Social Mechanics

Couldn’t be happier with my experience with Social Mechanics. Travelling from Sydney, and having a few weeks to absorb the local scene, one of my priorities was somewhere to train. Cristen was extremely welcoming and accommodating to my «I’ll be training when I can» mantra. Facilities are great, other members warm and friendly. Workouts challenging and fun. Shout out goes to Landon, great coach, great guy. If you get a chance to check in here — you won’t be disappointed. I will wear my shiny new T-​shirt with pride!

An incredible gym with a great group of people. The workouts are intense and challenging, but there is always a trainer available to correct form, offer a different weight, or encourage you to take breaks when necessary. This is not the kind of gym that encourages vomiting or passing out like other places. They care about their clients and they want to help their clients get in the best shape of their life in the most healthy way possible. I have already lost inches and continue to get healthier each and every week. You’ve got to check this place out!

So what is the gym of social mechanics? SM purports itself to be a safer take on CrossFit. They claim that their workouts consist of all the safe exercises of crossfit, without any of the dangerous ones. So you get all the camaraderie and workout-​induced high of a crossfit WOD, without those pesky trips to the doctor. Sounds like a great idea right? Well, it is a great idea, but whoever programs the workouts here does not have a complete grasp of what exercises are dangerous, as was demonstrated by my first workout here.
MET-​CON DAY
My first day I came in on a Tuesday, which is when they usually do their metabolic conditioning exercises. For those that don’t know what metabolic conditioning is, it’s a workout where you move light-​medium weights around for higher reps and for longer periods of time (10 – 20 minutes).
During this metabolic conditioning exercise we did sumo deadlift kettle bell high-​pulls (SDHP), box jumps (tons of box jumps), toes to bar or knees to chest, and wall balls. I was really surprised that they tout themselves as safer than CrossFit because those first three exercises are some of the most dangerous exercises in Crossfit.
First, the SDHP. It’s been well known for YEARS in the crossfit community that SDHP’s can potentially hurt your shoulder, specifically the supraspinatus. Don’t believe me? I’m not offended, just google «SDHP shoulder impingement» And yet, SM’s «safer programming» for that day was chock-​full of SDHP’s. But enough of that, let’s go to another dangerous, and misused exercise: the box jump.
The box jump was originally used as a nice finisher after hard workouts; it was also originally a depth jump. For example, you do your workout, and at the end you do like 6 (AT MOST) reps where you jump from one box, onto the ground, and using the body’s plyometric abilities, bounce back up to another box. The box jump (jumping from the ground up onto the box without first jumping down off of a box) as it has now become popular, is just bad news in high reps. But to try to jump somewhat high over and over and over again is just asking for a badly scraped shin at best or a blown Achilles tendon at worst. I don’t understand where Social Mechanic can think that doing like a hundred box jumps in a workout is safe for anyone. Hell, I missed a jump myself and almost got hit in the head by fellow a box-​jumper.
So that leads us to the last exercise in the workout: kipping toes to chest.
It’s not the knees to chest that is so bad, it’s the kipping action that is the element of danger. The kipping action is dangerous because it is easy to do incorrectly. If you don’t have a lot of shoulder strength and you perform the kipping mechanic, it exposes the joint to all types of damage, typically a tear to the labrum called a SLAP tear.
To sum it all up: despite their claims, this place can offer up some dangerous exercises if you’re not careful and aware of the dangers.

I’ve been going to this gym for about 7 months. I absolutely love it! It’s difficult to find a reason to skip a class — they are always different (I’ve never had the same workout), the camaraderie/​community of a group workout is great, and the coaches make the workout fit you.
I’ve recommended this place to all of my friends! I have absolutely noticed a difference in my strength and overall health, and other people began noticing after about a month of attending.
You can attend 3 free classes as a trial, join as a full-​time member, or pay by the visit/​drop-​in. They also counsel on nutrition and have a food plan available. Finally, they offer a ‘recover’ class, which is a yoga-​style class that helps stretch you out and prevent injury. Check it out! You’ll be glad you did.
Con: Parking can be a bit of a pain for evening classes, so you may have to plan accordingly by arriving a few minutes early to find a spot on Thursday and Friday evenings times. (Friday is open gym).

I go to the 5:30am class. First, 5:30am is a terrible time of day to do anything, BUT this group of people really makes it worth it. We’ve developed a camaraderie and accountably that encourages us each to get up and get there as well as push ourselves during the workouts!
Before joining SM in May, my workouts consisted pretty much only of running. I have never consistently done weight training because I’m too intimidated at big gyms or just don’t know what type of program to do by myself. SM provides the workouts and focus on all areas of the body. We work on cardio and most muscle groups every day. My body composition, endurance, and strength has dramatically changed over the past 5 months. And it’s fun! Sure, no one likes burpees. But we do like joking around, calling each other out, and seeing results.
SM also offers nutrition help and yoga. Nutrition is a necessary component to achieve total fitness and they encourage that through fun competitions among the members, but not by shaming us or pushing it down our throats. Yoga is a great compliment to the daily workouts (I’m pushing for an early morning yoga class once a week!).
I love Social Mechanics. It has definitely changed my health and fitness for the better!

If you haven’t tried this place, you need to! I’ve tried all kinds of workouts and trainers and this is hands down the best experience I’ve had. Your workout is over in 45ish minutes and is lead by a great, fun personal training staff. Workouts change every day so you never get bored and are always challenged. The people at the gym are friendly and very welcome to any new members. The trainers and staff become like your family and you enjoy going to the gym to hang out with them each day! I started out at a fairly beginner lever and am working my way up. I feel encouraged with each new step I take and am always supported by my Social Mechanics team!

Great workout and great coaches! Very friendly and they work closely with each of us. I was a beginner and they personally catered the routine to my level. Highly recommend this gym!