BRIDGEPORT — The neighborhood has a new CrossFit gym. It’s called the Bridgeport Athletic Club, and it's already drawn more than 100 members.
“Everybody should try CrossFit once,” said Derek DeLapp, Bridgeport Athletic Club’s owner. “Crossfit is for everyone.”
What exactly is CrossFit? At its core, it’s high-intensity interval training.
At the Bridgeport Athletic Club, each 1-hour class puts members through a circuit of movements found in gymnastics, weightlifting, running, rowing and more. The spacious gym inside the Bridgeport Art Center, 1200 W. 35th St., has everything you need to get the job done: Kettlebells, Olympic bars, ropes, tires, dumbbells, bikes and rock music blaring from stereo speakers.
Here you’ll find people from all walks of life.
“We have women in their 60s and young athletes in their 20s,” said DeLapp, who played full time with the Chicago Griffins Rugby team from 1998-2004.
When DeLapp retired from full-time rugby, he fell into a slump. He no longer saw his good buddies regularly. He no longer had an outlet for his energy and aggression.
Then he found CrossFit.
“I loved to play,” he said. “When I retired from rugby, it left a huge hole in my life. CrossFit filled that void for me.”
DeLapp and his two full-time coaches don’t expect gym members to turn into superheroes after their first class at Bridgeport Athletic Club. Transformations take time.
“It’s baby steps. If you’re trying to change your life all at once, it’s not going to work,” DeLapp said. “The biggest thing is stepping through the door.”
Bridgeport Athletic Club’s coaches teach gym members training basics and the fundamentals of using CrossFit equipment.
Some classes will teach you how to properly squat, dead lift or jump rope. Kettlebells will no longer be foreign word.
Other classes focus on conditioning with row machines and stationary bikes.
Gym membership costs $165 a month. Members in the military and first responders get a discount: $135 a month.
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