Cross Fit NYC

Cross Fit on 26th between 6th and Broadway is a no-frills gym.  No high tech equipment.  No towels.  Lots of sweaty men grunting theatrically.

Each day, Cross Fit offers a Workout of the Day ("WOD").  You sign up for a time, and you go do that workout.  Some of the workouts are about how much you can lift in a few reps, or even just one.  Some are about getting through many reps as you can in a short amount of time.  It's about pushing yourself to accomplish more than you did the last time, and more than you thought you could.  If you do the WODS 4 or 5 times a week, week after week, you'll get a well-balanced workout even though each individual sessions, or even a week of sessions, may focus only on a few areas.

You can't just join.  Before you can become a member, you take a 3 week 6 session class called Elements that teaches you all of the foundational things you need to know in order to be able to tackle the WODs.  If you're not ready to commit to Elements, Cross Fit offers free beginner classes a few times a week. You can take those more than once.

At the urging of a girl friend who's been doing this for a few months, I tried the beginner class last night. The instructor, a young woman who looks strong but not nearly as strong as she is, walked a group of four of us (3 dudes and me) through squats, push-ups, strict pull ups, knees-to-elbows (hanging from the bar bringing your knees to your elbows) and burpees. 

Then we did a mini-workout: 21 burpees, 21 knees-to-elbows, 15 burpees, 15 knees-to-elbows, 9 burpees and 9 knees-to-elbows.  The idea was to go as fast as you could and we would be cut off at 10 minutes.  There was an option to do 5 sets of 9 each instead, but, for me, getting the worst overwith is easier.  I had to take a few breaks on the elbows-to-knees.  Hanging from a bar without gloves is just ouchy.  I was also seriously winded from the burpees, especially the 21 rep set.  Still, I had two things going for me compared to the guys.  One, they were all new to burpees.  Two, I'm pretty sure that knees-to-elbows is much easier when you're small.  I finished first at around 7 minutes and 43 seconds. 

After class was over, I stuck around to watch my friend who had talked me into this finish her WOD.  She was dead-lifting serious weight when I walked over.  The bar was bending.  By the end of the workout, she beat her personal record and dead-lifted 215 lbs.  It was seriously cool.

I don't have 4 of 5 days to devote to something like this, especially given the location, so I don't think that membership is in my future.  There are too many other workouts that I enjoy and too few hours in the day.  That said, Elements is very tempting.  I will keep you posted.

-Gym Belle-

Cardio on the Brain

Cardio.  There are days when I love truly it.  I run, I spin.  I sweat it out and get my heart rate going.  I get that anaerobic high.

 

Then there are the other days.  The ones when I just don't want to wash my hair for the millionth time.  Then there's the whole cardio makes you hungrier thing.  It just does.  I would never do this, but I have several friends who swear they're skinnier when they give up cardio and stick to weights or yoga for that very reason.

The thing is, love it or hate it, cardio is good for you.  And, according to an article on the New York Times Well blog yesterday, pushing it when you do that cardio may make you smarter.  According to a recent study, mice who were forced for run on little mouse tredmills outperformed the regular hampsterwheel mice in terms of certain cognitive responses.

 

The article goes on to discuss other studies involving humans that suggest that aerobic excercise also has a positive impact on our brain function, and more so than other forms of excercise.  What I found most interesting is that the one of human studies were measured the very short-term effects of aerobic excercise.  It's pretty impressive, and kind of makes me wish I'd run before high school math tests.

Something to ponder on those hard-to-motivate days.  Or when you're running late to work.  As long as you mean it literally, perhaps you're legitimately warming up for the day ahead?

-Gym Belle-

Physique Yoga

I promised to give yoga a shot again in honor of Yoga Month. Since we're over a third of the way into September, I decided it was probably time to put my plan into action. I've downloaded a week's pass to Pure Yoga that I totally intend to use, but I didn't want to start that this week for logistical reasons.  Instead, I decided to check Physique 57's yoga class.  I'm a huge fan of the regular Physique 57 classes, but I've never branched out to the others, so I had no idea what to expect.

I was nervous at first when I walked in and saw only two other students.  Small classes can be so awkward.  Luckily, we had a great instructor.  Donna was knowledgeable and not at all preachy and totally turned the turnout into a positive.  It felt more like a semi-private workshop than a class.

As it turned out, this was a stretchy, feel-good yoga kind of class.  A few of the poses made me grit my teeth a bit, but we didn't hold them long, and I didn't break a sweat.  I don't normally like classes like that, but this was actually pretty cool.  

I loved all the individual attention.  I've never been able to stick with yoga long enough to get good at it, so it was helpful to have someone really correcting my form.  I was also able to test out some more difficult things that I wouldn't consider trying for the first time in a big class.

All in all, I liked it.  I'd never replace a regular workout with a class like this, but it would be a great complement to my routine.  If I go  back, I'll keep you posted.

-Gym Belle-