses straps and a central pivot point with which you then use your own body weight to work out. Sounds easy right? That’s usually where these things go wrong….

Once again I met up with Virgin Active personal trainer Ian Pienaar who put me through my paces with the TRX. Usually at Virgin Active gyms anyway, these straps are hanging from a wall, which isn’t how they are meant to be used, but the wide A-frames they usually come in are quite space-consuming. But if you know what to do you can still get a good workout with them against a wall.

What are the benefits of TRX training? Portability, using your own body weight, quick changeover between exercises and it provides a real workout for your core.

I was actually very surprised at what a good workout the TRX provided…for a few days afterwards I could feel the muscles that had been worked, especially my core.

Check out these pics of some of the core exercises Ian made me do, I didn’t do many but my stomach reallllllly felt it!

The pics aren’t very clear, but you get the idea… my feet are suspended off the ground… so my core had no excuse for not working exceptionally hard to just keep me balanced. It took a few minutes to get my balance right, and made push-ups rather difficult, but it was a great workout.

We also did some upper-body exercises which really highlighted how my upper-body strength needs some attention. But that’s where the TRX could come in really handy, just practicing a few upper-body moves on it with different foot postions should help build my strength in no time.

Overall I really enjoyed the workout, but I would recommend getting someone who knows what they’re doing to show you how to use them properly first. No point in using them if you’re not going to do it right, right?

I would definitely recommend this as a good strength training addition to your workout.

So far we’ve had tow awesome sessions in the gardens, there is so much to do there and despite the WTF looks we get from the people having their early lunches there while we zip past then drop and do a few push-ups before hopping up and sprinting off to the other side, it’s been fun.

However, exercising outside comes with its own set of… shall we say… complications. First off there is nature. Dodging fat pigeons as they desperately try to fly out of your path, leaping over curious squirrels who stop to check things out and of course, keeping a watchful eye in the trees above so we don’t get any bird poo ruining our gentle stretching afterwards.

Secondly there are the people.

We don’t mind being stared at, it’s part and parcel of working up a sweat on a mid-morning session in a public place. But some of the people are a little strange… like The Lurker. This is a guy who hid behind the bushes on Monday and copied all the exercises we were doing. And every time I turned around to see him he would duck away. Very weird dude.

Then there’s the tourists. At the end of one of our workouts we were accosted by a group of Japanese tourists who clearly thought this was just TOO fantastic a photo-op not to take advantage of.

So while I was bent over a bench stretching out my hamstrings I found an elderly pot-bellied Japanese man next to me imitating my stretch as his 20+ group of friends took photo’s.

They didn’t speak any English but I did understand “Gangham style”. Though I am still a bit baffled as to where that fitted in..

Weird no? Well it got weirder! A female member of the group then decided to show us just how supple she was… (which she was… insanely so!)

Then they decided to take turns getting their photo’s taken with us…

Clearly they didn’t seem to mind the fact that we were all sweaty from an hour of exercising in the sun…

And then more joined in…

Who knows what little adventures await us the next time we hit the great outdoors for a little bootcamp?! Keep an eye out for us on YouTube, we might be the most famous SleekGeek Office Challengers around!

To try get a bit of momentum going I volunteered my services to teach a weekly bootcamp session for anyone who was interested. I recently did a group fitness trainer course and figured this would also give me some good practice with my cueing and phrasing and so on. (Terms I never even knew existed till a few months ago… don’t EVER underestimate an aerobics instructor, there’s a TONNE of stuff you have to think about during a class sheesh!!)

Anyhoo the first class was a dud. Not one single person showed up. I must admit I felt a little annoyed… this was after all a free exercise class. Free fitness sessions don’t come around too often y’know!

Fortunately they persuaded me to do another one and with four eager participants we got started. Its a bit difficult to do much toning without any weights or equipment of any sort, but I actually think they get quite a good workout with the amount of body-weight exercises I throw at them. From push-ups to walking lunges, squats for Africa and some lovely burpees and mountain climbers in the mix it’s enough to get anyone’s heart rate going!

The classes have now grown to 13 participants and are three times a week. It might be a little late in the challenge but these guys are giving it their all and I really admire them. A few of the ladies have never ever exercised – and they do damn well keeping up and doing the best they can. I’m super-impressed!

The goal at the end is for them to be able to do more push-ups than they did at the start of the SleekGeek Challenge and to be able to hold the hollow rock position for longer than they did before. I daresay that if they keep coming they’ll all see a big improvement!

So a big YAY for the peeps at 24.com for coming to the party and doing their bit. It’s SO awesome to see people passionate about exercising and wanting to get fitter and healthier. It’s not even about the weight-loss – it’s about being healthier. And we can all be healthier and make healthier choices on a daily basis. It’s hard most of the time, but it’s not impossible.

If you feel you can’t do it alone, sign up to the SleekGeek group on Facebook and see what other ordinary people are doing. It’s one big support group that’s free. If nothing else you might even make a few friends