Editorial
Front Page - Friday, February 18, 2011
9Round boxing and kickboxing workout packs a punch
David Laprad
9Round brings together old school boxing and kickboxing techniques to create a 30-minute full body workout. Owner Ben Tate says a 9Round regimen is not only more fun than walking on a treadmill, it’s combination of aerobic exercise and resistance training can strengthen a client’s heart and lungs and create a lean, cut look.
- David Laprad
In a boxing match, two contenders step into a ring and one winner steps out. When it comes to the battle of the ways people can exercise, traditional gyms are the undisputed champions. There are challengers, such as Pilates studios and aerobic classes, but none that can stand toe-to-toe with the heavyweights of the fitness industry. While owner Ben Tate of 9Round, a new kind of work out center that just entered the fray in Chattanooga, doesn’t have any illusions about knocking out his competition, he does intend to deliver a strong uppercut to the jaw of places like The Rush, Sports Barn and Curves.
Located on East Brainerd Road, 9Round brings together old school boxing and kickboxing techniques to create a 30-minute full body workout. There are no treadmills or weight machines in his corner space at the Concord Center. Instead, there are nine stations, each of which features equipment designed to improve cardio and make muscles stronger.
The presentation is unlike any other fitness center. One-hundred pound punching bags hang from the ceiling like slabs of beef in a meat locker. Spongy black tiles cover the base of the gym, creating a comfortable surface for jumping rope, side-stepping and landing roundhouse kicks. And large numbers mark each station on the circuit, leading clients through a vigorous regimen.
Tate stands under the number two, grabs a medicine ball and does a figure eight while watching himself in a mirror. “We do different workouts every day to confuse your muscles. We don’t want you to get tired of doing the same exercises over and over again, so we change things up every time you come in,” he says.
Tate steps over to the next station and begins thumping a speed bag, quickly building up to a steady, rapid fire rhythm. He says it takes a few sessions for clients to become skilled at using the equipment at 9Round.
“No one can step up to the speed bag the first time and start wailing on it. It’s not about power; it’s about precision and tempo. So we teach our clients to hit it slowly and gently until they get better at it,” Tate says.
While the speed bag provides a cardio kick, the heavy bags offer the resistance that builds muscles.
“When you hit one of these bags, there’s resistance, and when they swing back and you hit them to make them stop, there’s resistance,” Tate says.
A timer keeps clients motivated and working their way through the circuit. At the end of 30 minutes, Tate says people are covered in sweat, high on endorphins and 500 calories lighter than when they came in. Done regularly, a 9Round workout can strengthen a client’s heart and lungs and create a lean, cut look, Tate says.
“If you want to build a lot of muscle, you need to work with weights at a gym. This develops a toned fighter look,” Tate says.
Tate says 9Round is for everyone. His clients include runners who cross train at his gym while preparing for marathons, 30-year-old moms who are trying to lose their baby weight, 60-year-old athletes who are trying to stay in shape and morbidly obese people who are trying to get fit for the
first time.
The one thing all of his clients have in common is they had to fight through the pain of the first few sessions.
“It’s going to hurt. It’s going to burn. But that’s the only way it’s going to work,” Tate says.
Tate is familiar with the proverbial burn. While supervising a chain of nine restaurants in Greeneville, S.C., his cholesterol and triglycerides skyrocketed. When he started working out at 9Round at the advice of one of his managers, his numbers dropped dramatically, saving him hundreds of dollars a month in medicine his doctor wanted to prescribe.
Tate also found a new career. To prepare to open his own franchise in the Chattanooga area, he trained with an Olympic boxing coach and a professional kickboxer for eight months and then moved to Hixson, Tenn., where his wife grew up. Today, he gets a rush out of helping his clients.
“I love to see someone feeling good about himself when he hasn’t felt that way in a long time,” he says.
Tate says most of the people who walk through his door have never boxed. But that shouldn’t discourage anyone from trying, as he and his trainers can take them from simple jabs and crosses, to hooks and sidekicks, to extensive combos. 9Round makes it easy to put Tate’s claims to test with a reasonable monthly fee, no contract and free boxing gloves for first-timers.
“This isn’t some off-the-wall fad. It’s what fighters do. And it works,” he says.
For more information, call 475-6805. 9Round is open Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. and Saturday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
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