Tween looking for a high-intensity class like CrossFit or similar
Hello,
I have a tween who loves to break a sweat and loves a hardy workout. They have done a lot of gymnastics and are looking for a new challange and to try something new - dance, martial arts, or some sort of conditioning class- but those that we have tried thus far are pretty fluffy and heavy on instruction and light on workout. I wondered if there is something like CrossFit but for the tween age? Or perhaps there's parents who have encontered a different after-school class that I have overlooked? Any ideas would be greatly appreciated. We live in the East Bay but would be willing to venture to the Lamorinda area.
Thanks in advance!
Sep 3, 2025
Parent Replies
My tween does Karate and they do a lot of conditioning and work really hard! So definitely consider martial arts, both for the workout and the other aspects (meditation, community, self defense) that come with it. Otherwise it is pretty hard to find hard youth workouts in group gyms, I imagine there is a lot of liability involved. One option to consider might be a youth Parkour/Ninja warrior type class such as those at Traverse Fitness (https://www.traversefit.com/) in Richmond which offers an American Ninja Warrior training program for youth or MVMNT in Conord (https://www.mvmntm.com/). Or consider indoor bouldering programs for youth, those can be really challenging and great for building upper body and core strength! My teen goes to Bridges Bouldering in El Cerrito and gets quite a workout.
Once your child is a full teen there will be more options, for example I attend OrangeTheory classes and they allow teens at 14 as long as they attend with their parent or guardian.