This post may contain affiliated links, which means if you purchase an item I will earn commission at no additional cost to you. Thank you!
shoes c/o // leggings c/o // sweatshirt c/o
Lately I have been religiously set in my fitness routine, with a little wiggle room of course for scheduling purposes. I know what days I want to go to dance cardio, how I like to start the week or end the week with yoga, how I have to go to Megan Roup’s class on Friday’s as a must, and add a HIIT workout sometime in-between. Since I have been persistent on my weekly workouts, I haven’t tried any new fitness studios. I keep saying this is something I am going to change up but at last, another week goes by and I can’t give up my beloved dance classes. I am, however, trying a new class this weekend called Precision Run. My friend Sara, from City Fit Life, is now a teacher there so I am taking one of her classes this weekend. Anyway, even though I do not have new to me workouts to share, I thought I’d share a few that I have been going to, or have tried in the past, that I have yet to share. And I noticed I have not shared a workout guide since January!!
I have been going to Rumble a lot more recently as my HIIT workout. It’s a mixture of boxing and lifting weights. You start off with either doing the boxing portion or the weight portion of class for 15 minutes, then switch. You ultimately end up doing boxing and weights for about 15 minutes 2x each. It’s definitely challenging to go from boxing (using the bag) to weights as it tires out your arms quickly. I am usually dying by the second time I am back with the bag, but somehow muster up strength when it comes to the weight portion. If you have never boxed before, no worries! The teacher will show you what movements to do, and in boxing there is only 7 movements- cross punch, jab, side punch, upper cut, and duck. Each are numbered: jab is 1, cross is 2, left side punch is 3, right side punch is 4 etc. And it is all shown on a screen in the upper top portion of the wall for you to clearly see (ex: 1, 2, 3, 4, 1, 3– jab, cross, left right punch, right side punch, jab, left side punch). In between each boxing segment you will do small burst of either cardio or core movements. The weight portion of class each person gets their own bench to work on that has it’s own set of weights. You can choose how many pounds you want for each exercise. I really enjoy workouts that intertwine cardio and heavier weights- it’s the best way to get your heart pumping, lose weight, get lean muscles, boost your metabolism, and have an overall wellness. But it’s much more than physically letting out your emotions on a bag- there is a DJ that plays fun jams and it feels like you are in a club (almost). The energy is high and it’s a lot of fun! Rumble is unfortunately not on ClassPass.
Continuing on the boxing circuit, Box + Flow is a mix of boxing and yoga. You start the class boxing ( shadow boxing to warm up, then glove up for the bag), after which you spend the second half doing yoga. I was so relieved once we started the yoga portion until I realized boxing beforehand really made yoga so much harder. My arms were dead tired, I could barely do a downward dog. At one point I was wishing to go back to boxing. What I loved about Box + Flow is that it gets your heart rate up and cools off with stretching. I felt great after class, but so sore the next day. I have not been to Box + Flow for a while since I go to Rumble now (close to my apartment), but I would love to go back sometime in the near future. It’s a challenging workout with high energy and great tunes. Box + Flow is on ClassPass.
I go to Pilates on the Square once a week. It has really helped with my core, flexibility, and overall strength. If you think Pilates reformer and/or cadillac is easy, then you have never tried it before. There are some days I really work up a sweat and some days I barely sweat but am sore the next day. Essentially you are using your own strength to move the machines. Unlike doing mat Pilates where you are doing a series of exercises on the floor using little to no equipment (i.e. magic circle, resistance bands, weights, etc). When you use the reformer or cadillac machines you are pulling and pushing the machine with your body or with various equipment, which I find a lot more challenging and fun to do. So what is the difference between a reformer and a cadillac? Well the reformer is a large piece of equipment that looks like a bed with a carriage that has resistant springs. Resistance is the key word for reformer. Everything attached to the reformer- footboards, ropes- is there to help you resist against the machine. A cadillac looks like a canopy bed with a lot of equipment on it for various exercises. It’s almost targets more muscles groups than the reformer. Anyway, for Pilates on the Square you do half hour on the reformer, then a half hour on the cadillac. I usually prefer to do the cadillac first then the reformer, but it depends on how you sign up and which teacher you sign up under that determines which one you start with. Both I do enjoy, however. Pilates is an exercise in which I know I will still be doing well into my 60’s and 70’s. It’s great for mobility, improves posture, strengthens your core and overall muscles, helps with flexibility, and there is no pressure on your joints. Pilates on the Square is on ClassPass.