In the main studio, the second instructor, Benjamin Wegman, was getting to know all of the new faces in this class. There were only 8 of us, so the fact that every class there has two instructors made the student to instructor ratio completely awesome…but it also meant that there was no room to hide!

After a quick check in on everyone to see if there were any injuries, we launched into the warm up section – a flurry of jumping jacks, squats, pushups and planks. Daury and Ben would switch off between demonstrating the moves we would be doing and correcting everyone’s form. The two guys played off of each other, keeping things light and fun while they KICKED our asses. Along with many versions of squats & planks, we also used a TRX-like device to do incline rows and one-legged pistil squats – doing these moves, slowly and with Duary and Ben keeping a keen eye on our forms where ridiculously hard. Then there was a plank, pushup, mountain climber balancing on a medicine ball while Duary would bounce around us making the challenging moves, comically hard with the floor shaking under us. I  was breathing hard and wiped and when I did my first time check in this kickass session, I realized that we were only 25 minutes into this class  – my only thought was “Oh, I am screwed.”  The next section was a timed “As Many Rounds As Possible” of 12 Thuster Squats, 12 Push-ups, 12 Squat Jumps, 12 High Knees. which was just evil. It was 12 minutes of going as fast as possible though the moves while still having our forms constantly monitored. By the time we got to the final section, I was feeling like I was going to keel over but thankfully it included a rowing section. By that point, just know that there was something I could kill made me really happy.  At the end, when we were finally stretching, I was completely wiped out -in a way I haven’t been in a VERY long time.

In 55 minutes, Daury and Ben kicked my ass, while keeping an eagle eye on form so you never worried about getting hurt while still making it a ridiculously fun class – that is an amazing feat!   I can’t wait to go back.

Top photos from the Fhitting Room website and bottom image, just a little bit of internet goodness.

When I got to the studio, my friend had already checked me in and after a brief moment of horror at realizing I was in the front row, I shrugged it off and snagged a pair of shoes for the ride. When I turned around there was Charlee, sporting a bright red baseball cap worn backwards, who really is stunning in person but also has a wide, disarming smile. I’d seen so many serious, smoldering fitness shots of her that the smiling, sweet, open person asking me how I felt about “aggressive rides” in front of me threw me off a little. In those first few minutes of meeting her, I realized that my preconceived notions of what this class was going to be were just completely out the window.

In the room, I got all set up and waited for the class to start. My friend was across the room so I sat there in the front row and just took in the scene, which was filled with regulars (always easy to spot) and a few newbies to the class like me. After everyone got settled, Charlee immediately got down to business. The music was aggressive but in the best possible way and I immediately was sucked into the ride. The songs had us riding on a heavier, slightly slower beat than a lot of the Soul Cycle classes I have been to, so with the heavier resistance and more seated work, it was a class that just felt GOOD – hard & challenging but good.  She also did a thing I loved, she broke down the pushup moves. Charlee would start the pushups in a slightly slower tempo section and then would allow the music to ramp up the speed of them naturally. It made so much sense to me that I was pretty close to being able to do all of the chorography – even the clapping pushups towards the end! It was like a miracle – I was in the front row and didn’t feel totally hapless!

Charlee was just amazingly charismatic – on the bike or when she would get down off and move around the room- she pounded out the beat with her whole body. I totally get now why my friend was so horrified that I hadn’t taken her class…I walked out of her class completely blown away and trying to figure out when I would get to take another one.

Charlee really is just epically good.

Photos of Charlee from the Soul-Cycle Website & quote from their Facebook page

The event, which took over the North side of Union Square Park, was in full swing by the time I made it there after my workout that morning with Gabby Reece at Exceed. I checked in, snagged a pair of shoes and got ready for my class to start up. I was tired but so excited to be there. Thankfully, Zico Coconut Water was a sponsor, so I grabbed one immediately, knowing it would help my second wind kick in. I saw so many people I knew – bloggers and instructors from other studios (places like Exceed, Body Space Fitness, Uplift, Pilates ProWorks) who had all showed up to support the cause. It was an inspiring group.

