Let me start out by saying if you've read or seen any of my other reviews you'll know that I am a heavy classpass user and I visit a lot of different studios around New York City, and have many favorites as well. I tend to love Pilates, gravitate towards barre classes and mix in TRX and other odds and ends workouts. I also have a lot of joint, tendon and just general injuries so I stay away from high impact, which brought me to trying this class!
As a first-time students at The Fit Co., I was welcomed at the door by Laura, the owner and hence the instructor of our lunch time "no sweat "workout. My class was a little later than lunch, 2 PM class I believe, b/c I was able to sneak out of work as my boss was out, so the time didn't matter. I really appreciate the "No sweat" lunchtime/workday work out, even though I did sweat, LOL.
Laura was very conscious the entire time of the temperature in the room - it was a warmer than normal day that week and she knew we were all going back to work and so even though I did sweat, the room was nicely air-conditioned and if you read my other reviews that is top of my list of importance - it always shows you that the instructor or owner is not just thinking about the workout or your form but your comfort and what your life is going to be after you leave this class. And that is the vibe I got from Laura. She was very warm and welcoming. I felt like we could be friends and could chat about anything. She's super open and the place had an amazing laid back and welcoming vibe. Leave any pretension or attitude at the door- it's not necessary and just does not work in this room.
Laura shares space on the floor with a doctors office but I think she got the best room in the house as her studio is in the end & has great floor-to-ceiling windows- the brightness of the windows is a really nice treat during your workout.
So the workout - we started with arms and grabbed weights- a heavyset and a lighter set and we did a lot of arm work, hit all of the muscle groups especially the triceps which I thought was nice of some teachers avoid them. The work not too much to where you couldn't lift your arms when you got back to the office, but just enough for a work out.
We then intermingled different abdominal exercises with variations of planks on the mat. If you love planks you will love this class - our routine involved a lot of planks. I have a love-hate relationship with them, as my wrists are getting older, but everyone knows you can variate down to your elbows.
So after arms and abs we had a section dedicated to your touche. There was some pulsing, leg lifting in all different configurations that I have done before, but again we weren't pushed till burnout - to put it another way there was no moaning or sighs at the end of each set. You could walk out of class back to work. I appreciated the fact that I was working out my muscle groups but I wasn't "killing myself"especially because I had some very difficult classes that week.
Obviously this class is called no sweat because you get to work out but you aren't pushing yourself to the absolute limit and that's why you take this class. If you wanted A different experience there are different classes for that.
Lastly, the location of her studio is perfect it's a 10 block walk to my office and I can see myself walking there a couple times a month to get in those lunchtime quick workouts and see Laura. I have a pretty hefty your rotation of classes and this is going to enter into them especially on the days where I need a break from the killer barre class that I wasn't expecting, but still want to get my blood pumping and my muscles working. read more