Category Archives: HIIT Workout

Training For Warriors at Body Space Fitness With Kelvin Gary & The Fierce Fitness Crew

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Body Space Fitness1 Recently, I got the chance to check out Body Space Fitness when they offered a few free trial classes for their upcoming “Training for Warriors” program.  This training gym, which offers a few weekly small group classes but is mostly used for personal training, is one of the coolest gyms I’ve seen. It includes a couple of my favorite fun gym tools – the Prowler and battling ropes, but the coolest thing is the fact that half the space is covered in Astroturf, which is just awesome and practical.

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“Training for Warriors” is a training system developed by expert sports coach Martin Rooney “from his numerous years of experience working with combat and team sports athletes.” It is a system designed to take you through metabolic challenges and strength work to teach athletes cutting edge techniques to keep them at their best. Body Space Fitness is getting ready to start an intensive, 8-week small group program for TFW that will meet 3 times per week.

The first class trial I went to, taught by founder of Body Space Fitness Kelvin Gary, I dragged Julia from FitJourney with me. We had such a ridiculously good time that we arranged to bring a fierce fitness crew to check out BSF the following weekend. It was just too good not to share. So on Saturday, we went there with Holly Rilinger, SinWorkouts and Jolene, which made for a ridiculously kickass group. Kelvin had us all start out with foam rollers since we had all come from other workouts, while he told us about the TFW workout.

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We started out with some dynamic stretching and a brief warm-up before moving into the workout. This class was slightly different from the first one and included 6 stations that we rotated through three times. It included the Prowler- which I always love to push around, battling ropes, TRX back rows, an agility speed work ladder, and this awesome but ridiculously hard plank move with sandbag pull-through. We did 40 seconds of work, with 30 seconds to rest/rotate to the next session. It was one of those awesome crews were everyone is really focused but also super supportive so there was a lot of hooting, hollering and high-fives. Does it get better than that when you are getting your ass kicked? For the final section we finished with a round of sprints on the treadmill, medicine ball twists and bicep curl/shoulder presses. The class FLEW by and by the end I was wiped out but seriously happy to have gotten to workout with such a fierce crew.

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Kelvin was awesome, just like in my first class with him, motivating everyone and keeping an eagle eye on form at each station.  His passion about training and about making sure that people are getting the most out of their session with him is always evident. Body Space Fitness is his vision and he is dedicated to keeping the classes small so that people get that kind of personal attention in any class that happens there. In a training group where you are being challenged like in TFW, that is huge. I can’t even imagine the amazing results people are going to get from 8 weeks of the Training for Warriors challenge…but I can’t wait to see!

Photos and video by Eric Stafford, Stafford Sports Media

As One Effect : The Power of Ten

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On Monday morning, I headed to one of my favorite places to kick off the week: As One’s 8:45am class. Not only are George Vafiades and Mark Merchant so very good at what they do, but that specific class on Monday mornings is filled with a group of kick-ass, inspiring people. Between George and Mark kicking my ass every single time and that great group, I always leave completely inspired. Is there a better way to start a week? Every time, though, I leave and think to myself – “That was the hardest class EVER.” One of these times, that has to give but for this last class, George and Mark once again planned an amazingly intense workout that tested my limits. They are so good at keeping an eye on form and keeping the workout safe that every single time I go as hard as I can to try and live up to their challenge. I don’t always succeed but I try.

