If you’re pushing back-to-back gym classes without seeing major results, try this: Australia’s most hyped workout class that just recently hit U.S. shores. Called F45 (short for function 45), the 45-minute, high-intensity, circuit-style technique has a reputation Down Under for transforming bodies in just a matter of weeks—mine included.
I first tried F45 in 2013 while living in Sydney, back when it was still a relatively undiscovered concept on the Aussie fitness studio circuit. Classes had recently launched at a friend’s gym, so I felt obliged to give it a try. “It’s really hard, but the time goes by crazy fast,” my friend promised as I agreed to a two-week free trial.
Almost four years later, I remember three things from that first class: My glutes burned so hard that I avoided stairs for three days, the 45-minute session whipped by in what felt like 20, and I scheduled five more workouts that week on the train journey home. It was just one class, but I was already hooked.
Over the following couple of months, I recruited friends to work out with me, all of whom rapidly fell under the F45 spell. I started attending daily, jumping out of bed for the 5:30 a.m. class, so strong was my addiction to the workout. In the four short years since it launched in Australia, F45 has become a favourite spot to ’gram among the international fitness blogger crowd and has rolled out 750 studios across 26 countries. Today, it’s where almost every young Aussie celeb, model, and Instagram star works out.