Fall In Love with New York

***Just realized this can really be added to my Fit Recessionista series, all of the ideas will are targeted toward affordable health and fitness for fall!**

Most people say fall is their favorite season.  I am not one of those people, but I definitely understand appreciate for crisp, fresh air and an escape from the humidity that only Manhattan and Miami can provide. I will say that fall is a wonderful time to get in as many fun city activities as possible before the bitterness of 17 mile an hour winds howling through skyscraper tunnels makes you reluctant to go outside to do anything more than get from point A to point B as quickly as possible.

Fall displays the marvels of nature releasing and cleansing and preparing to rest and renew.  Even though most NYCers don’t seem to realize that they are missing the beautiful foliage offered elsewhere in the vast part of the state that doesn’t get nearly enough credit—ahem ahem, nyers are more than willing to pitch in and do their part to help create a sustainable future for the city and beyond. 

My job involves a lot of programming and event planning and this month we dedicated a week to focusing on sustainability and green living. I really feel in love with some of our activities, and I wanted to share them with you, so that you could take advantage of all the green knowledge going around on our urban archipelago. If being green is not your thing, don’t worry, I have lots of fun ideas for your too and some fitness finds as well!

Check out Design for a Living World at Cooper Hewitt Museum, which features fashion designers from all over the world using sustainably grown and harvested materials to create conservation focused designs.

Round up the gang or plan a meet up with sustainability-minded strangers at a sustainable, organic restaurant for a night full of green conversation and yummy food.  We are checking out Gusto Organics.

Get the behind the scenes scoop on bargain shopping at Whole Foods.  Whole Foods offers free “value” group tours of the store, showing shoppers where to find the best buys in the store and simple ways to economize.  I was actually wondering if people would be interested in attending if I organized a blogger bargain tour.  Takers?

Go apple picking.  Time from tree to apartment doesn’t get any shorter than if you go a pickin’ yourself.  We are heading to Stuart’s Farm, but here are 6 places that are public transportation accessible, some involve a little more effort than others. For ambitious folks here are 25 orchards that only require a day trip. Don’t forget to throw in a hayride for good measure.

Foliage Run!  We are heading to the tree lined Van Cortland Park for a fun 5K!

Green Market Tour, if you have been holding out on the Union Square Green Market, don’t miss it in its most bountiful season, it’s open M, W, F, and Saturday.

Those are just a couple ideas.  A couple practices I am trying to implement in my own life are never taking plastic bags and reducing the amount of bottles and cups I purchase. 

I also do my best to eat at the sustainable, mostly organic and locally grown dining hall.   There are many great green dining initiatives at NYU.  All of our to-go containers, cups and utensils are biodegradable. And many of the dining halls are Tray Free Zones:

We also like to feature local produce—yum-o

 

Okay for those who only do Green on St. Patrick’s Day, Time Out  New York has an excellent list of fall diversities. Here are 101 Fun Fall Ideas.

My favs from the Time Out list:

• visiting the cloisters
• watching the NYC marathon
• Go to the Gugg for free
• Checking out the Tim Burton Exhibit at the MoMa (can’t wait for that)
• Renting a weekend cabin with friends
• learn to knit
• checking out the botanical gardens (never been)
• Getting spooked in sleepy hollow cemetery
• Brooklyn Brewery Tour—never been heard only great things

If I had to create my own list, I would add:

• Taking advantage of the NYC Parks free walking tours.  I would love to check out the Manhattan Adirondacks tour or the Amble Through the Ramble.
• Getting soup off the street at Fanelli’s Soup Kiosk
• High Tea at Podunk, Tea and Sympathy or Alice’s Tea Cup
• Epic Walk from the Met to the South Street Seaport
• Sweater/jacket shopping at Macy’s and Bloomies
• Early brunch at Chelsea Market, so many options from grabbing tea and a croissant with fresh jam to a fashion forward brunch at  202.

Finally, just because it’s cold doesn’t mean you can’t break a sweat! If you are bored with your gym routine, shake it up with Time Out’s latest reviews of 50 city-based workouts!  And, even better, take advantage of TONY’s workout deals, discounts and freebies!

CrossFit LIC Confessions

So let’s consider this Crossfit review part 1!  I really think that you have to take a class a couple times to get a real sense of it. But Crossfit LIC only has one instructor, so at least that will give some standard level of measure.

(interruption: there is an amazing lightening storm going on outside my window right now! love)

First, the confession.  After all my virtuous professing that I will now be the exemplification of a morning worker-outer, um (picture me bright red), I overslept this morning!  I woke up around 7 instead of 6:15! Oops.

Well, I felt guilty enough to get my butt in gear and do a nice 4-mile morning run instead.

The ying and yang of my feelings about am exercise immediately came back to me:

Good:

I have tons of energy and enthusiasm throughout the day when I workout in the am

Less Good (aka bad):

my body is stiff and resistant in the morning, hitting cruise control mode when running takes quite a while

So anyways, I really wanted to try Crossfit, especially since I had already signed up for my free week trial. So I may have canceled my plans tonight to try an evening class.  I seem like the biggest flake, but the plans were not a big deal.  Plus, starting on Friday there is a 90% chance that I will be working 12-14 hour days/ 7 days a week for a minimum of two weeks, so I thought a little me-time and time to do laundry before things get crazy was a good plan.   The anticipation of a more than doubled work week was also part of the impetus to switch to AM workouts.

In any case, I raced home from work to try out the 6:00 class.

