The Life of a (Fitness) Blogger

Being a blogger in Boston has some pretty cool perks. Over the past year I’ve joined the Boston Bloggers and Blog and Tweet Boston communities where I’ve gotten to learn a little more about my city and explore some pretty cool places for free! In the past few weeks I’ve had the opportunity to try many new (and not so new) workouts and fitness studios and I’m psyched to be able to share my experiences with you.

A few weeks ago Heather of Glamorous Baggage gave me the chance to enjoy a few free classes at The Club by George Foreman III. Little did I know at the time that I would actually get to workout with THE George Foreman III. His gym called “The Club” for short, opened up about a year and half ago in Fort Point. I’d heard a lot of great things about this place, but I was a little intimidated. I’m not a boxer by any stretch of the imagination, so I was a little nervous that I wouldn’t be cut out for this. Until I got there, I didn’t realize that this gym has everything: Pilates, yoga, cycling, rowing and most obviously BOXING. I signed up for the BoxFIIT360 class after a recommendation from a friend. It’s basically High intensity Interval Training meets boxing. There was a short warm-up then we got right into it. 12 stations, 2 mins each of punching bag, TRX, kettlebell swings, jump rope etc.  Not only did I get a great full body workout, but I felt totally welcome. George took the time to walk through every exercise and corrected my form without making me feel like a moron. I will definitely be back for more!

Next up was Sunrise Yoga at the Boston Harbor Hotel. It was a networking event for local Boston Bloggers with a little yoga and breakfast mixed in. Our host was Andrea Metcalf, a Womensforum TV Star and one of Chicago’s top fitness experts. She welcomed us with a swag bag full of goodies from a free yoga mat to ThinkThin Bars and Nordic Naturals vitamins to a Visa gift card. We were led to the outdoor gazebo on the Harbor Walk at Rowes Wharf for yoga. It may have been the most beautiful, peaceful place to do yoga EVER!! We set up our mats and did a short 30 min flow followed by breakfast. It was certainly a great way to start the day!!

Last but not least, BFX Back Bay. BFX is a new fitness studio that opened up on Boylston Street in May and I have been dying to check it out. They had a preview week of classes when they first opened, but they filled up pretty quickly. Last week I got the opportunity to check out the studio through Blog and Tweet Boston.

BFX stands for Boutique Fitness Experience and it’s just that. It’s not your normal gym packed with treadmills and ellipticals, it’s all class based instruction led by what they call Xperts. I was treated to a Fusion Ride class by Cassie Brown. I wasn’t quite sure what to expect until I walked in and saw spin bikes (obvious given the “ride”) and the TRX Suspension Equipment (that would be the “fusion” part).

It was an hour-long class, half on the bike, half on the TRX. I opted to start with the bike. I’m still not sure whether that was a good or bad idea. It was 30 mins of pretty intense cycling. In the saddle sprints, out of the saddle sprints…uphill sprints. All this while watching the TRX folks and wondering how I was going to get through some of those exercises after cycling for 30 mins straight.

The TRX portion was broken up into 3 sections: Power, Strength and Endurance. The first section was a combo of TRX squats, squat jumps, TRX rows, Squat/Lunges with a 22lb sandbag, plyo squat/lunges and TRX triceps. (Did I mention that I just cycled uphill for 30 mins totally exhausting my legs before having to do a thousand weighted squats!!!) The second section was Sumo squats and a shoulder press (with the sandbag), TRX chest press and lumber jack triceps using another weighted sandbag. For the final section we alternated between mountain climbers with a plank up/down combo and then my favorite burpees!! But not just any burpees, burpees with a sandbag and a 180 jump turn mixed in. As exhausting (and torturous) as that all sounds, it was kind of awesome and I would totally subject myself to that again…but next time I’ll probably start on the floor.