What is F45?
F45 is the perfect mix of group fitness and personal training. The F stands for ‘functional’ training and every workout is designed with that exact intent- helping you move better functionally through fun and challenging circuit and HIIT-style workouts. Originally started in Australia, F45 has grown to over 1,700 studios worldwide since opening in 2012 and even went public in 2021. It is considered one of the largest growing fitness franchises, and you will understand why after your first workout. With a maximum capacity of 36 people per class, F45 incorporates cardio (Monday, Wednesday, Friday), resistance (Tuesday, Thursday, Sunday) and hybrid, a mix of cardio and resistance, (Saturday) classes to give you a complete training program. With certified personal trainers leading the classes and the music going, you will be pushed to your limit and walk out feeling like you had a great workout every time.
What kind of workout is F45?
F45 mixes circuit and HIIT style classes throughout the week depending on the day of the week. The day of the week dictates the type of workout on any given day, and the name of the workout dictates the format. What is awesome about F45 is that everyone around the world does the same workout every day. For example, say you enjoy working out with someone at your studio but that person moves, you can still ask them what they thought about the workout because you did the same workout.
No workout is the same as F45 has thousands of exercises they use to create their unique workouts. The cardio days are typically fast-paced, HIIT-style workouts with minimal rest periods to test your cardiorespiratory fitness. The resistance days are where we lift heavy and focus on creating lean muscle mass. Finally, Saturday is the pinnacle of F45- it incorporates cardio and resistance training, and is the only day of the week where the classes are 1 hour long (every other day of the week is 45 minutes). With a live DJ to keep you going, Saturday is for sure going to be the highlight of your weekend. If you have never experienced a Saturday workout at F45, I strongly encourage you to give it a try!
Is F45 suitable for beginners?
Absolutely! Safety is our number one priority. One of the greatest parts about F45 is that the workouts are designed so that anyone can complete them, whether it is beginners or even the most advanced fitness people. The weight variability and design of F45’s workouts are part of why anyone can do them, but the real difference maker is the personal trainers leading the class. Unlike most group fitness classes, F45 trainers are actively going around the room helping members with form corrections, exercise regressions, modifications, and progressions to accommodate any fitness level or injury. Group classes can be intimidating and the trainers are extremely cognizant of that. At F45, we will not just make sure you get through the workout, but also make sure you feel like you had the best workout! As a personal trainer, I love the fast pace nature of the workouts and being able to help a lot of people all in one workout- I kind of treat every workout I instruct as a challenge to see how I can do better.
Justin Bednar, instructor at F45 fitness in North Raleigh and author of this post, helps a class member with her workout technique
What to expect from an F45 workout
A lot of sweat and a sense of accomplishment. Like I said, F45 workouts can be adjusted for any fitness level and I stand by that 100 percent. I always finish my workouts sweaty and feeling great. Additionally, our studio Lionheart heart rate monitors are a fantastic unique feature F45 offers. During your workout, your Lionheart keeps track of your heart rate and actively rewards you with points based on your heart rate percentage. Your Lionheart will keep track of every workout and your point total based on that workout. For me, I am always trying to beat my best score and it is something I think gets overlooked at times.
You can also expect every workout to be different. Even though it might have the same name, the exercise selection for every workout is different, which will always keep you feeling engaged and never bored. Having said that, some workouts will include a few of the same exercises depending on what phase we are in and this is on purpose- certain exercises, like the barbell romanian deadlift and dumbbell chest press, are great for creating lean muscle mass so you might see those frequently during the strength workouts.
Lastly, I think you can expect a sense of community from F45 workouts. Knowing that everyone else in the class is in there battling along with you to complete the workout helps create a sense of community and camaraderie. The trainers are high-fiving and pushing everyone to do their best and you are left feeling great about yourself and the work you just put in.
Other FAQs
Is F45 like crossfit?
F45 workouts are not like crossfit, although we have many members at our studio who have come over from doing crossfit. Crossfit and F45 both have very distinct styles, with F45 focusing more on safe and effective functional movements. The design is also completely different as F45 rotates between cardio, resistance, and hybrid workouts on specific days. In crossfit, you can expect a lot of compound lifts, but what they both have in common is they will push you to your max!
Is F45 a HIIT workout?
F45’s website describes their workouts as, “a mix of circuit and HIIT style workouts geared towards everyday movement. 45 is the total amount of time for sweat-dripping, heart-pumping fun”. So yes, F45 workouts can be considered HIIT workouts, but that is not the only form of exercise they incorporate into the workouts. The cardio days are definitely more your HIIT style workouts with minimal rest periods, and the strength days are more of a circuit style workout.
How often should I go to F45?
This is a very popular question we get, and, to be honest, it is dependent on many factors: your age, fitness level, goals, workout type preference, body composition, schedule, etc. What I would recommend to anyone planning on doing a 7 day trial is to try at least one cardio workout, one resistance workout, and a Saturday workout. By exploring the different types of workouts F45 has to offer, you will be able to gauge what you like the most (maybe you like the cardio workouts more than the resistance or maybe you like both) and then determine how many days/week you should attend class based on your fitness goals.
For beginners who are new to fitness in general, I would say 3 workouts/week is a good start and ease into adding a 4th and 5th workout when you start feeling better. For those of you who have been working out for at least a couple years and consider yourselves “experienced” fitness people, I would say to do as many as you think your body can handle but no more than 6 workouts/week. Obviously, you always want to listen to your body and how it feels, so if you wake up one morning and feel extremely sore do not feel bad about taking a day off.
F45 Challenge
I would be very remiss of me to not mention challenges at F45, as they are another key aspect to the annual workout program. F45 is always doing challenges, but their biggest two are in the late winter/early spring and fall. During these challenges, members participate in a set period of time for whatever the current F45 challenge is. So key focuses of an F45 challenge are body scans to track changes in body composition, such as body fat %, weight loss, and lean muscle mass, nutrition advice and weekly meal prep through our member exclusive F45 Challenge app, and awesome prizes! The F45 Challenge app is an amazing and underappreciated resource, in my opinion, members have access to. In this app, you will find articles from fitness professionals and certified nutritionists, a full weekly meal prep plan with instructions and hundreds of recipes for substitution, and workouts to do when you cannot make it into the studio.
Can I do F45 workouts at home?
Yes! I actually think this part of an F45 membership is extremely underrated and is not mentioned enough. As I prefaced above, the F45 Challenge app is an awesome resource members have access to. Under the ‘train’ section of the app, you will find workouts to do, whether you are at home or traveling. It is actually an incredible resource because F45 creates a bodyweight and weighted workout for you to help suit you based on what you have to work with. The train section is essentially your studio on your phone- there is an introduction and demo of your exercises, and a full warm-up and workout to follow along with Corey G. The video includes demos of your current exercise you should be on, the timing of each set, and great music to listen to as you follow along. In my opinion, if you do not take advantage of the train section in your F45 Challenge app as a member, then you are just cheating yourself.