Right off the bat Crossfit has two major things going for it.  Things essential for any new workout class/plan/studio to become part of your life, no matter how addicting:

1. Convenient Location: less than a block from my apt.—check!
2. Good Class Schedule: 4 classes a day, 6:30 am (best time for before work), 6, 7 and 8PM…perfect for any evening worker outer’s schedule. double check

So I arrived at the “studio,” which is basically a garage with gymnastic rings and fitness equipment, but really it is a concrete room with a wide open front.

I passed a very cute guy killing himself on the rings.  I was more than a bit nervous as it is me and a bunch of buff and sweaty men.  I quickly found the also very cute studio owner and introduced myself. (I really come off as boy crazy on the blog, don’t I? I guess I just appreciate a pretty face and I am not shy about giving compliments when they are due.) I also whipped out my preprinted, signed release form like a total workout rockstar, by which I mean, teacher’s pet.

The owner/instructor was very nice, far less scary than i anticipated.  He asked me a bunch of standard questions, including when was your last intense workout and can you jump rope.

Hmm, I wasn’t too good at punk rope, so that would be a not too recently and not really.

He found me a rope and gives me some pointers on my form that improve my experience jumping 100%, but I was just not able to master double spin jumping or knee tuck jumping. So he told me, I should substitute standard jumping.  Given that I was pretty sure I was about to make a total full of myself no matter what, I happily agreed to downgrade.

The class assembled and  I was still the only girl—suddenly i was not feeling very hardcore. We started with a warm up, neck, hip and arm circles. Then we moved on to push ups, which the instructor actually let me do on my knees as long as I touch my nose to the ground.  Wow, the marines aren’t as crazy as nalini method, physique and core fusion instructors! After that there were inch worms, walking lunges, walking lunges with stretching, sit ups and squats.   Despite being the only female, everyone was very welcoming and supportiv–a lot of, first time? congrats and good luck!.  And the instructor was great about correcting my form in a non-embarrassing way.

Next came  kettle ball strength exercises.  When I first picked up my huge, light pink (tres girlie) kettle ball, I thought, holy crap, this is not going to happen, this is like a million pounds.  However, I followed the instructions and focused intensely on correct form throughout the series so I didn’t hurt myself, and everything went pretty much okay.  At one point, I am pretty sure the cute instructor even said nice job while looking in my direction.  This wass about the same point that the instructors smoking hot wife arrived to join us.

Now for the workout.  Apparently that class was a “bench marking workout” which is one of the easiest ones.  I guess that was lucky.  In each class, the main workout is an assigned set of exercises (completely different each day) that you must complete within 20 minutes.  As you finish you are given your time, which you write on the dry erase board.

Here is was:

• 50 double spin jump ropes, 50 sit ups
• 40 double spin jump ropes, 50 sit ups
• 30 double spin jump ropes, 30 sit ups
• 20 double spin jump ropes, 20 sit ups
• 10 double spin jump ropes, 10 sit ups

(This alone would be a great at home mini workout if you are strapped for time.)

I modified with my single jumps, which made it way easier for me the the other poor people in the class.  I also didn’t realize on the first round that you had to do all the jumps consecutively and if you miss you start over, so I kind of cheated the first round!  I still need to  learn how to double jump or double the number to make it more of a challenge.  But I will say that doing back to back jumping then sit ups is a great workout.  And the time flew by, actually that part only takes me 10 minutes and 20 seconds.  So I will amp it up and push myself to try the harder versions next time.

In any event, by the end, I was covered in sweat, but it was also 80 something degrees outside with only a fan for air circulation, so I was sweaty within the first 5 minutes. What is with LIC and bikram workouts?  Oh, I should say, not only was I soaked in my own perspiration, but the hot wife was taking TONS of photos during the class.  I was like NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!  please stop!

The class ended with stretching. Everyone was really excited to hear what I thought of my first Crossfit Experience, and tell me about their amazing fitness improvements thanks to their CF experiences.

So hear is what I thought:

• I love the team environment of this class!
• I like that every day the workout is completely different
• I like that people told me they saw huge changes in their strength and ability in just a few weeks.
• I love the convenience of schedule and location
• I liked the emphasis on form and personal attention
• I left the class with A TON more energy than I went into it with.  It was a great stress reliever, and I still feel on top of the world.
• I like that the time goes really fast
• I like that there is always room to challenge yourself further
• The Crossfit playlist rocked my world, lots of stuff I was listening to about a year and a half ago, but great to hear again, paralyzer, beck, cake, and Eminem, and great stuff I didn’t know off the top of my head, curious!
• I like that the website has videos and home workouts
• I don’t love the no AC, but I guess fall is around the corner
• If swanky workout ambience is high on your list of getting fit importance, this is not the space for you.  Other studios are different i am sure.
• It wasn’t as killer as I expected since the really hard stuff only last 20 minutes max, but I also did the beginner version, so that really isn’t the workout’s fault. But I am not sure the workout would be quite enough on its own.  TBD

Clearly so far Crossfit has been a very positive experience. I am excited to try it at least 4 more times this week before deciding whether to buy one of the packages.  I have enlisted my friend Derek, who happens to be a marine, to go with me on Thursday, so maybe he will offer his perspective of the workout on the blog!

Bottom line: I missed exercising a lot!  Even just one day of a fairly intense endorphin rush has made a huge difference in my mood and energy.  I’ll keep it.

Night kids!

Weekend Wrap Up, Workouts, Reviews!

Wow, I feel like more has happened in the week I have been home than in the entire six month before I left.  Fortunately, a lot of it has involved two of my favorite things, fitness and friends!

