Knockout CrossFit / American Top Team Gwinnett

Throughout the week, Knockout CrossFit’s 14,000-square-foot facility is outfitted with heavy bags, padded floors, and a raised boxing ring, and abuzz with the clatter of weights and kettlebells and the raspy chorus of patrons striving intensely toward fitness goals. For more than a decade the staff has trained fighters in martial art styles such as Brazilian jiujitsu, while a crew of instructors certified by CrossFit leads adults of all levels of fitness through CrossFit classes and boot-camp sessions. After helping groups loosen up with stretching exercise, CrossFit instructors lead students through the system's signature workout of the day, an ever-changing exercise that is scaled to each participant's fitness level.

Their hardcore cardio classes boost heart rates and core strength with a regimen dedicated to increasing both power and agility, and their kickboxing classes blend moves from MMA, karate, boxing, and muay thai that help exercisers hone speed, burn calories, tone muscles, and increase flexibility while simultaneously bolstering confidence. MMA classes add to these techniques by adding standup attacks, takedowns, and submissions. The trainers also help youth bolster speed, conditioning, and techniques in an athletic program. In lieu of monotonous cardio machines, each course works with the facility’s abundance of ropes, rings, free weights, and kettlebells, and the open floor leaves ample space for running, jumping, and gesturing how big you want your muscles to be.