Rumble Boxing brings high-energy atmosphere to Shelby Township

SHELBY TOWNSHIP — There’s boxing in the traditional sense, and then there’s Rumble Boxing.

The high-intensity, eccentric environment caught fire in New York, Illinois, California, Texas and other states, and it has now found a home in Shelby Township.

“This studio is hard because there’s nothing else like it,” said Arna Moore, owner of Rumble’s Shelby Township location. “If you didn’t take a class in Chicago, New York or Los Angeles, people have no clue when they come in of what they’re getting into. It’s that club vibe; the energy is so high.”

Rumble, which was founded in 2017 in New York, opened its Shelby Township doors on Dec. 12, providing a new style of high-intensity interval training.

Each class is a 45-minute session with 10 rounds of full-body cardio, strength workouts and high-energy training. The facility features teardrop-style Aqua boxing bags that are designed to inherit the force of a strike rather than sending the force back into the striker’s arm.

Rumble boxing’s class sessions focus on not just bag work, but also on exercises of the day. With Tuesday being their featured “leg day,” half the class session is focused on bag work and the other half on lunges, scissor kicks, mountain climbers and other various lower-body exercises.

The class typically starts on a bag and then shifts to floor/bench workouts, and it will rotate back-and-forth with even intervals on both floor/bench and bag.

When on the aqua bag, the focus shifts to technique, power, speed and most importantly, endurance. Each round will showcase a variety of strikes, with jabs, crosses, uppercuts and hooks being the focal points.

As the rounds increase, the combinations of each strike increase with a jab-to-cross-to-uppercut combination until participants are mixing each strike into one fluid motion.

Endurance is key, because the Rumble Boxing trainer has no problem leading the class through a few full-speed rounds that feature a barrage of punches at a high-speed rate.

Music adds to the atmosphere of the high-intensity workout.

The dim room is compensated for by illuminating lights and fast-paced music as the trainer runs the class through various exercises.

“The community can expect a one-of-a-kind workout experience combining boxing and strength intervals; it’s a party,” Allen Rebold, head trainer at the Shelby Township location, said. “The ability to control your own workout while being led by an instructor is a unique experience you don’t get everywhere.”

Moore, the owner of the Shelby Township location, was a financial adviser for 25 years before embarking on her new journey.

The Sterling Heights native felt she wanted to do more in her life, and one conversation with her financial broker would change everything.

“He showed me Rumble, and I thought, ‘Oh my God, that’s awesome,’” Moore said. “There’s nothing like this in Michigan.”

Moore purchased three franchises, with Troy and Rochester Hills expected to be the next Michigan-based locations for Rumble Boxing.

With Shelby Township’s location and population, Moore said it was the perfect location for Rumble.

“When I bought the studio, I looked around and thought about what would be a good demographic for this,” Moore said. “I looked at where other studios were and gyms; Shelby is the perfect place to start.”

Moore, being the enthusiastic business owner she is, purchased the studio before taking a class. Moore said she took the class for the first time at a convention in Las Vegas alongside Andy Stern, Rumble’s co-creator and vice president of talent and programming, and said it was exactly what she hoped it was.

“I took the class and I thought, ‘This is fun,”’ Moore said. “It reassured me that I made a good choice, because the first time you take the workout, you’re gonna feel like you died, but at the same time, you’re going to think, ‘Oh my God, I had so much fun.’”

Classes are open now, and run as early as 5:30 a.m. and as late as 8 p.m. during the week.

Drop-in classes cost $27, and monthly plans are available for purchase.

For more information, visit www.rumbleboxinggym.com.