I have mentioned that I am getting back into my workout routine and that it has been more difficult than I anticipated, hello sorebody!  However, I am definitely beginning to feel like myself and 30 minutes of cardio no longer kills me!  In fact, I am back to normal as of today! 

Just to recap, this weekend I went for my first official long run of the marathon training session—one down!  I met Katherine and one of her great friends for an easy 10 miles.  One full loop, plus the 4 mile loop of the park.  We took it easy and enjoyed the fact that NY Road Runners was having a long training run, replete with plenty of water stations to steal from hehe!  I was thrilled to have finished 10 miles, six longer than I had run in a month without much difficulty at all.  Especially considering I had consumed more than a couple glasses of prosecco while out with a girlfriend at Dove and Otto the night before! 

That evening I went out to try a place I have heard a lot about, but had been resistant to try: Studio Square (aka the new beer garden).  I had been resistant to try it not because it didn’t look nice (in fact it got 4 out of 5 stars in the Time Out Review), but because I have such a love and esteem for the old beer garden, and I didn’t want to cheat on it for it’s younger, chicer, hipper cousin. (photos below from google images)

I have to say Studio Square thoroughly impressed me.  It was packed, there must have been easily 1000 people spilling over the surround bar patio and out of the huge outdoor seating section.  I actually wasn’t sure if we could find seats.  But fortunately we did and the night involved lots of fun, meeting new friends, learning new games, and flip cup—during which we were enthusiastically cheered on by at least a hundred fellow patrons.  haha. While I do not consider myself a beer fan by any stretch of the imagination, I would definitely recommend skipping the sangria, it was way too sweet. 

On a final note, the new beer garden is not replacing the old, it serves a different purpose.  If I want to wear heels and have a slightly lounge/club vibe, I will go to the new beer garden.  For a laid back, bring the (big and boisterous) family and wear flops experience, that’s beer garden classic.

YOGA ROOM REVIEW

On Sunday I woke up surprisingly full of energy, and was eager to try out The Yoga Room!  I have Gena’s awesome yoga post to thank for that! The Yoga Room has two locations in Queens, and the LIC studio just moved to a gorgeous space just three blocks from my casa! I took advantage of the $10 classes open house special and signed up for Hot Yoga and Hot Bodies Pilates.  

This was the fourth Bikram class I have taken, and the first one in a few years.  The room was HOT, definitely 110!  The class had a good mix of veterans and newbies.  Bikram involves 26 poses, and you do each twice in a row.  I really enjoyed the standing series.  Interestingly enough, the standing side stretch was one of the most challenging for me.  I seemed to have plenty of strength and flexibility for all of the others, although I got wobbly at times—balance is apparently not my forte! I like the 26 poses because you can really focus on getting into the pose or focusing inward, since there is not a lot of jumping around from position to position.  That said by the time we got to the mat poses,  I was experiencing occasional bouts of boredom and wanted things to move a bit faster.  The second half involves sivasina between each pose.  Nevertheless, at the end of the class I felt longer, more limber and even a bit leaner, it was a wonderful stretch for my entire body.  I was also fairly invigorated and totally drenched in sweat, in an extremely cleansing way not a gross way.  I went to the changing room to switch outfits and get ready for Pilates.

I grabbed a free mango zico coconut water—yum, that was being given out in the lobby.  When I asked where my Pilates class would be, they said the same studio.  Wait, what?  The hot room?  Stupidly, I thought hot bodies Pilates was just a cute name for a vigorous Pilates class.  It never occurred to me that a Pilates class would be hot.  I have never heard of bikram Pilates.  I was more than a little nervous to spend 2 and  a half hours in a such a hot room, but my yoga instructor was taking the class, so I decided to just try it and see if I would be okay.  Fortunately, the Pilates class wasn’t as hot as the yoga, maybe 90 degrees. 

While I really enjoy Pilates, I don’t get the chance to take it very often, so this was a nice treat.  The class was about a fifth the size of my yoga class, so we got lots of personal attention from the instructor.  The class was pretty challenging.  We used the ring a lot, which really added to the intensity of the ab work.  I like that Pilates feels like a workout more than yoga, but I like how yoga lets you focus on something beyond the workout and get in touch with yourself and the world.  I will say that I don’t really see the need for heat in Pilates (or even yoga for that matter).  I definitely appreciate the renewing feeling and opportunity for focus that a bikram yoga class offers.  But I see it as an occasional novelty, not something that I would take on a regular basis. I do look forward to trying the non-bikram yoga and Pilates and reformer classes at the Yoga Room since you can work more intensely when you are not in such hot conditions, and consequently, drenched in sweat. 

Overall, I really enjoyed both classes, the stunning and spacious—rare in yoga–studio (will take pics next time) and friendly staff! The Yoga Room isn’t cheap, classes are $18 each, although you save a few bucks when you purchase a class card. They are offering a special of $89 for unlimited monthly classes, almost half off the regularly cost and far cheaper than the Core Fusion or Physique 57.  Speaking of P57, workout dvds have finally been released for those non-NYers, NYers (like me) that can’t afford $35 a class, or NYers that like the convenience of not having to stick to class schedules, which tend to fill up anyways!

On a final note, I always think of taking a yoga class as a way of doing something special just for myself.  I think of it as treating myself and my body really well.  I hope the Yoga Room continues to offer great specials, so that I can treat myself more often Sunday was definitely a great day for some “me time,” some R and R with the roomie, and settling happily back into my life in the city.

