CrossFit Full Strength — Local services in Phoenix

I've been passionate about strength training since I was a teen (am 37 now). As a long time passionate health nut, personal trainer. and health coach, I never EVER thought I would veer off from going to the typical commercial gym. Boy was I damn wrong.

I am a research junkie, and love knowing the best ways to help the human body whether it be from a physical, mental/emotional, or nutritional focus. My Osteopath, (an avid and ranked man of CrossFit) began introducing CrossFit movement into my programming, and after getting my body healed and strong again we both felt it was quite ok to try something new. I did my research on local CrossFit "boxes" and decided to try out CrossFit FullStrength, as I read specific positive things regarding the owner's passion for programming and training people.

The members I began to meet were amiable and the coaches I started learning from were extremely passionate about teaching specific movements from the ground up. I love exercise programming, as I have do this for my own clients, and this whole new ball game of CrossFit programming made me feel like a kid in a candy shop.

After my first week or so at FullStrength I was on cloud nine! I couldn't believe the challenge of the new types of workouts I was experiencing, alongside the feeling of how much fun it was. I've always worked out solo for twenty years, maybe with a buddy once in a while. It was a whole new feeling to workout with a group, and a friendly and supportive group to say the least. For me it feels so damn good to cheer on other people, other people cheering you on, high living, and simply being supportive in ways that I never experienced in a commercial gym.

Gayle Shalloo is the owner, and she moved into a new location just about one month ago. It's twice the size of the last location, has more goodies, and more smiling members are walking through the door.

I've been a member for about seven months now, and it's been fantastic. Did I mention that her programming is awesome??? ha.. (challenging but just right), the coaches want you to do perform movements correctly, members are supportive (which I feel is essential for a business like this), and I CONSISTENTLY have a shitload of fun. I have build strength, endurance, and power beyond how I have trained myself in the past, and that ain't no bull.

Don't let CrossFit intimidate you. Practically every exercise can be modified and scaled down for each individual. Everyone can start somewhere by building a foundation and processing from there.

You can go to most "boxes" for a first class for free, and I highly suggest checking out FullStrength for one. If you are looking for a challenging, supportive, and family feel, then you need to consider sprinting over to...

It's been great spending time with Gayle and her team at CrossFit Full Strength (CF FS). I have never been so excited to work this hard in my life - it's the community that makes it entirely worthwhile and keeps me excited about my next workout. As a relatively new member, my perspective is one from someone who very recently had a lot of fears/anxiety/concerns about what they were getting themselves into.

My thoughts: CF will teach you that you are capable of much more than you thought. Sometimes you have no choice other than to get your butt against the wall and try to bang out kipping HSPUs; you never know until you try. CF will also teach you to check your ego at the door. In the first month, I have been consistently out lifted by men and women smaller than me and very recently I watched on as a pregnant member whipped out double-unders with ease; very much to my surprise/awe/amazement (I was certainly jealous too). I have been deeply humbled by my time at Full Strength and that is a good thing for me. Olympic lifts can be scary; there is a lot to learn here and I am still learning A LOT, but Jeremy, Fernando and Gayle have made them much more approachable as I work to improve. I started at CF FS after a season of triathlon training (and corresponding layoff). I thought I was fit, turns out I didn't even know what fit was. This is some serious $hit. CF FS provides Olympic Lifting classes, attendance for these should be mandatory for the new lifter. Would prefer a Mobility/Recovery workouts each week. I would even attend a Yoga class if it meant improving my mobility. I recommend stalking KStarr on on YouTube if you are looking to improve mobility. Would prefer an open gym session other than the one scheduled during the week at 8am. That one probably works great for some but it is not a session I could ever attend. An open gym session on the weekend would be AWESOME - this would provide a great opportunity to learn kipping pullups (or kipping anything for that matter), double unders, muscle ups, etc.

Despite my preferences for a mobility class and additional open gym sessions, I have been more than satisfied with CrossFit Full Strength. I am getting stronger, faster, and fitter everyday and I owe it entirely to my experience there. The community and the coaches make it easy to thrive. Looking forward to my next...

My husband and I were recently in Phoenix on vacation and were looking for a box close to our hotel to Oly lift here while in town (I am trying to qualify for masters nationals). Crossfit Full Strength was just a short taxi ride away so I emailed Gayle. She was very kind and had no problem with me being there just to lift. What I didn’t realize before arriving in Phoenix is that they had a weightlifting class and the coach (Luz) was a former Olympian! I was thrilled, to say the least, and went to the class to see what I could learn from a woman with so much knowledge and experience! Paul greeted us at the front desk and was super friendly and very helpful in getting us signed in and set up. The members in the class that day were also very friendly and it was a lot of fun to be there lifting with them. Luz was amazing and so helpful!! Though overall she seemed to like what she saw (I am blessed to have a really awesome coach at home), she pointed out a couple of things I could work on to improve and I have been incorporating them into my routine with great results (ie, snatch PR!!).

I also got to see a few of the Crossfit classes while I was there and noticed how thorough the coaching was, via Paul and Gayle. I am a certified personal trainer and a level I Crossfit coach myself, and I saw that they reviewed and broke down each move in the wod and truly emphasized technique and safety, ie, advising not to go too heavy without proper form. I could also see the connection that the coaches had with the members. It was a very positive atmosphere in a really great facility and we will definitely be back the next time we...