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I Trained at OPEX for 2 Months & Here’s What Happened

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Hi, I'm Tina!

I’m the owner of Carrots ‘N’ Cake as well as a Certified Nutrition Coach and Functional Diagnostic Nutrition Practitioner (FDN-P). I use macros and functional nutrition to help women find balance within their diets while achieving their body composition goals.

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OPEX results InBody

Hi, guys!

If you follow CNC on Instagram, you probably saw my fitness adventures at OPEX South Shore. I shared them pretty much everyday I went as part of a partnership with the owner, Bobby Scott. Our partnership was 2 months long, so I’m no longer working out at OPEX, but it was a tough decision to stop since I saw such great results. I might actually go back in the fall when things settle down – more on that below.

OPEX is a nationwide chain of fitness facilities that offer personalized one-on-one programing and coaching. The core of OPEX is based in functional fitness (the founder was a CrossFit guy), and your workouts are tailored to your individual needs, goals, lifestyle, and more. Your coach creates your workout plan, which progresses and changes from week-to-week. You use the OPEX facility like a regular gym and on your own schedule. There aren’t any classes, so you can pop in for your workout during “open gym” hours. I actually really liked this aspect of OPEX with regard to my morning schedule. I was typically in and out in about 45 minutes, and I worked out 3 times per week (with 1-2 CrossFit workouts mixed in).

I initially started OPEX after dealing with a number of injuries due to muscle imbalances and scoliosis. Here’s the full story. Obviously, I love CrossFit, but the workouts are created for a class, and I really needed something more personalized if I wanted to deal with my (ugh, frequent) injuries and imbalances, and this is where OPEX South Shore came in.

I actually learned about OPEX South Shore through friends, who did an InBody assessment at our local Lululemon store. (Local readers: OPEX does free assessments at the location at the Derby Street Shoppes about once a month.) They told us about their experience, including how the InBody assessment identifies muscle imbalances. Obviously, I was intrigued. The next day, I sent an inquiry to Bobby to see what OPEX was all about.

My first session at OPEX included an InBody assessment followed by one of three 60-minute assessments where Bobby tested a number of aspects of my fitness – everything from Bench Press and Pull-Ups to my cardio capacity via Airdyne bike. It was quite comprehensive and much more so than any other fitness assessment that I’ve ever done.

OPEX is big on testing, so this initial assessment was my starting point for working together. Typically, clients complete their InBody assessment monthly and fitness assessment as needed – it just depends on the client. I ended up pushing out my assessments to the 2-month mark because “I didn’t think I’d see much change.” Well, to my surprise, I saw quite a bit of change!

OPEX fitness

MY RESULTS

Body composition

When I did my InBody assessment after 2 months, I was so surprised by the results because I really didn’t think my body changed all that much. I definitely FELT better because I wasn’t beating myself up like I had been in the past at CrossFit, but I didn’t realize this more personalized training would benefit me so much. I actually think NOT stressing out my body  and working out LESS was really good for it. Additionally, I was counting macros and paying attention to my diet, so I’m pretty sure the good nutrition and proper fueling gave me results too.

As you’ll see below, my weight on the scale went up a little more than a pound as well as my muscle mass, which increased 3 pounds. Holy cow! My body fat percentage went down 3%, which just shows you the scale does not tell the whole story.

OPEX results InBody

A little side story: I shared these results on Instagram Stories and received so many questions from followers asking how tall I am. On a good day, I’m 5’4″. I then received a lot of replies commenting that it doesn’t look like I “weigh that much.” Again, the scale is not an accurate measurement of body composition or progress toward your goals.

Muscle imbalances

Because I have scoliosis, I will always deal with muscle imbalances, but OPEX helped to even them out a bit – or at least make my arms and legs more proportional to one another overall.

  • Left arm
    • 5.97 pounds –> 6.37 pounds
    • 123.3% –> 134.6%
  • Right arm
    • 6.11 pounds –> 6.44 pounds
    • 130.2% –> 135.9%
  • Left leg
    • 16.14 pounds –> 16.91 pounds
    • 108.7% –> 113.0%
  • Right leg
    • 16.07 pounds –> 16.65 pounds
    • 108.2% –> 111.4%

Strength gains 

  • Close Grip Bench Press: Increased by 5.26% (100 pounds)
  • Strict Press: Increased by 6.67% (80 pounds)
  • Weighted Dip: Increased by 30% (32.5 pounds)
  • Weighted Pullup: Increased by 20% (30 pounds)
  • Strict Knees to Elbow: Increased by 300% (15 reps)

The increase in Knees to Elbows was crazy. I could only do 3 strict during my initial assessment, but 2 months of serious core work made all the difference – and I couldn’t believe how easy they were to do! Holy gains!

On the CrossFit front, I finished “Murph” (a hero WOD) a whole 3 minutes faster than the previous year, which is a huge improvement – AND I did the workout by myself and not in a class, so I definitely wasn’t going all out. I can only imagine how much faster I would have been with the community support. Even still, I credit OPEX with this time improvement!

Overall, I’m so pleased with my experience at OPEX South Shore. It was a hard decision to stop going because I saw so many awesome results. Sadly, I’m not sure I can swing a membership there + my CrossFit membership. OPEX is not cheap (double the price of CrossFit per month). I really love CrossFit and my friends there, so I’m still on the fence about what to do. OPEX definitely gives you results, but I enjoy working out in a class setting more. OPEX also doesn’t have childcare.

My plan moving forward is to treat my CrossFit class workouts more like the ones that I did at OPEX (i.e. single-limb movements, focus on core and glutes) and not go all out during them. I’m too old for that! 😉 I also plan to do more low-key strength training like I did at OPEX – most days I didn’t even break a sweat, but I realize my body likes these workouts quite a bit!

If you’re ready to commit to a strength training program and build some muscle, StrongMadeSimple is for you! 

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Question of the Day

Have you ever heard of OPEX? What are your thoughts on one-on-one/personalized training?

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