Last night I had the fabulous pleasure of attending an event on behalf of NBC NY Go Healthy. It was promoting a new company called FITiST.
I arrived excited to see Ali and Dori. (I secretly have a huge crush on off them, and I guess it’s not so secret anymore.) I also met to great new bloggers, Mallory and Sarah. You can check out there transcript review of the event here, unfortunately, my work schedule did not allow me to partake, but it’s fun to read and actually explains what FITiST is, which I think is best explained by someone else.
When I arrived, I was blown away by how gorgeous the event space was–dream apartment comes to mind. It was a huge airy loft with exposed brick, tons of windows and the most magnificent kitchen I have seen in NYC!
Chefs in uniform were making smoothies and bottles of wine were set out for an after class reward. An abundance of Smart water and Zico coconut water ensured that no one would get dehydrated.
While I couldn’t make it for the chat session review, I will share with you my notes, which review each class. Keep in mind, these are unpolished notes 
Order of classes
After quite a bit of waiting around, we had our first class, Kristin McGee Yoga.
Kristin McGee is a yoga instructor to the stars, so I was excited to take class with her. I also have a girlfriend who swears by her DVDS. The class was a vinyasa flow class, it moved right along and gave us a chance to warm and open up our bodies. It was a basic yoga workout with a few challenging combinations, such as the eagle pose to standing split series. Kristin set herself apart from the other instructors by being one of the most encouraging and friendly instructors I have met. She consistently said, “great,” “you all look gorgeous,” and “this is beautiful,” which made me feel like I was a yoga rockstar. The yoga was a good segway into the more intense classes to come.
The event was fully staffed, so we barely had to move a mat between classes. In fact, men in nice black suits went to work rolling up our mats for us. It was funny that there were a bunch of sweaty people attending the event in workout clothes and all the event coordinators looked straight out of Devil Wears Prada with the cutest dresses and 4 inch heels—that’s a compliment btw, I wish I looked that cute at work! Or ever!
Per above, no I give myself full credit.
AeroBox
Aerobox was a throwback to my cardio kickboxing days. It was a high energy, in your face workout, that is sure to help you get out any aggression you might have inside. We went through several punch series mixed with cardio strength intervals, such as squat jumps. It was hard to get a real feel for the full class in 15 minutes. I was also a little disappointed that he didn’t explain exactly how to punch, so I at times, I was just flailing my arms as fast as I could.
Per above, yes and yes.
I am going to lump the Pilates together because it seems to make sense to compare and contrast, but there was a class in between.
Real Pilates
Our first Pilates class was lead by the owner of Real Pilates. The instructor immediately set to work trying to cast aside the apparently “stereotypical” image of Pilates, but her lecturing felt a bit patronizing. While I am sure Real Pilates was cutting edge when it opened over a decade ago, most of us have experienced Pilates with standing work and weights—Crunch Burn and Firm with Ellen Barrett anyone? She started us with knee lifts to warm us up—“see we are not on the mat,” she said. We then moved on to standing squats with weights.
What I will say is that the workout was hard. I really couldn’t believe how much the squats with arm raises burned. It was all I could do to get through five of them. What I like best out the Real Pilates is that the instructor really emphasized form. Her corrections made a huge difference. “Make it perfect,” she commanded. By the end, I was pretty sure I had completed the hardest 15 minutes of Pilates of all time. While I didn’t really enjoy the instructor’s sense of humor and instruction style, her class is a workout.
re:AB
The second Pilates class was completely different from the first. It was led by the owner of re: AB Pilates, who explained that there are a lot of types of Pilates, but no matter what you take, you should be sweating. The class reminded me of the Pilates classes I used to take regularly at my gym when Pilates launched into popularity. We went through signature Pilates moves: the hundred, leg circles, ab curls with weights. After the intense bootcamp, it was nice change of pace. While I could also feel each muscle working during the movements, I also felt relaxed at the same time. It definitely reminded how enjoyable Pilates can be with the right instructor.
Between classes this is what we did:
Basically, chillax and mingle.
Warrior Fitness Boot Camp
Exactly what you would expect from a bootcamp—replete with men in fatigues! We were yelled at, told to start over if everyone wasn’t counting and doing the reps, and given only seconds to transition between positions! For each exercise, we counted out load until 15—the magic number. (This often ended up being more than 15 since we often had to start over.) The class took place in two lines, and like any good bootcamp started with jumping jacks. Next we moved to the floor for pushups. We continued alternating cardio with strength until everyone was sweaty and ready to drop. I wouldn’t say the class was fun, but it was a workout. Girly girls should pass on this one. It’s definitely a challenge and perfect if you literally want to be whipped into shape. By the end of 15 minutes, I felt like I had been through basic training! While the instructors were loud and demanding, they had a hint of a playful attitude and congratulated us at the end.
Flybarre
Flybarre was a f un class that drew from Pilates, the Lotte Burke method, ballet and strength training. This class was well focused moving from body part to body part seamlessly. The arm section with weights was intense; I could hardly believe I was only lifting 3 pounds! This class reminded me a lot of Physique and Core Fusion, so obviously was my favorite. Another big plus was the super nice and very pretty instructors who knew we had been through 5 classes, but still made it feel fresh and energizing. The pop music was tailored it perfectly to the workout and we finished on the last beat of the final song. I have tried Flywheel and really liked it, so I can’t wait to check out the full Flybarre class. I think the two workouts are perfect complements!
Overall, I was pretty impressed by the intensity of all of the works—they made 15 minutes count. They all proved I have no arm strength and they all incorporated a fair amount of cardio. We actually were supposed to try two more classes but after 2 hours and 20 minutes, most of were ready to go. But I was glad to be invited because how often do you get to try a whole bunch of new workouts in one evening?
(Note: this is not an official extra entry.)