Working out…in stripper heels

Working out can be sexy – when you do it in stripper heels…

Hey everyone, I know you will be excited to welcome back my roommate Liz!  While her amazing post will definitely speak for itself, I would like to confirm a few facts about Liz and her workout of choice—who I am sure I am missing terribly right now .

1.) I have taken this class once, and it was a GREAT workout.  Far harder than I expected from someone who almost never ever works out….Liz.  The fact that she does it in the heels seen above makes her some kind of heroine. I think her review does the class more justice than mine because she has taken it for years. 

2.) She has a bangin’ body—and stripper strength just adds a little finely piped icing to the delicious cake.  Soley to validate that statement—and not to embarass her—after our recent trip to the beaches of MV, one of my friends said to me, “for someone who says she doesn’t workout, Liz has an amazing body.”

So.  I think we can safely say that there are approximately 2 things we have learned about “Melissa’s roommate Liz” from this blog.  1: I hate working out.  2: I think feeling good about yourself and being in touch with your inner (and outer) sexy are at the top of the list of important things to do. 

In theory, I love working out.  I love the adrenaline, the endorphins, and most importantly, how good it makes people feel.  My main problem is that I just think it’s boring.  I don’t care if I can watch TV while I climb stairs and never get anywhere; I only watch a few shows, and I really don’t want to admit my secret love of VH1 reality shows to everyone in the gym (especially since in my building the gym has been known to be hot guy central).  So, I’ve found a way to combine something I hate with something I love to make it something I actually like quite a bit – a strip workout class, specifically, Strip Xpertease. 

Taught by Kim Smith, a former dancer, this class isn’t for the faint of heart (it’s a no-nudity, women-only class, but has a fair amount of ass slapping, chest grabbing, and general self-groping – all in good fun, of course).  Instead of a cardio strip class like some offered by gyms, this class uses actual dance moves, and through repetition coupled with core strengthening, gives you a ridiculous workout.  Also, Kim teaches a bit of a routine at the end of the workout, so you get some bona-fide sexy from the class to take back to your lova. 

The class focuses on some core and leg strengthening moves (and puts a twist on well-known moves like squats and lunges), stretching (which of course has its own twist), and often includes the use of a chair (for moves like the “sexy bicycle” – a version of the more boring pilates move).  The class is taught twice a week, and after 2 months, gave me some rock-hard abs (and another healthy dose of self confidence).  It’s an hour and 10 minutes, and hosts a variety of women of all shapes and sizes, ages, and flexibility.  All of the rates and dates are available on the website. 

Now the inevitable question: what do I wear to such a class?  Well, wear whatever makes you comfortable.  Because of the moves, I recommend yoga pants or spandex, and whatever top makes you comfortable.  Some women wear sports bras out of work-out habit, and some wear push-up bras for that little extra dose of sexy.  In terms of footwear: heels!  I’d suggest starting in whatever height of heels you would wear on a Friday night (but make sure they have rubber soles) – it’ll help you with balance.  As you get comfortable, upgrade your game to 6-inchers.  I have to admit, there’s just something really satisfying about wearing stripper heels while toning up!

So, if you’re looking for a little change-up to your workout routine, I highly recommend giving this a try.  It helps bring out the inner (and outer) sexy, and really, who doesn’t want that? 

P.S.
In addition to workout classes (known on the website as “Stripper Strength”), Strip Xpertease teaches a variety of non-sweaty classes – ie, Basic Moves (basic dance moves), Lap Dance Intensive (speaks for itself), Down ‘N Dirty (a floor routine), and the Desire Series (a little bit of everything).  You can do it in a class or private lessons (yay birthday/bachelorette parties!).

Smart Workout Review!

Today I had the opportunity to check out a gym that specializes in personal training and small “semi-private” group classes.

The gym is called Smart Workout.  It is located on 40th street between Lex and Park, which made it an easy breezy sub-fifteen minute trip from my apartment.

For a small gym, the offer a great variety of classes, pilates reformer, kickboxing, spinning, yoga, pole, a variety of dance classes, hula hoop, trampoline, strength and more.  There was also a small area with weight machines.

I was signed up for a 45 minute pilates reformer class followed by a 45 minute personal training session.

The classes are limited to 4-5 people, and my pilates class was full.  It was actually my first time doing pilates reformer, so I was really excited to finally try it.  I have always really enjoyed mat pilates, but haven’t taken it since I moved and canceled my NYSC membership.  I think pilates is something that small classes are very good for because it is easy to think you are doing a move right, but just a small adjustment by the instructor can may a huge difference.  While I interned at Self, a private instructor would come give pilates classes once a week, and I quickly learned how challenging pilates could be when you were in the right position.  Anyways, Meghan the reformer instructor at Smart Workout was great.  She explained things very clearly and with great visuals.  I was more challenged by the reformer than I thought I would be.  You are always working several muscle groups to stablize and move either your body or the machine.  I didn’t realize how many props were involved, there is a bar, weights, straps, and a box, and you use the little reformer in all different ways, lying on your back, on your stomach, sitting up facing front, lying on your back with legs in table top.  The class flew by and I enjoyed every minute of it–and there wasn’t even music!  I have always been more of a pilates girl than a yoga girl and I am excited that I now have reformer under my repetorie.

Next up was my personal training session.  My instructor’s name was Meghan, different Meghan than the first one!  She was full of energy and enthusiasm from the moment we shook hands.  She said we could do any kind of workout I wanted to do, within the format: 5 minute warm up, 20 minutes cardio, 25 minutes strength and 5 minutes stretch.  I said I was up for anything, I just wanted it to be HARD.  She then asked me if I had areas I wanted to work in particular.  I said yes, the areas I most want to tone are my hips, thighs and glutes, and under arm area and calves.

