In 2017, like many mid-40-year-olds, the pressures of a busy job and young family had resulted in Asa Le Fustec neglecting his health and fitness. Deciding it was time to get into shape he discovered CrossFit and was immediately hooked.
Now Asa is about to fulfil a personal dream. Together with his wife Sarah and friends Chris and Andy, he is opening his own CrossFit gym, CrossFit Valiant. We took some time out with Asa to learn more about CrossFit and plans for his new gym.
What is CrossFit?
CrossFit is a fitness methodology where the focus is on real world functional movements, like lifting, climbing, jumping and so on. I guess the magic is that it makes each workout really varied, so you don’t get bored doing the same things over and over again. As you train in a small groups, it builds camaraderie as well as a healthy dose of competition!
But do you need to be super fit to do it, right?
Absolutely not. When I started I couldn’t run 100m without gasping for breath! What attracted me to CrossFit was the fact that it works for everyone, regardless of fitness level and age, as everything you do can be scaled. That means it’s incredibly accessible. That… and the fact that its just great fun; you climb ropes, hit tyres with a sledgehammer, do box jumps….way much more fun than your average workout.
What made you decide to open your own gym?
Andy, Chris and I had all experienced how CrossFit had transformed our own fitness levels and health. We wanted to share that with others. We had also experienced other CrossFit gyms whilst travelling and had spoken often about wanting to bring the best of what we had seen. We used that experience to create our own gym.
I had also become quite interested in health and fitness more broadly and had stumbled across the Jersey Public Health Statistics Unit report. Incredibly it projected that by 2036 obesity would increase by more than 25%, diabetes by 42%, heart failure by 75%, heart disease by 63% and strokes by 64%. That was staggering to me and really hit home knowing that had I continued in my previous lifestyle I would likely have been one of those numbers!
That were the the two main catalysts in getting this from an idea over a few drinks and before or after training together to making it a reality. We all knew that CrossFit training was ideally suited to all members of the community and that we could help others improve their health and well-being by providing the right environment and facilities.
What’s unique about your gym?
The thing we all really agreed on was that we wanted to make a gym that was really accessible to all ages and fitness levels. We want to create a community where working out is fun, inclusive and effective, backed up by the highest quality facilities and coaching to give our members the best experience. I guess more of a ‘club’ than a regular gym membership.
The other key difference is the fact that we will all be actively involved day to day. Chris is managing the gym full-time and my wife and I as well as Andy will be training alongside our members every day. It’s about building a community together with our members, helping make a positive impact to their health, having fun and sharing that journey with them.
So when are you open?
We are opening at the beginning of July, the fit out of changing rooms and showers is being completed at the moment. The gym equipment is all made to order, as we wanted it designed specifically for the space we have. That’s arriving in mid-June so we will have a very busy last week getting everything in and set up!
We will be taking membership applications from 1st June and will be announcing a ‘launch day’ where we will open our doors so anyone interested, or just wanting to learn more about CrossFit, can come and take a look around the gym.
@crossfitvaliant
0r www.crossfitvaliant.je to learn more.