This week, the workout was called “The Power of Ten”, or at least, that is what I think Mark said at the beginning. They don’t normally give fun names to their routines, so I might have made that up, since I am never fully awake when we start! As with most As One classes, we were paired off, with each partner sent to their section to start in. I started on the floor while my partner, my awesome super fit friend, started on the evil Airdyne bike. The floor section was 10 reps each of squats with the sandbag, a split squat (10 per leg) where your back foot was up on a box, alternating back lunges (10 per leg), burpees, pushups, pull-ups, weighted back rows with the sandbag, rotational planks, and situps. The ten pull-ups smack in the middle of the rotation were killer from the very start.  We moved from pushups to the bar but we were given our own bars to go back to every time, so we could have the right band to help us. Mine was a heavy, single black band and the first set I flew through, only lightly cursing the last rep.  In that first rotation on the floor, I was super confident in my ability to rock this workout. When we finished, we then swapped out with our partner, who moved to the floor. The Airdyne section was a deceptively simple 30 seconds of going as hard as possible, 30 seconds off, and then repeat until our partner was done on the floor, again, the first round of that section gave me a bout of “Oh, I’ve got this!”.  That didn’t remotely last through the next round, though. By the middle of the second round on the floor, my cursing on the last rep of the pull-up had gotten a little more intense and I was sweating up a storm. My super confidence was fading fast and by the time I moved through the Airdyne section and back to the floor for my 3rd round, I was totally wiped out and only 1/2 way through. My new goal, get through the workout without throwing up, suddenly seemed like a really solid goal. The fourth and final round was brutal but I made it through, and more impressively (for me anyway), completed all 10 pull-ups… although,they were accompanied by a very loud “fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck” as I struggled to get my chin over the bar that final time. Thank goodness, George was there to help me get my foot out of the strap at the end since I was pretty stuck, too tired to manage to pull the strap down to lift my foot out of it. As he helped me, George did a mighty fine job of not actually busting out laughing at me being totally stuck. I managed my final round on the Airdyne with slightly more grace and was grateful for my speedy friend who was the first to finish of her group, meaning we were totally finished.  After a high five, we toweled off and went over to grab our foam rollers. It is always amazing to me how rolling out after class feels like such a sweet reward for all of your hard work! It doesn’t hurt that it basically means you get to flop down on the ground, and really, at the end of one of As One’s classes, I almost always just want to fall down. Rolling out is so much more dignified than the falling down that I envision in my head every time!

I am inordinately proud of making it through that class… and those 40 pull-ups. My goal is to be able to do them without the band. For the first time ever, I think that goal is totally possible… Mark & George make me believe.

 

(Top image, one of my favorite quotes, bottom image of the new As One space from a recent Daily Candy deal)

As One: The Work of Believing

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On Monday morning, bright and early, I made my way to As One in it’s new home, fully prepared to have George Vafiades kick my ass again. I wasn’t really awake when I finally got there and it took me a minute to realize that Mark Merchant was there as well, geared up and ready to go – and both Mark and George looked worrisomely devilish.

The class started off with the normal As One warm up, which George took the lead on. After the warm up, Mark split us into pairs, with each pair alternating exercises. 3 pairs started on a box jump/jump rope split and then 2 pairs were sent to start with a circuit that involved the evil Airdyne bike. I was in that second group, paired with my friend (I so love having a buddy in my class) and Mark paired George with one of the superstar regulars. Our circuit was 40 seconds on the Airdyne, split squats with a sandbag on our shoulders, pushups, bent-over rows with the sandbag again and for good measure, seated rotations.  Somehow, I ended up doing the entire rotation, basically just doing whatever George was doing. He fixed my form in my pushups (so not low enough…) and would look at me sideways when my split squats slowed down and I would kick it up again. I didn’t even pretend to try and keep up when we went to the Airdyne though… he is a beast on that damn thing! After our roughly 4 1/2 minutes, we swapped with the box folks. This round was deceptively easy at first, 20 box jumps and then swapping out with your partner to jump rope while they box jumped.  Even after the first 4 1/2 minutes, this seemed like the easy portion but by the time the 3rd round came around, it was starting to seem ridiculously hard. Mark was, of course, super precise about form and anytime time he mentioned that I had good form on some move – mostly the back row, once, on my jump roping form – I got slightly, irrationally proud of myself. Of course, being proud of myself when jumping rope meant I would totally lose focus and then whack myself solidly with the rope… I really am so smooth. The funny thing was that I didn’t really notice when Mark was explaining the routine to us, how there was no rest in it at all – or as Mark called it “40 minutes of straight work”.  By the fifth and final round, my partner and I were cracking up because really, it was either laugh or cry at that point. It always amazes me how good they are at As One.  Kicking my ass with things that seem so deceptively simple at the onset.

We ended the day with three rounds of pull-ups. It is amazing how much better I have gotten at them since I started training at As 1. For the first round I figured I would need the heavy band for help since I “suck” at pull-ups.  Turns out that isn’t quite as true anymore! After that realization, I dropped down a band with each round. That last round was a little pathetic but it was awesome to test myself and really know how much I have improved.  Next time, I won’t doubt myself so much. I totally see full-unassisted pull-ups happening soon!