She turned on some great tunes and we were off.  She did the cardio part with me, which was kickboxing.  I find kickboxing to be really fun, kind of Rocky meets Billy Blanks.  In fact, she played this song, which I liked so much I just downloaded: Ain’t Nothing Wrong With That ny Robert Rudoulph and the Family Band 

I wasn’t exactly sure what to expect from a personal trainer.  I was half expecting a very Jillian approach, replete with choice phrases like ” i want you to feel like you are going to die” or ” you should be gargling your heart by now.” But Meghan was actually really friendly, enthusiastic and focused on how I was feeling.  After every move she asked me how it felt. It wasn’t as intense as I had imagined, but I definitely learned some things about my form that will be very useful.

The strength portion was fairly standard, squats, lunges, arms with weights, some abs.  It was nice having someone correct my form throughout, and it was nice that it wasn’t embarrassing since no one else was around.  I hate being called out in group classes.  I also liked having the chance to ask lots of questions.  I learned that lunges and squats are really the best exercises for the lower body and high intensity cardio intervals are best for body fat reduction. 

I also learned a  new ab move.  It isolates the lower abs.  You lie on your back with both legs bent in 90 degree on top (not on the sides) of an exercise ball. You squeeze the ball toward your butt between your calves and hamstrings and reverse crunch in.  This was really effective. Here is a great description.

SmartWorkout has a variety of membership, day pass and party package options.  

• Annual membership: $245 intiation and $145 a month or $1585 for 14 months prepaid membership
• Six week shape up-12 45-minute personal training sesions and 12 classes for $1100
• Day pass-six for $210
• Fitness party $1400 for 3 hours with 5 trainers and a new class every 45 minutes
• Pole party: $360 for 2 hours of pole fun for up to 12 guests aka “the divorce is final party”

Sadly the never-ending rain meant the Blogger Hike had to be canceled since slippery muddy rocks and rain does not for happy hikers make.  Sorry ladies  So instead, I have to get ready for the Blogger Brunch.

Oh, last night I saw The Proposal with a friend.   I was nervous it was going to be really bad, but since it was a midnight movie, I didn’t think I could handle anything too intense or thought provoking. 

If you ignore the fact that the premise, plot, character’s decisions and the outcome are completely unrealistic in everyway, the movie is pretty funny and totally enjoyable if you are just there for the ride.  There are some great lines and funny scenes and Alaska is gorgeous, but it is really hard to buy how ridiculous the storyline is, but I won’t spoil it for those who want to see it.  Go see it, if you are just in the mood for fun. 

 

Gyrokinesis at Kinespirit

This week I tried a new class: Cardio Gyrokinesis at Kinespirit.  Typically, I have some idea what I am in for when I take a class, this is was not the case for gyrokinesis.  I read  about Kinespirit on VJD a few weeks ago, and was pretty curious as to what a class that blended yoga, pilates, dance and tai chi would be like. 

I went to the studio only knowing what I could find on the Kinespirit website, which wasn’t much, but that made it more exciting in a way.

The Madison Park studio was basically a very open loft, very calm and zen.  The front desk was just a desk, so there was no pretention of some of the other upscale studios in the city. 

In the front were really large Gyrotonic Tower machines, kind of like big pilates reformer machines.  Kinespirit decribes Gyro as:

a three-dimensional exercise taught on unique weight and pulley based equipment (pictured at right). Founded by Juliu Horvath, in the principles of yoga, dance, tai chi, and swimming, Gyrotonic training is a series of circular and fluid exercises that works the entire body through muscular, skeletal, and cardiovascular stimulation.

In the middle of the studio was a little seating area with tea, water, MAGAZINES and seating, plus some chocolate. Huge points for cozy factor and chocolate.

In the back of the studio was a small space for mat classes and pilates reformer machines. You can see Rachel Ray trying it out for her show here.

There were a few people taking private gyrotonic lessons.  And one girl taking a private pilates reformer lesson when I arrived. 

The class I took , Cardio Gyrokinesis, is in its infantcy at the studio, and it was just me and one other person, the instructor and another studio instructor. 

The class took place on a chair, mat and standing.  The main portion of the class was on the chair using flowing motions to align the body and strength the muscles.  I would say the class was closest to pilates, but had the body awareness and presence of yoga.  Unlike most yoga classes, my mind never wandered, and I never got bored.  It was definitely engaging, although I felt a little silly doing some of the moves.

(something like the above for a visual idea)

I am not sure if I would really consider the class cardio because my heart rate never got up to high, but it was definitely a killer ab workout-surpisingly intense actually.  Sitting on the chair circling your legs just off the ground really torches up the stomach muscles.    We moved from the chair to standing to do some squats integrating large circling arm motions and spirals.  The flowing nature of the movements really allowed me to stretch out my tight muscles–huge bonus.

After another round of chair-based exercies, we hit the mat for pilates-like toning moves that like in yoga and pilates really got some heat going in my legs and abs.

We ended the class with some turning and then rapid blinking to “re-enter the world.”  That was a little weird. 

Overall I think this class is a little more my style than yoga.  If you have a short attention span, there isn’t a lot of repetition, you move from one thing to the next fairly quickly. I can see why it would be good for dancers-allignment, elongation, but it is not really what I would consider dance based. I can see myself doing it once a week to stretch, allign and center myself. But it is definitely a supplement to a workout regimen, it really isn’t enough cardio or even enough strength on its own.

