Sports > Schools
Thinking outside the Box-ing: Local Gym brings new angle to old sport
BY Matt Welch, mwelch@starlocalnews.com
There is a certain connotation that applies to a boxing gym.
It's often one of two prospective boxers sparring inside a ring while other students train elsewhere in the gym, be it by jumping rope, hitting a punching bag, getting in reps on a speed bag or focus mitts.
TITLE Boxing Club, which has locations in Plano, Allen, McKinney, Frisco and Rowlett, doesn't adhere to that connotation -- or a traditional boxing philosophy.
"TITLE Boxing is about overall fitness," said Michelle Currier, franchise co-owner. "It's not about fighting, it's about fitness. We want to provide an environment that people wouldn't typically think of for boxing.
"It's not about fighting, which some people have a misconception on."
Consider it an application of boxing and kickboxing elements into a total body workout. It's an experience Currier (co-owner of a location in McKinney and the Allen center at 300 North Greenville Ave., which is slated to open within the next two weeks) would learn firsthand when taking an interest in TITLE Boxing Club. Seeking out a business that would help people, Currier took a trip to Kansas, the birthplace of TITLE Boxing, to learn what she could on the franchise.
That meant partaking in the company's core workout: the Power Hour.
"Once I did the workout, I was completely sold," Currier said. "I'm a fitness person to begin with, but once I finished that, I was just thinking, 'Oh, my goodness.' It was a ton of fun, a total body workout and from the stories that I had heard from people around the area, I knew this would be a great way to help people and make a difference."
It's that hour-long workout that differentiates TITLE Boxing from the combat sport's traditional approach.
With the goal of burning 800-1,000 calories in an hour, the Power Hour starts all comers of all fitness levels on even ground.
Each class is instructed by a professional boxer or kickboxer, who begins the workout with 15 minutes of warm-ups to increase heart rate. What follows is 30 minutes of teaching the fundamental strikes and combinations in boxing and kickboxing. With each person operating on a 120-pound punching bag, the striking portion is split into eight three-minute rounds where the instructor gives the attendees combos to be performed. The time between rounds is spent doing active recovery, exercises that include sit-ups, pushups, squats or lunges.
"This is a true boxer's workout," Currier said. "Everybody starts from the same point and no workout is ever the same because these trainers do something different for each one of their rounds as well as their active recovery."
Once the 30 minutes elapse, the final 15 are spent doing a variety of core exercises, such as jumping rope or working with a medicine ball.
"This is probably the best cardio workout I've ever had," Currier said. "It's also very mental; you get to hit something and take out that aggression, which is very empowering at the same time."
Currier said the Allen location projects to hold six classes a day (5:30 a.m., 9 a.m., noon, 4:30 p.m., 6 p.m., 7:15 p.m.) with the goal being a trio of weekly Power Hours over 90 days as a means of losing weight and getting in shape.
"The average weight loss for a woman who does this three days a week for 90 days is 25 pounds," she said. "And for men, it's about 35."
As a means of enticing customers, each person's first Power Hour is free.
"Everybody gets a free shot," Currier said. "You just check us out on our website and come into any class you want for free. They can try a free class and see if it's a good fit for them."
The hour-long workout isn't the only thing at a person's disposal though.
"We're a gym as well," Currier said. "We're going to have treadmills, ellipticals, a full set of weights, power rack."
Michelle and husband Tom have already made inroads in the Metroplex, opening a center in McKinney in January that consistently ranks on a monthly basis as the largest club in Texas and among the top three in the country in terms of memberships.
With the Allen club's opening right around the corner, the Curriers hope for a similar growth in this evolutionary workout for one of the sport's oldest art forms.
"Boxing is the new old workout," Currier said. "It's such a fantastic workout but it's really not offered anywhere in this area in this type of format. I don't think of it so much as boxing as it is a total body workout."
For continued news and coverage on the local sports scene, follow @MWelchSCN on Twitter.
It's often one of two prospective boxers sparring inside a ring while other students train elsewhere in the gym, be it by jumping rope, hitting a punching bag, getting in reps on a speed bag or focus mitts.
TITLE Boxing Club, which has locations in Plano, Allen, McKinney, Frisco and Rowlett, doesn't adhere to that connotation -- or a traditional boxing philosophy.
"TITLE Boxing is about overall fitness," said Michelle Currier, franchise co-owner. "It's not about fighting, it's about fitness. We want to provide an environment that people wouldn't typically think of for boxing.
"It's not about fighting, which some people have a misconception on."
Consider it an application of boxing and kickboxing elements into a total body workout. It's an experience Currier (co-owner of a location in McKinney and the Allen center at 300 North Greenville Ave., which is slated to open within the next two weeks) would learn firsthand when taking an interest in TITLE Boxing Club. Seeking out a business that would help people, Currier took a trip to Kansas, the birthplace of TITLE Boxing, to learn what she could on the franchise.
That meant partaking in the company's core workout: the Power Hour.
"Once I did the workout, I was completely sold," Currier said. "I'm a fitness person to begin with, but once I finished that, I was just thinking, 'Oh, my goodness.' It was a ton of fun, a total body workout and from the stories that I had heard from people around the area, I knew this would be a great way to help people and make a difference."
It's that hour-long workout that differentiates TITLE Boxing from the combat sport's traditional approach.
With the goal of burning 800-1,000 calories in an hour, the Power Hour starts all comers of all fitness levels on even ground.
Each class is instructed by a professional boxer or kickboxer, who begins the workout with 15 minutes of warm-ups to increase heart rate. What follows is 30 minutes of teaching the fundamental strikes and combinations in boxing and kickboxing. With each person operating on a 120-pound punching bag, the striking portion is split into eight three-minute rounds where the instructor gives the attendees combos to be performed. The time between rounds is spent doing active recovery, exercises that include sit-ups, pushups, squats or lunges.
"This is a true boxer's workout," Currier said. "Everybody starts from the same point and no workout is ever the same because these trainers do something different for each one of their rounds as well as their active recovery."
Once the 30 minutes elapse, the final 15 are spent doing a variety of core exercises, such as jumping rope or working with a medicine ball.
"This is probably the best cardio workout I've ever had," Currier said. "It's also very mental; you get to hit something and take out that aggression, which is very empowering at the same time."
Currier said the Allen location projects to hold six classes a day (5:30 a.m., 9 a.m., noon, 4:30 p.m., 6 p.m., 7:15 p.m.) with the goal being a trio of weekly Power Hours over 90 days as a means of losing weight and getting in shape.
"The average weight loss for a woman who does this three days a week for 90 days is 25 pounds," she said. "And for men, it's about 35."
As a means of enticing customers, each person's first Power Hour is free.
"Everybody gets a free shot," Currier said. "You just check us out on our website and come into any class you want for free. They can try a free class and see if it's a good fit for them."
The hour-long workout isn't the only thing at a person's disposal though.
"We're a gym as well," Currier said. "We're going to have treadmills, ellipticals, a full set of weights, power rack."
Michelle and husband Tom have already made inroads in the Metroplex, opening a center in McKinney in January that consistently ranks on a monthly basis as the largest club in Texas and among the top three in the country in terms of memberships.
With the Allen club's opening right around the corner, the Curriers hope for a similar growth in this evolutionary workout for one of the sport's oldest art forms.
"Boxing is the new old workout," Currier said. "It's such a fantastic workout but it's really not offered anywhere in this area in this type of format. I don't think of it so much as boxing as it is a total body workout."
For continued news and coverage on the local sports scene, follow @MWelchSCN on Twitter.
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