CRUfit

A particular area of expertise at CRUfit is fitness for women in midlife and beyond. Mia Honoré is a personal trainer, endurance athlete, and founder of M-POWER for Women. Years of competing in endurance sports and obstacle racing have shaped her understanding of how women’s bodies change through midlife and why maintaining muscle, supporting metabolic health, managing stress, and building strength are important components of healthy aging.

Mia leads two specialized multi-week programs for women:

• M-POWER is a holistic 12-week program combining progressive strength, cardiovascular, and mobility training with education and guidance on lifestyle topics relevant to women in midlife and beyond. One of the big benefits of M-POWER is that all participants work directly with Mia and gain from her personal experience in training herself and in training others. Community is an integral part of the program, with participants supporting and motivating one another throughout the experience. Participants can choose to train two to five days per week.
• Small Group Strength Training for Women focuses on progressive, supervised strength training informed by research on bone health in postmenopausal women. The program draws in particular on the LIFTMOR randomized controlled trial, which studied high-intensity resistance and impact training in postmenopausal women with low bone mass. After eight months of supervised training, participants in the LIFTMOR intervention demonstrated improvements in lumbar-spine and femoral-neck bone mineral density as well as physical function compared with a low-intensity exercise program. The study provides important evidence supporting appropriately supervised, progressive loading as a component of exercise for bone health.

Rowing has been a defining part of CRUfit since its founding. Mark Sutro rowed on a national-champion varsity crew at the University of California, Berkeley, coached crew at the high-school level, and continues to compete in masters rowing and cycling events. He is also a Concept2 Rowing Master Instructor. At CRUfit, the drop-in rowing classes provide a rhythmic, low-impact form of full-body cardiovascular training that can be adapted to a broad range of ages and fitness levels. Other drop-in group classes include multiple strength training offerings, cycling, and Zumba dance. CRUfit trainers are very knowledgeable about zone-based power training and incorporate it into many of the rowing and cycling classes.

Together, Mia and Mark have built CRUfit around knowledgeable coaching, evidence-informed training, individualized programming, and community. Their goal is not simply to help clients exercise, but to help them develop the strength, fitness, mobility, and confidence to remain active and capable throughout the years ahead.