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Columbia Street Crossfit Touts Small Classes and Minimal Equipment

COLUMBIA STREET WATERFRONT DISTRICT — In a century-old building, where ship engines were once repaired, a team of coaches are teaching members how to build muscles instead of machinery.

Columbia Street Crossfit, located at 68 Summit St., opened last month to train locals in the art of crossfit, a strength and conditioning program that uses short, intense, physically-challenging exercises.

“Our specialty is not specializing in one specific skill,” said Nate Larrea, owner and coach at the center, its opening reported recently by well+Good NYC.

Their exercises require minimal equipment, said Larrea, but demand the use of body weight and a number of skills, including agility, endurance, strength, speed, flexibility and power.

Along with workouts, coaches also guide their members in nutrition, diets and eating habits. “It’s 80 percent nutrition, 20 percent exercise,” he said.

With just 1,100 square feet of space, Larrea said the center keeps their classes small to ensure one-on-one attention, with 10 members, who they refer to as athletes, and two coaches per class.

While this method is less profitable for the center, he believes that it adds to the quality of the center, said Larrea.

Columbia Street Crossfit now has about 40 members. As membership increases, they hope to add on more classes to keep their small class sizes, said Larrea.

Larrea, who lives in Red Hook, believes there is a demand for crossfit in the surrounding neighborhoods, where there are few fitness centers. They’re looking to expand Columbia Street Crossfit to another Brooklyn location in the next six months.

Columbia Street Crossfit uses “Workout of the Day,” or WOD where all their members perform the same exercise at various intensities, depending on each individual.

“Crossfit is meant for everyone,” said Larrea.