Crossfit Mapana, Bogota, Colombia
Crossfit Mapana is located on a pedestrian-only street behind a door that looks like a speak-easy. After being buzzed in, you walk down a corridor to the main part of the gym where you see about 18 people working hard on the WOD.
Everyone in this place was friendly, smiling and kind to me the moment I walked in. I was even introduced during the warm-up where I felt like a special guest! What a way to make a girl feel awesome! J
Oh! I should also mention that Bogota is about 1.5miles up in altitude. This is important to note because I was warned/told by a lot of athletes there to not push myself too hard because the air was thinner. (Great and useful information!) Also, just re-iterating the fact of the kindness of the members and coach.
Something that Mapana does that no one else does is a FULL MONTH of fundamental classes-which are actually separate classes from the rest of the main WOD. Members are told to do a full month before they are “graduated” into the main group. They found that this is a great way to work on your technique and building up endurance with fellow “newbs” before moving into the big-dog classes.
Speaking of “big dog” classes, they also have “RX classes”, which I really like the concept of.
The WOD was “Fight Gone Bad” in preparation of the charity competition this weekend (between the US and Colombians at the US Embassy). Because of the size of the place, we paired up and the 2nd person didn’t start until minute 3.
Overall, I loved this box. It was big, open, friendly; full of people that love what they are doing in and out of the box. Strong and great karma. I highly recommend this box to anyone traveling to Bogota.
EDIT:
Edit: I went back to Mapana and had a really-small-group Oly-lift session with Alejandro- a trainer at Mapana and probably one of the best Oly Lifter’s I’ve had the pleasure to meet/train with. We worked on my snatch- which I should note that I haven’t done since last year’s open (I hurt myself pretty bad on the 100lb snatch and have been scared ever since). After this session, I snatched 105 (failed at 115)–which is 5lbs more than what I failed at last year!– but learned a metric-crap-ton about my form and just how strong different parts of my body are!
Example: after I had failed, he had me drop the weight by 30lbs and try it again. Obviously(???), the bar flew up and over my head.
“See? You have the strength. Your hips are perfect. It’s just all in your head.”
Very eye-opening and priceless information.
