It's Getting Hot In Here

No upper eastside gym-goer could honestly claim that gym-going is a drama free experience.

We spinners in particular seem somewhat drama prone. Everyone remembers the guy who threw the spin bike @ the 85th street Equinox. There are constant snits over who reserved what bike. (Just this morning, my bike was stolen by some tatted out dude.) There are the ladies in the low cut Lulu tops shamelessly throwing themselves at the instructors. And if two women show up in the same Lulu top ...

Still, we expect better from yogis. So what on earth is going down at Some Like It Hot? An "Urgent" (I kid you not) email went out from the owner of the 63rd street hot yoga studio this afternoon thanking her loyal patrons and going on to say "for those of you who have taken my childhood, hard work and loyalty and turned it against me via slandering my name and business on Citysearch and other websites; you will be sued if your posts and comments are not removed from such websites immediately!" The email concludes with "You call yourselves YOGI's...suggestion for the day...take a good, hard look in the mirror...it does not lie!" Oy.

I don't know that I've been to Some Like It Hot since sometime in 2006. Before the Bikram place on 83rd street opened, Some Like It Hot was the only place I knew on the east side that offered "hot yoga." It was not traditional bikram by any stretch, but it was, well, hot. I remember thinking that it was a tad expensive, but it was clean and the instructors were nice. Perhaps times have changed?

I only skimmed Citysearch, but there seem to be a few rather unhappy customers whose reviews are at least as colorful as the email that went out today. I can't say I want to know the all sordid details (though tell me if you must), but I can't help but wonder if all these people would be a lot calmer if they did a little less yoga and little more kickboxing.

-Gym Belle-

Hangin' Around

Yoga is so not my bag. I don't have a "practice" and nothing stresses me out more than be told to relax. While I recognize that more yoga would do me good, I'm rarely willing to sacrifice another workout to squeeze it in.

Until today, the only yoga I've ever been psyched about is bikram. I like to sweat, and the heat definitely helps me stretch into the poses, but mostly I like the lack of preachy "let's appreciate" stuff talk. (No disrespect intended, yogis; it just makes me uncomfortable.)

Purists might not consider Crunch's Antigravity(R) Yoga Wings class a yoga class, but it rocks. The 90 minute Sunday morning class @ 59th street fills up quickly. There are only 17 spots and they only do sign-ups in person starting an hour before class. The downside to this archaic system is obvious - but getting there more than an hour before class gave me a chance to run beforehand.

I staked out a spot towards back of the room by the side mirrors. (I like mirrors when I work out generally and it was helpful to be able to see what I was doing.) After the instructor came around to adjust the height of our hammocks, which apparently can support up to 1,000 pounds, and handled the inevitable drama of turning away the wait-listed people, we got started.

The class started with sun salutations that incorporated the hammock into each movement. The hammock made the movements interesting and allowed me to get deeper stretches than I would have otherwise. Mid-way through that portion of the class, we got to the first flips. That's when I knew I was hooked. If you miss the days of swingsets and playing on the monkey bars, this class is totally for you. After flipping fowards and backwards around our hammocks, we did some more yoga-esque movements - and then we got to swing. Very fun. But while the regulars appreciated the flips and the swinging, they couldn't wait to get to the inversions. I get that now. Hanging upside is down pretty cool.

All in all, the class was a lot of fun and it was a pretty intense workout. I definitely used my upper body a lot to pull myself up into the positions. As for the yoga aspects . . . I'm not going to lie: I'm going back for the flips and to master the "vitruvian man" pose and any yogic benefits that come along with the class will be gravy. Is this the answer to my yoga class woes? Time will tell.

-Gym Belle-

Gym Bit: Non-members can take classes @ Crunch by purchasing $16 day passes.