Top picture from Daily Candy Deals which is having an AMAZING deal for As 1 -check it out! Bottom picture just a little motivational reminder…

A Chorus Line: Craig Ramsay at Barry’s Bootcamp NYC

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When I heard a few weeks ago that Craig Ramsay would be joining Barry’s Bootcamp in NYC, I knew that at some point, I would have to go in and take a class with him. On Tuesday, I made my way to Barry’s Boot Camp for the chance to try a Barry’s Boot Camp class with Craig.

Although I got there early, there weren’t any seats in the front area, so I grabbed a magazine, took a seat in the juice bar area and apparently missed the whole meet-anyone-I-don’t-know section of the day. The studio opened and I made my way over to start class. When Alycia spotted me, she asked if I had met Craig yet.  When I said “No, but I am going to be taking class with him!” she hustled in ahead of me to make the introduction, which was really sweet.  Craig is ridiculously handsome and charismatic in person -not that he didn’t seem that way on Thintervention but next to Jackie Warner, it would be hard to seem like the most charismatic in a room.  In the room where I met him, he absolutely was. He had just finished dividing the group into their two sections and asked where I wanted to go, to which I replied “Wherever you want me!” although secretly hoping for the floor. I went to the treadmills. The basics of Barry’s is pretty much set no matter who you take, alternating sections of running and floor work that is geared towards whatever that day’s theme is.  On Tuesday, it was “butts & legs”. I was a little nervous about the running section, though, since I haven’t been doing much (any really, unless you count running when I’m late for a class) and was concerned that the treadmill portion would do me in.

The first running section went surprisingly well, although the girls on my left talked to each other the entire time and sang along to the songs that played…which annoyed the tar out of me for the first few minutes until I realized both how entertainingly gossipy their conversation was and really, what a pretty voice the girl next to me had. As we went through this first section, there was a lot of singing and smiling happening around me. It made the whole thing far more entertaining than it had any right to be. In every other BBC class I have taken, that first treadmill section makes me hate life – by the second section, I can get into it, but the first one?  Seething hatred. Then, I heard Craig mention something about “for my Broadway people…” and as I did a quick scan of the room, it suddenly clicked that I was in a class with theater performers. No wonder there was such a high level of cardio and singing happening! Another big plus was that Craig really watched out for form, not just yelling at us to go faster, but also correcting people’s gait on the treadmill. His cues about keeping my heels down were hugely helpful for me since once I really started focusing on it, the treadmill didn’t hurt my legs nearly so much and the run felt much more natural.

This class had a high-level of irreverent and really funny –but actually helpful- cues. Craig is sweet and joyfully encouraging, with a slightly lewd streak that I found wildly amusing. This was especially evident during the really challenging floor sections, which flew by because they were filled with so many funny quips and great encouraging direction. A few times, he walked by me and patted my shoulder when I was doing the move especially well. It was really dear. But during the one of the many squat sections, he yelled to the room “Tits and Ass! That is what I need to see!” and from that moment on, I couldn’t get the song from A Chorus Line out of my head (“Talent 10, Looks 3″ listen to it here), with all of the Broadway performers in the class, it just wasn’t hard to picture them busting out in full song. The first floor section also included some really fun moves, my two favorites being the Hot Potato and the Sumo shuffling-move. The Hot Potato involved sitting on the bench, weights in hands, popping up and then sitting down and lifting your heels while moving in a circle around the bench, a minute in one direction, then the other. It was challenging but also felt like a little kids game, which makes everything better, really. The Sumo move was a wide second startled over the bench – the goal was to actually be so low your ass was almost touching the bench, then shuffle forward and back over the bench, never coming out of the low position. It was SO freaking hard but I loved this move. There were lots of your standard donkey kicks, squats and lunges but because there were fun, new moves in the mix, all of the floor sections were really fun. I never had that “please let this end moment” and that is an amazing thing in any class!

