nine months into f45 now, which is long enough to have opinions about the different class types but apparently not long enough to actually act on any of them, because i still show up to whatever’s on the schedule and do it anyway.

if you missed it, i wrote about the six month check in here back when i was still figuring out if this whole cross training thing was worth it. still worth it. more complicated than i expected, but worth it.

here’s the honest answer nobody wants, which is that there isn’t really a bad f45 class for a runner. i went in expecting to write a “here’s what to avoid” post and came out the other side realizing i don’t actually avoid anything. i just do all of it and adjust my expectations for how the run afterward is going to feel.

the resistance classes

resistance days are the ones i’m most likely to pair with an actual run, either right before or right after, so on those days i’m basically doing two workouts back to back. that’s on me, not a complaint about the class. they’re genuinely beneficial for a runner, the strength work does what it’s supposed to do, i just know going in that i’m stacking load on a day i’m also running, so i don’t expect either half to feel amazing.

the hyrox style classes

these are the ones i actually look forward to most. heavy on cardio but with real resistance work mixed in, so you get a hybrid stimulus in one class instead of picking a lane. if i had to name a favourite class type at f45, it’s this one, by a decent margin.

the straight cardio classes

fine. good, even. exactly what you’d expect, cardio stacked on top of a week that already has a lot of cardio in it from running. not a complaint, just a category that exists.

the actual nuance

if i were being purely strategic about it, running solely as the goal and f45 as a supporting cast member, i’d probably skip the cardio and hyrox style classes and just stick to the resistance sessions. those are the ones doing the most for me as a runner specifically, strength work that running alone doesn’t give you. the hyrox and cardio classes are great, i love them, but they’re more redundant with what running is already doing for my engine.

but that’s not really how i approach it. i’m not doing f45 purely in service of my running, i’m doing it because i like it and it makes me feel like less of a one dimensional athlete. so i keep doing all of it, resistance days included, cardio and hyrox days included, and just accept that some weeks my legs are doing a lot more than the training plan technically called for.

so, best and worst

there isn’t really a worst. there’s “most efficient for pure running gains” (resistance) and “most fun, slightly less efficient for pure running gains” (hyrox and cardio). where you land on that spectrum depends entirely on how much you actually want out of the gym beyond making your next race faster. for me, apparently, the answer is “a lot,” because i keep showing up to all of it anyway.