Remember Cat's Cradle?

If you enjoyed cat's cradle as a kid so much that you wished you could play a life sized game, you may want to check out New York Trapeze School. The trapeze school, perhaps most famous for its flying trapeze classes, offers a variety of aerial arts classes at its two Manhattan locations. For my first time, I opted for a static trapeze class.

The static trapeze is basically a single monkey bar suspended from two ropes. Truth be told, if I didn't have brunch plans that day, I might have tried the silk ropes class that's offered a bit later instead, but I've had trapeze on the brain lately and was itching to try something - and not flying. (One day, yes. Not this time, though.) Static trapeze sounded cool.

When I arrived, there was a flying trapeze class getting started. As I watched that, I signed easily one of the most intense waivers I've encountered. No surprise there.

The static class had four participants: one very talented woman, two too young kids (like 4 and 6 or something rediculous) and me. There was one trapeze, so we all took turns. Our instructor had us each warm up by doing pull ups and then hanging from the bar to do sit ups. Then she taught us how to get into various positions according to our ability.

As wierd as my cats' cradle metaphor may strike you, that's really what it felt like. Other than the first pose I tried, the gazelle, I've forgotten the names of the moves, but they each involved tangling myself in the ropes. If this sounds painful, it's because it kind of is. Holding the ropes where I wanted them took a lot of strength. Also, rope burn is the name of the game. At one point, I got into a position that involved hanging upside-down, wrapping my legs around the ropes so they were around my feet and then straightening so I was hanging from my feet. I yelped (the damage done by the previous night's stilettos exacerbated the burn), but I did it.

The class was more intense than I had expected. The instructor spotted us as much as we needed, but she didn't go easy on us. And, because we were sharing the apparatus, when it was your turn, you just had to go for it. I liked that. I enjoyed the class in general, pain aside. I spend a of time building strength largely for strength's sake. In trapeze class, I got to use that strength and really put it to the test. I tried way more than I thought I would the first time around and I'm curious to try it again.

I'll keep you posted.

-Gym Belle-

She Flies Through the Air With the Greatest of Ease...

Jukari Fit to Fly has me ready to run away and join the circus (or at least re-watch It Happened One Night).

Overall, tonight's class was more cardio heavy than last week's. We started out where last week's Tuesday night class left off - twisting all the way to one side, lifting our knees and spinning on the Fly Sets. There was lots of running and jumping. We also worked in a decent number of pull-ups, bicep curls and tricep push ups, all using the Fly Set.

In just over 40 minutes, I burned 177 calories, and my heart rate ranged from 119 to 175. 175 is up there for me. If I'm sore tomorrow, I expect that it will be in my forearms. Apparently, once you build those up a bit, you can work your traps more.

This class is a great workout, but it's also a great release. Jukari is Sicilian for "play" and the name fits. Spinning, jumping and swinging are fun. You really can't take yourself too seriously. I can't wait to see what more Sara has in store for us.

I'll keep you posted.

-Gym Belle-

PS - Curious fellas out there should not be shy; tonight's class had a lot of men.

Things That Make You Go Hmmm...

Locker room eavesdropping has worked out well for me in the past. After all, I learned about Ride the Zone and the moving spin bikes in the locker room at Physique 57. So, last weekend, when a girl at Exhale Gansevoort was raving about Exhale's Core Fusion Sport class, I put it on my to do list.

Core Fusion is Exhale's variation on the Lotte Berke method. Core Fusion Sport incorporates some of those movements, but it's not taught at a ballet barre and includes more lateral movements. Also, you hold a weighted ball for the majority of the time. The way the girl explained it, I envisioned a cross between Core Fusion and Steve Feinberg's Speedball classes at Equinox, which I love.

I ran before class this morning because I was awake, it was nice out, and I'd missed a few days this week. When I arrived, I was pumped. The studio was buzzing with people, but it turned out that most were there to take the open level Core Fusion class. Only three other people were taking Sport with me, and three of the four of us were newbies.

Unlike the medicine balls used in Speedball, these weighted balls have handles. I was handed a six pounder. For the first thirty minutes, we did a few series of raising and lowering the ball while in chair position. Mixed in with that were burpees, push ups with one arm on the ball and planks. My heart rate definitely got up during the burpees and continually raising the ball with straight arms gets pretty tiring. The bicep curls and rowing movements we did next were not particularly challenging with six pounds. Next time, I might switch to a heavier ball for that portion. That said, I was not sorry when we moved into the second, less intense, half of class.

Part two involved a butt series and an ab series. For glutes, we laid on yoga mats and used resistance bands to enhance some of the familiar Lotte Berke moves including leg lifts, bend-stretches, circles etc. For abs, we brought back the ball and did a variety of crunches. The handles make the ball pretty wide, so I found this to be a little awkward. I know I got my glutes; I'm less sure about my abs.

I'm reserving judgment for now; I just don't have a strong feeling on this class one way or the other. It was definitely a good workout. The class lacked energy and, um, fun-ness, but with three new people and four people total, I suspect it's worth checking out again.

I'll keep you posted.

-Gym Belle-

*The author received 50 free sessions at Ride the Zone as a prize for completing the Cyko Challenge earlier this year.*