I am not a “sports bra only” sort of a person and the first few minutes of sitting there on my bike waiting for our class to start, I was acutely aware that I was not wearing enough clothes for this workout. Thankfully, I had worn my new Moving Comfort Juno bra that is cute and doesn’t move at all, so it didn’t take me that long to get used to it!

Our class session of the Sport’s Bra Challenge was led by Jenny Gaither and Ayana Curtis. They were a powerhouse of a team – both Soul Cycle Rockstars who just radiate the love they have for what they do. This event is Jenny’s baby, and watching her take it all in for those first few moments was amazing.  DJ GB lit the place up right away with a fun, eclectic mix and Anya & Jenny launched into a fun, challenging class. After the first song though, watching Anya and Jenny rock it out on stage, taking in the crowd, I let myself just get totally swept up in the class.  It flew by and at the end, when the whole crowd sang along to Mumford and Sons’ “I Will Wait For You” – I almost cried it was so beautiful. It was truly impossible not to be captivated by the joy and positivity of what was happening that day.

I am so grateful that I got the chance to be part of an event dedicated to empowering everyone by sharing that moment of complete acceptance, of yourself, just as you are. It was a beautiful, joyful day – I can’t wait to see what they have in store for us next year!

Photos and video by Eric Stafford, Stafford Sports Media

Due to the size constraints at Exceed, the stations were in both the main classroom and the personal training area, so the stations couldn’t really be laid out in any sort of pattern that might have made it easier to see where we were going next. But there were 2 extra Exceed trainers in there to help make sure everyone was doing what they were supposed to be doing at each station. Still, there was a lot of peering across the room to try and see what the group we were following was doing… but I was lucky the pair we were following included Claire Gould, TRX trainer at Pilates Pro Works, who was amazing. She would wait briefly before moving from her station and give us a quick demo of the two moves that station consisted of – seriously, I could have hugged her for that.
Gabby moved constantly around the room, correcting form and pushing us to work much harder at every single exercise. There is absolutely no slacking allowed around an athlete of her caliber – and it was like she could spot when we were not giving it our absolute all from a mile a away and would be in our faces or by our sides pushing us to be our best. We worked with body weight, kettlebells, battle ropes, stability balls, and weights and moved to a new station every 3 minutes. It felt like the class was flying by, which is always the sign of an awesome workout. The BodyWise workout was challenging and seriously crushed me but I loved every minute of it… but the best part was getting to workout with Gabby Reece. She is amazing – pushing everyone to be the best we can be at every moment because really, she always believes we have a little more to give and won’t take less than our best.

I walked out fired up and inspired.

All photos by Eric Stafford from Stafford Sports Media

Check out the video of this amazing event held Sunday, April 14, 2013:

Video by Eric Stafford from Stafford Sports Media

One of my favorite things about the Passport is that it finally got me to go to Uplift – a studio that has been lingering on my list of places to try for far to long. In general, I don’t like the idea of “women’s only” fitness studios – I think a great class should be for everyone and so I just kept putting off going. However, last week, I really wanted to use a Passport class and Uplift happened to be the one that fit in my schedule. Since no one ever said: “Uplift is almost directly across the street from Eatly” – I assumed it was much further down on 23^rd street and ended up practically running to the studio after I figured it out.  Seriously, people.  How did no one ever mention the proximity to the ridiculously awesome Italian food superstore??

Uplift is a beautiful studio – really, just flat out pretty but not remotely “girly”, which was what I was expecting. Clean & open with a small glassed-in studio on one side and a personal training area on the opposite side, with a few comfy chairs and a library that you can actually borrow books from.  Leanne, one of the owners, was manning the front desk when I walked in and gave me the layout of the studio and pointed me in the direction of the locker room. I snagged one of the super soft hand towels on the counter and ran off to get ready for class. I tossed my stuff into a locker and went to join the rest of the class, who’d gotten there in a much less harried way!

In Uplift’s new class format there are two class versions – Strength and Cardio.  I took Strength with Liz Barnet. It was a fun, solid class that had a bootcamp style pace to it with weight work, focusing on one body part at a time, followed by a 4 minute Tabata-style cardio bursts in between each section. It was a fun class that went by really fast -Liz was great, with solid cueing and the ability to keep the class fun, even when we were dripping with sweat. I was also legitimately sore the next day – which surprised me a little!