One of our treadmill sections was something on the treadmill called Dynamic Mode. I, of course, somehow completely miss how to actually get my treadmill to do this, so the very sweet guy next to me leaned over and showed me how to do it. I was grateful for the help and thanked him, to which he replied “Don’t thank me yet…you are going to HATE this!” and I just laughed and said “probably!”.  Dynamic Mode basicly means you have to move the treadmill belt yourself. So even walking is hard and you spend the entire time leaned in, really pushing off each step. The pattern was a simple one, walk for a minute, then run, walk, then run. I could get to about 6.1-6.5 in the running sessions but it was a killer to do. By the end of the section, I was wiped out, but I didn’t really hate it. I mean, it was evil but weirdly cool to do, too. The last section was a high 15% incline at 4 mi, then back to a 0% for a sprint. When we went down to the flat, we went for an all out sprint and Craig cheered us on to go faster each time.

At the end of class, Craig told us to put everything away and that if we wanted to hit him for what he made us do, we could. I really just wanted to hug him (don’t worry, I didn’t) and tell him he was awesome. Craig is charming, goofy and just really good at inspiring everyone to work hard and believe in themselves. It was a great, challenging, joy-filled class and I couldn’t ask for anything more.

 

(Top image from Craig Ramsay’s Facebook page, second image of Barry’s Bootcamp NYC from their Facebook page -by the way, I never even knew there were windows in the back of that room! , bottom image by Liz Cook from the To Resolve Project website )

As One’s amazing new studio & the joy of synchronized burpees…

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On Monday morning, bright and early, I went to As One – it was their very first day in their new space and really, I just couldn’t wait any longer to check out the new studio.  So, my friend and I made a date to see it the first chance we got.

The new digs are just around the corner from the old space, and are actually ON Broadway now. When I first heard they were moving into this building, I had assumed they would be on the first floor, so when I got there, I was a little confused by the still empty storefront.  They are actually on the third floor. The new studio is easily twice as big as the old one, with exposed brick walls, thick, nice mats covering the floor, lockers, and bathrooms with showers in the studio.  No more traipsing down a hallway to an office floor’s shared bathroom! My favorite new addition, though, are the pull-up bars hanging from the ceiling in the middle of the studio – although it does mean there is no more wall to help you anymore!

Our class was small, only 6 of us.  I think most people probably thought that the move wouldn’t actually be finished by Monday, so they were giving it a few days, but I am sure the numbers will swell again. I loved getting to scope out the new digs with so few people, though!  George was a little sleep deprived, since apparently he had been up all night finishing the move and for a brief moment, I thought that meant the workout would be a little easier. That wasn’t the case at all. It was by far and away the hardest As 1 class I have been to yet.

The first section was 1 minute rounds of the evil Airdyne bike, squats with a sandbag on your shoulders, box jumps, planks, bike (again), deadlift with sandbag, box jumps (again) and finishing with pushups – this circuit was repeated 3 times. George, although a little goofier than normal due to sleep deprivation, was on all of us about form, as always.  There wasn’t even a moment of slacking allowed. Even though the new space has a great cross-breeze, by the end of that section, I was wiped out and dripping in sweat.  I also knew we had too much time left to actually be done. The second section was a circuit of 30 seconds of burpees, pull-ups and my favorite, the heavy whacking ropes. We paired off and my friend and I managed to get through the first round pretty straight-faced and focused, but by the 2nd round, things got a little goofy. I mean, seriously, synchronized burpees are just funny. George called us out, telling us “Ok, keep the routine going!  Now let’s see you tap feet on the pull-ups!” which we proceeded to do, although, it made that round of pull-ups just silly hard. The ropes are always fun but after burpees and pull-ups, they felt ridiculously heavy. By the third round, my pull-ups were sort of sad and pathetic but I did manage to do a few and not just hang there, which I was totally proud of.

After this especially challenging workout, I was glad that every workout at As 1 ends with a dedicated recovery session with the foam roller – I am pretty sure it is the only reason I was able to move the next day! Once again, As 1 kicked my ass and I can’t wait to go back…

 

Photo of George from As One’s Facebook page and bottom picture just a little internet goodness. Photos of the new space will be in my next As One post, since they weren’t finished completely setting up yet!

Kira Stokes & her amazing small group class….