In addition to the mat classes Kinespirit offers the Gyro Tower and Pilates Reformer class which I actually find even more intriguing.  I may have to try those next. The studio is definitely affordable by NYC standards, plus due to its small size you get lots of personal attention.

So what are the benefits of Gyrotonics and Gryokensis?

I can not really attest to anything from one class, but according to the studio:

Core Benefits

• Promotes strong, lean muscles
• Increases flexibility, coordination, and balance
• Enhances joint mobility and articulation
• Frees the body of pain and restrictions
• Increases circulation of blood, lymphatic fluids, and energy
• Strengthens the nervous system
• Compliments/supplements physical therapy and other rehabilitative body work
• Helps prevents osteoporosis
• Helps to slow the aging process through mental and physical stimulation and regeneration

• Promotes spine and joint articulation and mobilization
• Increases muscular contraction, extension, flexibility, and coordination
• Increases circulation of blood, lymphatic fluids, and energy
• Improves elimination and absorption
• Compliments traditional cardiovascular activity and cross-training
• Provides a mobile workout that can be easily performed while at home, office, or traveling
• Increases body awareness

Weekend Workouts

Housekeeping:  Yay for the amazing response to the March NYC meet up, if you didn’t get an email from me with the details, please comment or send me an email.  I will discuss more details on the blog, but I think it will be beneficial to have email communication also.  Huge thanks to Hangry Pants  for all the help getting the word out!

I swear I brought London whether back to NY with me!  It has been so rainy and cold! 

Oh well, despite the weather not being great, I’ve had a decent weekend.  On Friday, I went to the Knicks game…and they won! 

So during the week I had one good workout, but the rest were kind of short and bland.  So I decided I needed to try something new.

I still had my free pass to Exhale for buying the core fusion dvd–that I love.  So I looked at the schedule and the Core Fusion Sport class sounded great:

Core Fusion® Sport is a total body workout that is designed to help you improve your performance in sports while reducing your risk of sports related injuries. Using a combination of lateral and twisting movements, this barreless one-hour class will chisel and firm your arms, shoulders, legs and butt while focusing on your core – the center of your strength – plus increase your aerobic capacity.

I signed up for the 1:15 class.  I hit the gym on the way there to get in some cardio.  I really need to focus my half marathon training, but the treadmill has been no fun lately.  For my first run in a week and change, I did 30 minutes alternating walking a minute at 4.7 and running at 7.0 MPH.  It was a start.

So Core Fusion Sport was GREAT!  The class was packed, and actually had 3 guys in it–rare for Physique 57 and Core Fusion classes that I have taken.   The instructor was also male, and it took me half way through the class to realize he was the guy in my DVD.  Eric was younger looking and more animated in person.  It was a great and very challenging class, it was like a very flowing strength class with emphasis on the mind body connection.  I really liked how Eric made the connections without being cheesy,I really felt what he was describing as I worked.

In fact, I enjoyed the class so much, I might take advantage of the downtown studio monthly special, for $150 it is unlimited classes–a $135 savings.  hmmm.  I have until 2/28 to decide.  Considering one class is $35, it’s a steal if you use it.

After my class I ate a quick lunch at whole foods and went to see He’s Just Not that into You.  I really liked it, and I am often really harsh on chick flicks.  After seeing slumdog millionaire and revoluntionary road (both very good), I was ready for something light.

Today, I knew I needed to run, so I put on Kara Goucher Endurance Boost coached run and banged out a bit over 4 miles on the treadmill.  Then I hit the elliptical for 25 minutes and stretched for another 10.

On the elliptical I read an article in Self that really struck a cord, it was called Diet Regrets.  It was about a woman who had just made peace with food at ae 75.  It is sad to think that one could spend three-quarters of a century struggling with their relationship with food, unfortunately, I fear it is all too common.  I have had my own struggles and moving past them is one of the things I am proudest about in my life.  At this point, I eat what I want, pretty much period, but I am not always 100% happy with my body.  For myself, I find I am happier eating with stressing or over thinking it  and being a little heavier than being thin but having to always be concious of my intake and always making the healthiest choice.  Maybe there is a better balance, and if so, I hope I find it before I am 75.

All right, sorry to be so serious, I am off to meet a friend at tea shop down the block.  It happens to be the location for many a gossip girl scene.   Oh, how I miss GG!

Pure Core (class review)

The most apt title for this post would have to be dude where’s my yoga?  But for clarity purposes, I will go with the straight forward.  

 

Gena and I decided to use our 3-day passes to Pure Yoga on a Sunday morning Pure Core class, description: condition your body and build long, lean muscles through a challenging and innovative sequence of exercises blending yoga, core training, isometrics and resistance work.  This class is not for beginners or pregnant women.  I am going to go out on the limb and say it’s not for pregnant men either.

 

I enter the class, literally, as it starts, and I am shocked by all the props: hand weights, sliding discs, core balls (kind of like kettleballs without handles), small exercise balls and mats, of course.

 

Our instructor is also the program director of the Pure Yoga studio, and the instructor I had for my hot yoga class too.  She is adorable, petite, and wonderfully upbeat, with a great sense of humor, she pushes you through, and for the record, she definitely has the taut, lean muscles that most people associate with yoga.  She is like a non-scary version of Tracy Anderson.

 

The class begins with weights, moves on to exercises on the gliding discs, and a vast array of combination strength exercises.  Such as squats with a single knee raise and overhead press. V ups holding core ball over your head.  Side lunges with front kicks holding weights. There are several sets of push ups, including one with hands on weights and alternating kickbacks.

