The grunting gets louder the further I walk down the path. It's somewhat synchronized, and suddenly I hear a buzzer and everything is quiet — for 10 seconds.
Four men of various body types — all soaked in sweat — have squeezed into a small studio apartment located on one of the side streets of Tokyo's ritzy Omotesando district. Their exercise space is a 15-sq.-meter room that has been converted into an office for Chikara CrossFit — the capital's sole CrossFit franchise.
CrossFit is an exercise regime combining high-intensity aerobic activity with strength training. It has taken off in the United States, Australia and 39 other countries around the world, and in June a franchise opened in Tokyo.