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This week, I got the chance to try another one of Kira Stokes‘ classes, from her “Stoked” series.  This time, I took “Stoked 360 MAX”, the small group version of her classic class. I had loved the Stoked 360 class I tried a few weeks ago and was excited about getting another chance at training with Kira. I love small group programs, both for the individualized attention that the trainers are able to give and also for the participants’ dedication – which is a given when you have someone like Kira Stokes, who is such a stickler for form and has such an intense loyal following, I had a feeling it was going to be a good class. I didn’t expect it to quite as awesome as it was though!

On Monday morning, I ran into the Reebok Sports Center, stashed my stuff in a locker and hurried upstairs to class. Kira had told me to head upstairs to the 6th floor and grab a medicine ball before joining the class, however, by the time I got there, only the 2lbs balls were left so I grabbed one and then promptly realized that the class wasn’t starting in the normal studios where I thought it would. After a quick look around, I noticed a group of really fit women jumping rope on the basketball court below and realized that HAD to be Kira’s group so I ran down the stairs to join them. As soon as I hit the door, I had an immediate moment of “oh shit” the group was so super fit that I knew this is going to be even more hardcore then I had bargained for. I steeled myself as I entered the room, expecting the group to be annoyed that I was crashing their class, since it was at the tail end of a session.  Turns out I couldn’t have been more wrong.  Kira introduced me to the group and I was immediately met with warm smiles, welcomes, and a little teasing about if I knew what I was getting myself into. I promptly realized this group was going to be amazingly fun to workout with for the next 90 minutes.

As we jumped rope to warm up, Kira told us we had 20 minutes on the court and then would be heading up to the studio, so we better make those minutes count. We did suicide sprints, threw the medicine ball at the wall and then catching it in a squat on the rebound, and this overhead throw at the wall and mountain climbers with your feet on gliding disks thing. The final exercise in this group was the killer though- a moving plank to pike move that I thought might just kill me.  With our feet still on the gliders, we pulled up to a pike before walking our hands forward back into a plank, finishing with a pushup each time as we inched our way to center court. Nothing has ever seemed so far away. By the time the 20 minutes were up and the 3rd round completed, I was shaking. During each round, Kira kept telling people that they could switch out with me for the lighter ball if their 6lbs got too heavy, but no one took her up on that and by the end, I was really grateful that they had taken pity on me!

As we made our way up the stairs, the women laughed and told me I was doing good. I might have been holding my own but good was a long way away! The second section included lots of jumping rope, stair runs, so many variations on push-ups, lots of multi-directional movements and Kira’s version of the walking lunge with 8 lbs weights in each hand. In her version, there is a reach out and pause at the bottom of the movement, which effectively robs you of any moment you could build, making it so much harder to pull up into the standing bicep curl at the top. It hits everything. It is an amazingly simple and effective move – crossing the floor both directions in each round. We went about half an hour over -which I am always for in any class, but in this one, I was actually concerned that if there was another round of those lunges I might just keel over. We wrapped up with a core section that I liked, mostly because by that point, I really just wanted to lay down and whimper and at least I got to lay down!  Whimpering I would manage to hold off ’till the next day… when I actually did whimper going up the stairs at the subway station!

It was one of those classes that just entirely kicked my ass BUT was filled with such awesome, funny, impressive women that I couldn’t help but love every minute of it. I knew Kira was good. A master trainer with an impressive ability to focus on form while challenging you with new and interesting moves, but those women, her core group, show just how great she is. They follow her from program to program because she is great, inspiring and truly cares about the people she trains. The group on Monday included all ages, but all were really fit, funny and welcoming…just like Kira is! If I could, I would join that group every Monday. They just ROCKED!

(Top image of Kira from her website, of how a pushup is supposed to look! Bottom image just a little internet goodness.)

The Stoked Method: Kira Stokes & her massive following…

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On Monday evening, I trekked over to the Upper West Side to check out Kira Stokes and her “Stoked” series at the Reebok Sports Club. I was planning on going to all 3 of them that were scheduled that night, but my slowpoking it out of Brooklyn didn’t let that happen – which was probably a good thing. I arrived on the UWS just a few minutes before the first class was going to start and headed over to find the gym.  It turns out that the Reebok Sports Club is a HUGE, gorgeous gym.
I took the elevator up to the reception desk and when the doors opened, I was surprised to see the super fancy, but very sweet concierge who greeted me.  After a brief once over of the interloper who obviously didn’t belong (sigh, I never remember to dress up to GO to the gym,) the Jeremy Renner look-alike found my name on the guest list and proceeded to turn on the charm. It was such a fitting introduction to the fancy gym – and holy moly, was it FANCY.  The nice thing was that, because I was a little late and missed the first class I was aiming for, I was able to take my time in the locker room and get up to the studio. The locker room was open, immaculate and pretty, which is rare – and the women in there were chatty and friendly. It felt a little like I had entered the other side of the looking glass.

