More Zumba and Review of The Bari Studio
Hi there! How is your week going so far? Last week I took some time off from all my classes to spend more time at home but this week I’m back at it! Last night I went to Zumba hosted by Z Club NY and Skinnygirl Daily at 55 Water Street. I absolutely love this free outdoor yoga class! It’s such a great time!
I’ve been like a crazy person going around NYC trying to participate in all of the awesome classes this summer! Recently as part of FiTMAPPED and Self Magazine’s FiTCRAWL (a “crawl” around NYC and the Hamptons featuring some of the best fitness studios New York has to offer at a discount) I had the chance to take a class at The Bari Studio. I had heard some great things about them and I was excited to have the chance to try them out! The Bari Studio coins itself as “different than any other workout in NYC” and I have to say, it is so true. I have never done a class like this before but I loved it!
On a hot and steamy city summer eve I made my way to The Bari Studio’s popup location in Murray Hill on 28th St (their flagship location is in TriBeCa and they have another popup in SoHo). I walked into the studio and was greeted by Sarah, who was very friendly and got me setup really quickly. I was then introduced to our instructor Kara. For my first class Sarah had recommended trying out their Hybrid class, a mix of the different Bari modalities. Our instructor explained that we would start off with an athletic cardio dance segment (yes!), move to the mini trampolines (say whaaat?) and then do some toning. I was excited! I love switching things up and this class was going to be anything but boring.
We started with an easy to follow warmup that included some stretching and then got into the athletic dance cardio. “Athletic” was the perfect way to describe this segment. There was a dance-vibe to the choreography but it focused on easy to follow moves like jumping jacks and shuffles. The choreography was quick but we repeated combinations several times so you eventually got to pick them up if you missed it the first time. The dance section was high intensity and my heart rate was really high by the end if the segment. On a side note, I use my own heart rate monitor but Bari offers a monitor that allows you to see your stats on a screen at the front of the room. It’s an incredible motivator!
After the dance segment we pulled out the trampolines. This was a lot more difficult than you might think! Normally when you think of jumping on a trampoline you think of bouncing and while we did bounce, we did so much lower on the trampoline and on the beat. This bounce technique created a lot of resistance in the legs and my legs really started to burn! The trampoline section kept my heart rate up because it was still cardio but it also helped us transition into the next section, toning!
After doing a few rounds of mostly cardio moves on the trampoline, we were instructed to grab the resistance cables that were hanging from the ceiling and use them as we continued to jump. So now my legs and my arms are burning! We then transitioned to the just toning segment. This involved using sliders that allowed out feet to easily slide on the ground while our hands were on the trampoline in an inclined plank position. Ok now everything is burning! We did several more exercises using just the cables to target our arms and core. We then did some leg work and an workout before cooling down.
My thoughts overall? The Bari Studio is unlike any workout I have done before. It was fun, tough and effective (I burned 629 calories in one hour). A few times i felt a little uncoordinated but I honestly just did not worry about it and just focused on doing the moves with the best form possible. I absolutely loved how everyone was so nice and welcoming. They really wanted you to succeed in your workout. I would recommend The Bari Studio for anyone looking for a total body workout who wants to get out of their comfort zone and try something totally new. I promise you will have a good time and want to go back for more!
Readers, have you ever done a workout using trampolines or cables? Did you like it? What have you been doing to stay fit this summer?