 

The not for beginners warning is fairly accurate.  The woman next to me spent most of the classes looking at me with pleading eyes, as if begging me to make it stop.  At one point, she asked me “will there be yoga at the end?”  It was certainly far more intense than I expected, although you could push yourself to the intensity level you wanted to attain. 

 

It was definitely comparable to a Physique 57 or Core Fusion class.  We even did the famous physique wall plies with ball between the knees. Yoga was probably the one thing from the description that the class failed to deliver.  There was no yoga, save one or two stretches in the 60 minute class. Although honestly, that was fine by me.  I felt like I got an amazing workout after we were done.  I mean I wasn’t going to drop dead, but it was definitely a challenge.

 

In sum, Pure Yoga rocks.  They have a great array of classes, and for people who aren’t terrible concerned with the spiritual aspects of yoga, you can certainly avoid it.  Plus, the classes reach beyond yoga, as in the case of Pure Core.  The staff could not be friendlier.  I rushed into the gorgeous studio two minutes before the class started and the receptionist said I could sign in after the class.  Why am I not joining today?  The studio is totally inconvenient for me, sadly, I might consider going for a class here and there, but there is no way I could get my money’s worth with the mandatory monthly membership.  In fact, I actually had to take a cab to the class because with all the service changes on the subway, the EXTRA forty minutes I allotted to getting there was still not enough. 

 

However, if you are a yoga or aspiring yogi in the upper east side vicinity, go get your Pure Yoga Om on.

 

Pure Amazing: Yoga Review

So just mere days ago I was saying that I never really found my inner yogini.  This all changed on Saturday.  Pure Yogawas Pure Amazing.  First of all, I could have killed myself for not bringing my camera.  I did not research before going, so I was just expecting a yoga studio.  What I got was a 4 floor spa yoga emporium!  Even from the outside it was this impeccable zen-like spa getaway hiding three floors of yoga studios and 100 class a week! NYSun wrote a great review.

Take the virtual tour to see what I mean.  This is as nice and in some cases nicer than almost every spa I have been to in the city!

Even if you aren’t in the area, there is cool info for you!

Pure Yoga has several outposts in Asia, and this is the first US branch. It caters to celebs.  It’s intention is to provide many different forms of yoga under one roof.  Thus, they recruited the top teachers from the best studios in NYC to teach a few classes each week.  Pretty genius. 

I especially like that they clearly deliniate the different levels and they types of classes within each level.

Here is a look at a small sample of their amazing offerings:

CORE STRENGTH VINYASA

A creative, flowing, vigorous style of yoga created by Sadie Nardini. You’ll apply eastern and western philosophies to your daily life, and make your daily life more fierce as you become more authentically you. Each class offers a full yoga workout, including signature Core Postures to strengthen and lengthen your abdominals. Energetic and physical alignment will transform all your postures (and your wordly actions) dynamically from center.

HOT POWER YOGA

This is a open level power yoga class taught in a room heated to 100 degrees. The heat will provide for a detoxifying sweat while you flow through an athletic and dynamic sequence of postures.

JIVAMUKTI

This yoga method established by David Life and Sharon Gannon, aspires to greater peace, unity, environmental awareness and karma consciousness. A Jivamukti yoga class is a physically vigorous and intellectually stimulating.

KI – YOGA

Harness and tap into your “ki”, your life force, with this Zen based vigorous meditative flow that combines the grace and focus of the martial arts, the core strength and conditioning of power vinyasa and the healing touch of Thai massage. Fueled with rock-n-roll and world music, this practice will ignite your spirit while simultaneously transforming your mind

and body.

KUNDALINI

Kundalini Yoga uses movement, sound current, breath & meditation to relax & heal your mind and body, allowing the spirit to flow freely. This powerful and effective form of Yoga, as taught by Yogi Bhajan, Ph.D., is a great way to recharge & heal your body quickly.

MULTI-INTENSO

An exhilarating technique-oriented movement meditation class which is intense in multiple ways. Inversions, core conditioning, dynamic movements, static holds, pranayama, and kriya are all integrated. Multi-Intenso sequences are designed to be fluid yet precise. Exhilarating yet technique oriented.

 

While I waited for my core strength vinyasa class to start, I lounged on the banquets, passing on the free hand massage. Then Andrea and I wandered into a huge studio that was dimly lit with purple recessed lighting.   The class was mostly empty, but had room for probably 40 or more.

 

Core Strength Vinyasa was the best class I have ever taken.  Sadie Nardini is amazing.  She is cool, fun and her class is killer in the best possible way!  Not once did I feel my mind wander.  It was easy to stay focused because the class moved quickly and Sadie’s attitude and motivation were phenomenal.  She reminded me of Megan, my favorite instructor at Physique 57.  More on Sadie soon!

 

My second class was Hot Yoga.  It was good, but nothing could compare to Core Strength Vinyasa.  I learned that Hot Yoga is different than Bikram because it is not a set order of poses, it is a regular yoga class done in heat.  So in Bikram the poses are very static, I don’t know if I would actually work up a sweat if it wasn’t 110 degrees. Because my class was all beginners, I think it was pretty basic.  Although the balance and holding of positions did challenge me at points.

 

I had a chance to speak with both the studio director and she said that the vinyasa classes and the hot yoga flow classes would be the best for runners who get bored easily but want to build lung capacity and agility.

 

So back to the unbelievable Sadie.  After her class I immediately wanted to buy her Core Strength Vinyasa Power Hour DVD and book: Road Trip to the Soul: Nine Steps to Reaching Your Inner Self and Revolutionizing your Life.