After passing through all of the beautiful floors of shiny equipment, checking out their climbing wall (belay only, phew – something I didn’t like!) I finally made it up to the studios where I got my first glimpse of Kira Stokes. Now, mind you, I had seen pictures of Kira, looking all fitness-competition-fit but I had sort of assumed that isn’t what she walked around looking like. You know the type you see in Oxygen magazine and tell yourself  “they don’t really look like that.” Kira really looks like that in real life. As I sat there watching the class I had planned to be in “Primal Stoked”, I was floored at how hard it looked – and what a sight it was to behold. Kira was doing all of these crazy moving-across-the-floor plank variations. The people in that class were all in great shape and it was fun to watch everyone push themselves. The next class on the menu was “Stoked Abs”, a 15 minute ab intensive. It was fun, hard and full of weird variations that completely fried my abs in that one little quick session. When I had gone in with all of the teaming masses (this is a wildly popular class and the studio was packed to the gills,) I didn’t really think about where I was, I just made sure that I had a clear eyeline to Kira and staked out my space for the longer class. I really should have paid a little more attention, since it turned out that durning the long class, I was directly behind her – and in HER eyesight for the class I had really come for “Stoked 360” (see a theme here?). Which meant there wasn’t even a moment of slacking that was going to be allowed for the next 75 minutes. Kira has been a trainer for 18 years and is a stickler for form. Really, she isn’t going to let you get away with anything, and had I really thought it through, I would NOT have positioned myself right behind her! As Kira handed out jump ropes to a few of us, and yes, I did try to hide from that, she explained to us that we were to keep moving throughout the whole class.

Each segment was made of 3 moves that were done 3 times – once to learn it, once to know it, and once to failure. All were done to push our endurance. They were all compound moves that were challenging but really fun – lots of plyometric moves and changing directions. She corrected me a lot which I loved, but I wasn’t the only one by any stretch – when she said she was a stickler for form, I should have believed her! In a class that large, to really be so passionate about form in everyone, was awesome to see.  She kept the rowdy guys in the corner in check and still kept a keen eye on the inspiringly fit pregnant woman in the front. It is no wonder that Kira has such a following – she loves what she does, creates a hard, fun, challenging class AND keeps an eye on you? You really can’t ask for much more.

Now if I can figure a way to sneak back into Reebok Sport Center, I am totally trying that “Primal Stoked” class…plus, maybe that “Stoked Abs” again…but I now know that a third one on the same day would be the death of me!

(Image of Kira Stokes from her website. Bottom image from ESPNW’s Facebook page)

A Perfect Mix: hard work & taking care of yourself….

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On Monday morning, I met up with three of the fittest women I know at one of my favorite spots in the city, As 1. Of the 4 of us, we had two newbies, but I was absolutely sure they would both love the workout. I knew they would kick ass!  I found out that George wasn’t going to lead the group this time, Mark Merchant would be. It would be my first time with Mark.  I had heard he was amazing but tough, and I was a little nervous about whether or not this would change my love of the As 1 experience. In pictures, Mark looks far more like a drill sergeant than George does, and I was a little worried that he was just going to be very, very serious. Turns out, in person, Mark is very warm, open and just very committed to what he does – exactly what I should have expected from one of the founders at As 1. I liked him immediately and then he proceeded to kick my ass.

