CrossFit 'box' bulking up

WASILLA — The CrossFit “box” at Denali Gymnastics is about to get some more floor space for its users.

Owner Lynn Reynolds said Thursday the gym has contracted Talon Construction to complete the building’s third exterior addition since 2003, which will add roughly 1,300 square feet to the open second-floor space that overlooks the gymnastics equipment below.

Reynolds said he always has expansion in mind, and when Denali Gymnastics started offering CrossFit upstairs three years ago, he knew they would need to expand that eventually, too.

“The place just keeps growing,” he said.

Though CrossFit activities vary in general, Reynolds said the expansion — which will form a roof over the outdoor walkway on the southwest side of the building — will primarily accommodate the weight-lifting aspect of the sport.

Denali CrossFit has not produced any national or regional qualifiers to date, Reynolds said, but he hopes the expansion will bring more people in, some of whom will likely want to train for such competitions.

“I think as a result of having this addition, it’ll be easier for someone who is interested in competing to train,” he said.

CrossFit instructor Syndney Lee said it will also help with noise levels in the reception area, which is right underneath the place where CrossFit participants drop weights on the floor during exercise.

“As the gym has developed, we’ve seen a need to move the area for weight lifting,” she said.

Lee said the gym offers six classes per day — three in the morning and three in the evening — and class sizes average 10 to 15 people, though it depends on the day, she said.

The classes or WODs — workouts of the day —are led by four instructors, which Lee said are necessary for encouragement as well as advice.

“(We) help and encourage them, and make sure they’re bending in the correct position,” for example, she said.

Lee said she had been working at the gym already when CrossFit was added, and was happy to become an instructor for the cause.

“I’ve enjoyed it very much,” she said.

Unlike many CrossFit boxes, the floor of Denali CrossFit is padded with the springy exercise mats gymnasts use, which is easier on the joints, Lee said. With the box set up the way it is (and with the skills already possessed by the instructors), staff have the ability to lead gymnastics as a WOD, but participants can choose to participate in classes that focus more on weight lifting or metabolic exercise as well.

In any case, it’s about functional training, Lee said.

“These are movements you can use in everyday life,” she said.

Lee said she hopes the facility can stay open during construction, though that has yet to be determined. She and Reynolds said the expansion should be complete by Jan.1, 2016, at which point they will schedule a grand opening for the public.

Nutrition and “body composition” classes will also be available at the beginning of the New Year, to help local residents “shake off the holidays,” Lee said.

For more information, call Denali Gymnastics at 373-3547 or visit their website at denaligymnastics.com.

Denali Gymnastics, CrossFit and child care are located at 300 E. Kalli Cir. in Wasilla.

* This story has been corrected from its original print version, in which Reynolds inadvertently misstated the name of the construction company working on the addition.

Contact reporter Caitlin Skvorc at 352-2266 or caitlin.skvorc@frontiersman.com