Tripod Fitness

Tripod Fitness is a community led gym at Ta' Qali, in the heart of the island and close to the walled city of Mdina. It runs coached group classes built around CrossFit and HYROX, with weightlifting, gymnastics, conditioning, strength and running sessions alongside. Its motto, #BuildingABetterYou, sums up the aim: every member should feel welcome, supported and inspired, whatever their starting point.

For a UK visitor on a longer stay, or someone settling in Malta and wanting a regular routine, a coached class gym is a simple way to keep training and meet people quickly. Tripod opens seven days a week, and sessions take place across indoor and outdoor training spaces. If you are still choosing where to base yourself, our guide to where to stay in Malta explains how the different areas compare.

A gym built around people

Members often say they arrive for the training and stay for the people. The gym puts as much weight on atmosphere as on programming: chats before and after sessions, encouragement mid workout, and events and socials that make it a place to spend time rather than just a room with equipment. Training does not have to look one specific way. Some members like the structure of a timetable of classes, some prefer to mix things up, and plenty simply want a routine they can keep up.

The gym describes four things members get: expert coaching across CrossFit, HYROX, weightlifting and gymnastics; fun, with friendly competition and plenty of banter; a ready made community that provides accountability; and results, helped by workouts that vary constantly so progress does not stall.

Classes at Tripod Fitness

The timetable covers a broad mix. CrossFit is the core class: full body, functional movements such as lifting, squatting and running, combining Olympic lifting, gymnastics and cardio. Sessions are fully coached and scalable, so people at different experience levels can train safely, and the coaches focus on good movement, sensible scaling and long term progress.

HYROX is structured race preparation. Tripod is an official HYROX affiliate gym in Malta, and its classes bring together running, ergs, walking lunges, burpees and other functional movements to build engine capacity, pacing and consistency. They suit athletes preparing for a first event as well as those chasing a better race time.

Sweat45 is a fast paced 45 minute conditioning class using ergs, running and burpees to build cardiovascular capacity, with options to adjust the intensity. Functional Strength is a low impact, coached class that builds strength, improves movement and reduces injury risk, and it sits well beside running, swimming or cycling. The Weightlifting class works on technique in the snatch and the clean and jerk.

Other classes include CF Gymnastics for skills such as muscle ups and handstand walking, a beginner friendly CrossFit Gymnastics class, Team WOD (longer workouts shared with a teammate or two), Track Club for coached running, and Savage Sundays, the signature class for competitors. Kids Fitness alternates HYROX style endurance with CrossFit style strength blocks, which is useful for families staying for a while.

The coaching team

The coaches hold qualifications across several disciplines, including CrossFit certificates, gymnastics and weightlifting courses, personal training awards and, for the kids classes, a CrossFit Kids certificate. Michael Fava is a two time national weightlifting champion in the 77 kg category and a national level weightlifting technical official, Owen Camilleri brings more than ten years of weightlifting experience and a Level 4 personal training certificate.

Christina Grima, a former semi professional basketball player with a degree in Nutrition, Health and Lifestyles, opened her own functional training facility in 2015 before launching Tripod. Other coaches come from teaching, physiotherapy and sport, and many started as members before taking their coaching courses. That mix means newcomers are likely to meet someone who remembers being a beginner.

Training spaces and merchandise

Sessions take place in distinct indoor and outdoor training spaces within the basketball complex, from racks, barbells and rowing machines to open areas for running and team workouts. Staying fit while on holiday or relocating is easier when the venue is easy to reach, and Ta' Qali sits on the edge of the island's central region. If you want to combine a workout with sightseeing, our Mdina guide and our page on things to do in Malta suggest where to go afterwards.

The gym also sells branded clothing and training accessories, from tees and jumpers to wrist wraps and grips.

Finding the gym and starting out

Tripod is in the Basketball Pavillion within the National Basketball Complex at Ta' Qali, Attard, with the Malta Basketball Association on the same site. If you are travelling by bus, routes 54 and 186 serve it. Visitors staying near the old capital may find our hotels in Mdina and Rabat page handy, while newcomers planning a move can read our Malta relocation guide and our digital nomad guide for the practical side.

Training outdoors is part of the appeal, and Malta's climate helps; our Malta weather guide shows what to expect month by month. When you are ready, you can browse other options in our directory of gyms in Malta or use the VisitMalta.co.uk enquiry form on this page, and we will pass your message to Tripod Fitness.