The first half of class we did a routine based on a plan Mark had designed for Esquire magazine. It was 5 rounds of 20 seconds-on-5-seconds-off of the following moves: squats with a sandbag on your shoulders, push-ups, sit-ups, burpees, split squats, bent-over rows with the sandbag, a move called the Dolphin (basically a plank with a raising up to a pike –over and over), and then another set of burpees. It sounded simple enough, but proved to be a killer! As with every workout, there we were, all watched like a hawk and throughout the whole thing, Mark made constant corrections to form as we went through each round. The second half of class was made up of another 5 rounds.  This time, it was pull-ups (to failure or 8,) one-armed rope whacking while squatting (this was virtually impossible for me, sort of like patting my tummy and rubbing my head is,) switch arms-repeat, then end the round running down 7 flights of stair and back up. Those stairs ARE hard, but the best part was that my partners in crime kept hooting and hollering as they passed one another – which made it wildly more fun than it should have been!  Plus, I was really grateful every time they passed that they weren’t just cursing me for getting them into that crazy stairwell!

I was crazy wiped out after class on Monday (As 1 was my 5th class in just 48hrs) and was really sore and really just wanted to lie down. Instead, I headed off to see Dr. Gregory Shure at Madison Square Wellness to talk about the importance of stretching and preventative wellness care. Turns out that really, it was such a random stroke of good fortune that his office had contacted me about coming in to talk to Dr. Shure last week! I have a lot of people I know and trust completely who have been saying pretty amazing things about Dr. Shure, so I jumped at the chance to go talk to him. I was fully expecting an office lecture (I don’t stretch nearly enough) and that maybe if I looked like a total hot mess, maybe he would crack my back (I have never been to a Chiropractor, so really, I didn’t know what a first appointment would entail). I just really didn’t know what to expect but knew it would be interesting at least. Mostly, he didn’t lecture me at all, but gave me a lot of solid advice.  He also didn’t call me a hot mess but did go on to give me a massage/realignment thing that was just out-of-this-world amazing. It wasn’t scary or aggressive cracking that I thought might be what happens in a chiropractic office, but more pulling and pushing to straighten me out a little. It was amazing!

I left feeling a hundred times better than I had when I walked in and feeling like I had found a really great resource for staying healthy and on my feet.  The very next day in my mailbox, I received an email from Dr. Shure as a follow-up that included a variety of stretches that I should incorporate into my daily routine, with links to demonstrations of the moves. It was such a cool and thoughtful follow-up and I was shocked – and completely grateful. I totally see why my friends have raved about him, since obviously, now so do I!

(Image of Mark from As 1′s Facebook page. Image of Dr. Shure from Madison Square Wellness Facebook page )

AS 1: Tabata is not my friend.

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Part of my kick-off-the-year-right plan was that I scheduled as many classes that I was excited about as possible around New Year’s Day. This might have been a slightly over-ambitious plan since it included 3 spin classes with my favorites at Flywheel (Jesse, Alison, and of course, Holly), a new barre class and THEN rounding it out at As 1 on Tuesday night with a session taught by George Vafiades.  I LOVE As 1 – I think it is one of the best workouts in the city but, admittedly, after all of those classes, I was a little nervous walking in on Tuesday night. I know how tough a class can be and I was just getting over the sore from the Flybarre and Flywheeling adventures that I rang in the New Year with.

This class was packed for the small As 1 space, although, everyone got sorted into their own corner of the mat quickly.  While George got all of the stragglers situated into their spots (myself included – damn MTA), Lisa, another trainer there, led the warm up. She also teaches a yoga class at As 1 on Saturdays, and it was interesting that some of the standard warm up moves actually did feel more yoga-like when she was teaching them. Then, George took over, telling us with a mischievous glint in his eye, that I now know means trouble, that we were going to be doing a “Tabata” workout.  Turns out that Tabata is basically a workout where you go full-out for 20 seconds and then rest for 10, for a total of 4 minutes per round. It is high intensity training at its most extreme – which I love.

There were 4 minute rounds of weighted squats, burpees, back rows and dead lifts. The ‘easiest’ round was one that alternated between push-ups and sit-ups – since it was the only round that by the end didn’t make me feel like just falling over. It is truly amazing how LONG four minutes can seem! The worst was easily the 8 minute alternating split squat section (4 minutes per side, apparently) – which left me really shaky by the end! The 4-minute rounds didn’t end at that point but we moved onto the props section – box jumps, jump ropes, wind bikes, stair running and my favorite thing of all time, the ropes! I LOVE whacking those ropes on the ground…I know I’ve said this before…but it really is just the best sound and was the only round I wished was longer! We ended the Tabata with another 4 minutes of burpees and by the end, mine were vaguely pathetic but I did them and didn’t fall over – a win in my book! Class always ends with some foam rollering, which I think makes all the difference. My legs are sore but not ‘whimpering-sitting-down’ sore, like they should have been with that many split squats!