 

I confessed to her that I loved her class, as I had spent years wanting to like yoga more than I actually liked it.  She said she was the same way, and many classes bore her to tears.  That is why she founded her own form of yoga.

 

While I enjoy yoga much more in a studio, if you aren’t in the NYC area, you can buy the dvd (which my friend actually bought, so I am going to try it out at some point) or check out over 115 of Sadie’s yoga videos on Youtube.  The Flying Core Salutations video is pretty awesome!

 

As amazing as Pure is, it is very expensive and totally out of the way for me. However, for a complimentary 3-day pass, fill out this form–I did  But I did discover that Sadie also teaches at the Om Factory, for only $13 a class! Get a free pass at their website!

 

That’s the trouble with places as great as this (just like Physique 57) they are too pricey for normal folks. According to Page Six, Pure’s clients include Christy Turlington, Madonna, Sarah Jessica Parker and Russell Simmons, so I guess they need to keep riff raff like me out! 

 

 But sometimes finding ways to save is all part of the fun, and now you have the option of three free ways to try what I considered the funnest yoga ever!

 

Oh, from the workshop, I got a goody bag with a bunch of aveeno products and a pair of Danskin yoga pants.  They were size medium, so they are a little big on me, but whatevs.

 

Pilates Mat at Crunch/Vinyasa at Yoga Sutra

Okay, let me start this post by saying that I had been looking forward to taking Masala Bhangra at the 13th Street Crunch for weeks! I was literally dying to take it. I took the mini class at Self Workout in the Park, and loved every single second. It is at the addiction level of spinning. Basically it’s like a big Indian Wedding vibe, but you’re more doing a Bollywood-esque dance. It’s an incredible cardio workout, but your having so much fun, it’s almost unfair to say it’s a workout.

So what happened? I am basically an idiot. I was planning to get to Crunch for the 6:15 MB class at 13th street, but I thought I knew where the 13th street Crunch was, so I didn’t look it up or anything. I arrived at the gym, showed my free guest pass, sat through about 10 minutes of the speil by the membership rep, and took a tour of the gym, when I mentioned the class, the rep looked at me blankly. Suddenly I realized that I was at the wrong place. I came to find I was at the Union Square location–for the record the 13th Street location is much closer to Union Square than the Union Square location. So I didn’t get to go the class but I put a link to a 7 minute video of Sarina J’s class below, there are a ton of them on youtube. Plus, here is an article on Sarina from Cooking Light.

So I was at the gym and ready to go, so the rep suggested the Pilates class. I got the last spot on the list, and although I was a bit disappointed, the rep assured me the class was really intense.

He wasn’t kidding. The class was like Pilates on steroids. Ridiculous! The instructor Tina Thompson was super energetic. Every move was done at an incredibly high pace and with endless reps. Tina would say 20 more, and as soon as we got to 20, she would say 20 more, this happened three or four times for each move. Clearly math was not her best subject. So we did over 100 reps of a lot of moves. I actually found this really annoying, if I have 200 reps left I would like to know that rather than hearing 10 and knowing that I am no where near the end and the number has zero significance.

None of the moves were the Pilates moves I knew, but it was definitely an incredible workout. I am surprised my abs aren’t killing me today! We did over 200 butterfly kicks while having our upperbody lifted with arms overhead and went directly into 100 leg drops! There was also weights and plates to really work the arms. One of the moves was doing a push up on the weights then jumping legs out and back. By the end of the second arm move, it was all I could do to support myself in plank position.

I did fairly well in the class, I never made it through all the reps of any move, but I did better than most. No one was able to do everything. I definitely left feeling the burn. I will say that the studio was like a sauna, at first I thought it was Bikram Pilates or something, but someone did suggest we turn on the fans, which helped a bit. I mean I was sweating five minutes into the class!

I would definitely recommend Crunch as a gym. There are plenty of locations in Manhattan and tons of great classes. The gyms are nice (not super posh, but more than serviceable)and the staff is incredibly friendly and helpful. Memberships are around $100 a month.

Since my yoga class at Yoga Sutra was not to exciting, I’ll give a quick recap. The studio had a great reception area with a cute shop and lounge space. But it had no where to change! Everyone was shoved in a hallway, trying to wriggle in and out of clothes in a tiny space. -5 for bad karma!

The studio itself was nice and the 6:00 class was very full. I arrived early, even though I thought I was going to be late. As I mentioned, I grew up in a family that firmly believes that if you are on time, you are 5 minutes late, so the mere thought of being late sent me into a panic, and I practically sprinted the 40 blocks from work, making it to the studio in a record 25 minutes.

The staff was nice, but the instructor was late so I had to lie around on the mat for longer than I would like. I was thinking about the emails I could be sending if I could just go grab my blackberry from my bag, but I tried to remember where I was and focus on less material things. Namaste Melissa!

Finally the class started. It was a beginner/intermediate vinyasa class, but it was the easiest yoga I have ever taken. The class was fine, a great hour and 20 minute stretch.

But
-it did not bring me any closer to being a yogi
-it definitely didn’t feel like a workout, but I guess that’s not the point

However
-I did feel much longer and leaner when I left
-I still feel well stretched and all the back pain and tightness I have felt lately are gone
-my friend says the lyengar classes are really good
-it was free

So I am still on my quest to find the perfect yoga studio for me, but I have not written off yoga benefits by any means.

Also Betsy recommended a place called Yoga Effects, which was pretty awesome, possible my yoga nirvana. Another reader recommended Prana Power Yoga, which I have to try–the schedule just isn’t the best for me!