After class, I made my way back to the locker room and was sorry I didn’t have time to take advantage of the luxe space – which was seemingly filled with everything you could possibly ever want for getting ready to venture out again into the world.  I grabbed my stuff and realized I just wanted to hang out at Uplift all day… apparently, I was totally wrong about how awesome a women’s only studio could be.

Picture of Uplift Studio from their Facebook page, photo of Liz from the Uplift website and bottom image just a little bit of internet goodness.

In January 2012, Ryan discovered SoulCycle and by the end of the year he’d made his radical (and AWESOME) leap – but this would be his first birthday on the bike in front of the room. Held in the stunning Tribeca Soul, it was in the smaller of the two studios but the class was packed to the rafters with friends. There were a few randoms like me, who hadn’t taken Ryan before but mostly it was his crowd and they roared for him almost instantly – it was one of those rides that when you were clipping into the bike you just knew was going to be special.  I felt a little bit like I had snuck into a party and was just hoping no one would realize that I didn’t belong and kick me out!

As I entered the room, the charming, handsome Ryan hollered “FBS in the house! I think you are over there!” I grinned, waved and set out to set up my bike as quickly as possible since it was almost time to start. I was in the middle of the room (for me a Soul score) but surrounded by obvious Soul-ers. Ryan got the room going from the bike and immediately the playlist rocked. The very first song was Linkin Park and two women in the front row and directly in front of me had their hair down and started to rock out the moment the class started. The idea of riding with your hair down just confounds me and I was completely captivated when one of them full on started head banging when Nine Inch Nails came on. Watching it, I was totally smitten with the coolness. It looked so awesome that I really wanted to try it but I could just see myself launching over the handlebars and toppling half the room. Another song of awesome rocking out, then she put her hair up and I went back to focusing on Ryan, whose tshirt had lit up at some point. We launched into the classic Soul pushup chorography that never fails to make me feel like the least coordinated person on the planet (especially when added to my lack of head banging ability) and Ryan rocked it out. My favorite moment was when at one point, when we were doing beats, where we were supposed to all be on the same leg, Ryan busted out what looked like Airplane Wands, rocking left and right for which leg we were supposed to be on. It was so ridiculously fun and was the only time I was remotely on the right leg!  Ryan’s playlist was awesome – filled with mixes & songs I’d never heard in any other class. He managed to have a playlist that made me think often, “I’d have NEVER thought you could ride to that!” Towards the end of class, Ryan pointed out the awesome headbanger and said anyone here who hasn’t gotten to Janet Fitzgerald’s class, you need to now. AHH! I was still crushed out on her but I suddenly felt better about the fact that head banging was out of the question for me!

Ryan’s birthday ride was also one of the few classes where I wasn’t even remotely the loudest person in the class and it was just ridiculously fun -I loved every single moment of it. The ride itself was so loud that by the end Ryan blew out his mike. It made him burst out laughing –“anyone take bets on that?”  Soul inspired him but on Saturday night, he showed a whole room of people that following your passion can lead you to a really wonderful place….

In the lobby, people were getting ready to celebrate but I slipped out before they realized I didn’t really belong at this party… and left on a glorious, inspired high.

Photo of Ryan from Twitter (follow him @24_7_Ry) and bottom image just a little bit of internet goodness.

When I made it to Soul Cycle’s Union Square studio, it was packed with women who were there to support the cause and each other. I checked in, got my cute bright orange NB Sport Bra Challenge tank, and ran into a friend of mine all before making my way downstairs. It was, of course, packed in the women’s locker room and since I had on my workout gear already, I stashed my bag and got ready to head back upstairs.  I then realized that I needed to change into the new tank I still had in my hand. Then, I did something I’ve never done before – In the middle of a studio hallway, I stripped off my old tank, tossed it in the locker and threw on the new one before I headed upstairs to wait for the class to start. When they finally flung the doors open, all the bikes were decked with whistles, glowstick circles and SEAK towels. Thankfully, I was in the back row and made quick work of setting up my bike.