The class flew by. I am always amazed at As 1, how a class so challenging can seem to go by in the blink of an eye. I love being pushed like that and challenged to do more.  George is so good at assessing everyone and keeping an impressive eye on everyone’s form. You know you are in really good hands while you are being challenged to do more and work harder then you ever thought you could.

(Top image: Internet goodness, Bottom image: George at the rope station from As 1′s Facebook page)

FBS’s top 5 classes for 2011

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Closing out this year, I am sick, which means that I have far too much time to reflect on all of the amazing experiences I have gotten to have this year.  I have done a lot of workouts, done a huge variety of classes, and written about a lot of them here.  When I think about my top 5 experiences, it becomes a challenge…because I write about the things I love.  So, narrowing it down to a top five was a little daunting, but it turns out that there ARE a top 5 that really stand out for me when reflecting on 2011:

  1. Jesse Alexander’s 1 Year Anniversary Ride: At that point, I had just taken a handful of classes with Jesse but it fully cemented him as one of my absolute favorites. It was one of those perfect classes, where everyone there was completely, raucously invested in the ride AND the instructor was completely in the zone. At the beginning of class, no one knew why this one was so special, but there was this moment of awareness when the place erupted with love – it was awesome to witness and changed my love of Flywheel to a flat out love of the community that has been built there.

  1. Holly Rilinger’s Training Camp:  Holly is awesome. Plain and simple.  In fact, one of her Flywheel classes was the reason I finally started my blog. It was the very first thing I posted about. She just has that sort of effect on you. However, it isn’t the class that I think of anymore when I think of Holly. In September, I was chosen by Health Warrior to participate in one of her Training camps.  It was 4 weeks of getting to workout with one of the best trainers in the city, in a small group setting. It was easily a highlight of my year. It says a lot that this night owl woke up voluntarily at 4:30 a.m. to attend – and never missed a class or was late – and that by the end, I really believed in my inner athlete.

  1. AS 1 – I didn’t know what to expect, really, when I got there but the one thing I didn’t expect was to love this workout. It is one of my absolute favorite classes I tried this year, hands down. As 1 is definitely going to be in the mix in the New Year. It was hard, exhausting AND made me feel like a bad ass. I love the minimal space, the exacting coaching and the functional based training – PLUS whacking those big ropes against the ground rocks. I left tired and invigorated – the sign for me of the greatest kind of class.

  1. Brick Workout v. 2 – This year I did two Brick workouts, sponsored by the Lululemon 66th Street and Flywheel. I loved the idea of indoor cycling and running back-to-back, and it was just as hard as I thought it would be. The first one was on a perfect, beautiful, crisp fall day and was great challenging fun. The second one though, is the one I loved, since it was during the season’s freak snowstorm in October. The indoor cycling portion with Aleah Stander (Flywheel rockstar instructor) was packed, but only 4 of us made it over to the park for the 3 mile run in a snowy Central Park with Abby Bales, the run coach who amazingly motivated me to keep going in the snow AND made it seem like fun. It was a workout that made me feel like both a bad ass and an athlete. It also made me think that maybe in the new year I should try and get some more running coach time in – it made a huge difference that day!

  1. Soul Cycle with Danny Kopel: A friend of mine invited me to my second Soul Cycle class (I had really enjoyed my first with Jenny Gaither, too) and it was ridiculously fun. It felt more like being at a concert and it made it easy to see why Danny has groupies – but it was also a just a good sweaty workout too. Of the handful of Soul Cycle classes I have taken, this one was the most fun and was the one that made me know I’ll be back at some point next year.

 

Images: 1. Internet goodness 2. Flywheel’s Flatiron location for one of my many visits 3. Our first Training Camp session from Holly’s Facebook page with our Health Warrior goodie boxes 4. The As 1 space from their website 5. Another bit of internet goodness 6.  Union Square Soul Cycle studio from their website