WORKOUTS I LOVED THIS MONTH

I’m such a creature of habit. I find something I like and...I can’t seem to get enough of it. Even though I am still very much hooked on Dogpound I found the time to try 2 new classes this time around. Here goes:

THE ROPE

www.bandier.com/studio-b

Location: 164 Fifth Ave

Location Perks: Close to a few major trains. If you’re wanting to shop or eat - there is a sooooo much in the area. Oh and how am I forgetting its inside of Bandier so...

Amenities: The class is held in Studio B which is located inside of Bandier. Towels are provided and you can purchase water. There are bathrooms and changing rooms - no showers. The no shower aspect kinda bugs if I take an early morning class but I seem to make it work whenever I take a class there.

Cost: $35/class. Also offer packages.

Since taking classes at Dogpound I have become OBSESSED with jumping rope. I was a pretty sad case when I first started but I’ve gotten a lil better and feel way more confident. I saw that they had this class on Studio B’s schedule and was so excited - scared but excited. I ended up being super late to class - freakin train. I was prepared to beg to be let in if they turned me away but...they didn’t. I apologized (many times) as I walked in and got my rope and jumped (hee! hee!) right in. I missed a whole jumping interval but lucky me came in during the sculpting portion. We used the rope to do both upper body and lower body which I thought was pretty clever and dug the way it went along with the theme of the class. I’m not a fan of “barre” like leg exercises but I realize training in different ways is good thing so...ow!!! I may have the order of what came next wrong but...After the sculpting portion we moved to the 2ndjumping portion. The song came on and Amanda Kloots explained how many bpm were in the song and how many jumps technically we should get in. Again I thought this was pretty cool because I never thought of it like that. I usually just jump and then at some point I’m like “damn this long”. Her telling us the bpm kinda made me feel accomplished once we were done. After the jumping interval we moved to the cardio dance portion. Now, cardio dance has a special place in my heart because it reminds me of when I used to teach Hi/Lo aerobics classes when I lived in LA. I smiled thru this whole portion of the class - seriously. The last portion of the class was abs. A majority of the exercises were Pilates exercises incorporating the rope. The one exercise that sticks out is the teaser - a tough one for me - always! Again the way she incorporated the rope into the exercises was very clever and added a whole new challenge to the exercises. Even though I missed about 20min of the class I left sweaty, felt like I had a challenging full body workout and with a huge smile. Next time I will be on time for sure.

WARRIOR FITNESS BOOTCAMP

www.warriorfitnessbootcamp.com

Location: 29 West 35th Street

Location Perks: 34th St stop - you have your choice of trains. Not a huge fan of this area because of all the tourist but I’m a New Yorker so...fast walking, bobbing and weaving...I’m used to it

Amenities: Restrooms, changing room and no showers (once again). They also sell water and Gatorade.

Cost: Class Intro - 3 classes $60 - yahoo! $38/class. Also offer packages.

Saw my friend Gio doing this class on IG and...knew I wanted to try it. After weeks of trying to link up with Gio so I could take the class with him (totally needed some support)...it finally happened. Not gonna lie I was pretty petrified. Wasn’t sure of what all to expect but I did know that an obstacle course was a part of the class. The pace of the class was pretty impressive - I love when you have big classes and we all pretty much move as a team. We did laps around the track, lunges around the track, crab walks around the track, jumping jacks, pushups, planks, stair runs (which just made me think “I make my clients do this...this isn’t easy - at all”) and so much more. We were lead at first by one coach - dressed in fatigues who barked his orders as we moved. And then at one point I don’t even know how they did but we switched coaches. It was seamless and very impressive. I leave the obstacle course portion for the end because it made me realize something - I’m not very quick with figuring things out - at all. I mean I guess if it were a life or death situation I’d figure it out for sure but when I approached the first hurdle I stopped and had seriously think “how is this going to happen” and not only how is this going to happen with the first hurdle but what about the 2nd, 3rd and 4th ones which were gradually getting taller. I stepped back and let pretty much everyone go in front of me and watched how they all approached the obstacles and how they got over them, under them, up them and traveled thru it all. The obstacle portion and the freakin stairs were the most challenging portions of the class but I’m ready for my next class - I’m sure things will be somewhat different but...I’m ready...Leggo!!!