Jenny launched into a ridiculously fun, challenging class that was filled with lots of choreography. We were out of the saddle, doing a million push-ups on the beat and rocking it out. Jenny called out encouragement as people pushed themselves to keep up with her insanely infectious energy. As we rode, she told us all about the beginning of the Sports Bra Challenge and told us if it scares us we definitely need to do it. I struggled to keep up with the choreography but loved every second of the class. Jenny’s joy, passion and commitment is inspiring and on Friday night, every single person in that room left feeling more confident as they walked out. Just like last year, on Friday, Jenny made every single person fall fully in love with the principle of the S.E.A.K… that everyone is special, unique and amazing, exactly as they are.

The Sports Bra Challenge this year will be held on Sunday, April 14^th in Union Square.  Even bigger than last year, this year’s celebration will consist of two free kids fitness classes taught by SoulCycle’s Senior Master Instructor, Stacey Griffith, and one led by Exceed Physical Culture, and two, 300-bike SoulCycle classes taught by four of SoulCycle’s rockstar instructors: Stacey Griffith, Melanie Griffith, Ayana Curtis, and of course, the amazing Jenny Gaither.

Book your bike here and join in for this amazing day dedicated to women, to empowering one another to feel comfortable with their bodies- exactly as they are!

Photos from SEAK Foundation’s Facebook page

Even though on YOGASMOGA’s site they have spinning and running sections, I was a little worried about how the clothes would perform outside of the yoga world. I decided I’d break the outfit up and pair it with things I already own, just in case.

First up were the Tippy Toe Leggings in Carbon – I loved the look of these from the moment I saw them on the site – a long, tight legging made of their version of a high-performance wicking fabric called Aurum+. When I pulled them out of the bag, they seemed small but fit perfectly when I pulled them on.  I was shocked by how flattering they were! I was headed to a Brett Hoebel workout at 24hr Fitness and thought it would be the perfect place to test them out. The leggings don’t have the normal “performance” fabric feeling and I was excited to see how they would hold up in what I knew would be a super sweaty class filled with constant movement. A Capoeria-based class, called “Nitro” was basically 45 minutes of speedy squat, low to the ground lunge and kick moves that never really let up. The leggings never bagged and stayed put in every single move – I never even fiddled with them once.  Even though I was super sweaty at the end, they weren’t. I loved them and really just want to wear them constantly.

Next up was the Yantra Tank, a waist-length, fitted tank. I have a long torso so I am constantly yanking down most workout tanks, which are usually cut too short for me.  Finding a tank that stays put is always a challenge. The Yantra is in India Blue and is really flattering on, but I was skeptical that it wouldn’t ride up during a workout. I decided to test this one out in a Barry’s Bootcamp class and I was fully prepared to be yanking it down constantly on the treadmill.  This tank shocked me. It didn’t move an inch through sprints on the treadmill or the shoulder presses by the bench.  It turns out their description is totally true -  “You would think there’s a magnetic force controlling it – but, really, it’s just great design.”  I LOVED this tank for running/bootcamp/strength workouts and it easily goes on my favorites list. I loved it so much that I also tried it in a spin class, but for me, it was just too low cut for that one. I spent a lot of that class catching glimpses of myself in the mirror and being like “Oh, goodness, there is a LOT of chest action happening here.” I wasn’t worried it would move and I’d put on a show, but it was just a little much for my personal taste!

There is a lot I love about the YOGASMOGA clothes that I tried: the fit, the function but one of my favorite things is that the awesome fabric that is used for all of the products is produced here in the USA. I love what they say about that choice on their site: “Science teaches, the fabric of our society can be more than the spirituality that binds us. We know that yoga pants can be hip and trendy. But, they can also create jobs for people in need when they’re manufactured in a town that’s desperate for opportunity. Not only are our fabrics made by our fellow Americans, but they are also eco-friendly as they haven’t accumulated frequent flyer miles.” YOGASMOGA’s mission to keep their supply chain close to their NYC headquarters is just awesome.

Karma is an amazing thing and I can’t wait to see what the year holds for them….

Images from the YogaSmoga website.

Disclaimer: I review only things I love. I was given these items to test but did not guarantee a review.