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| Mar and I about to hack into this log 🙂 |
When I saw the axes, I knew we were in for something different — and fun! I was pumped to try out Roam Fitness DC yesterday morning. I’d received an email from them recently and they put together a class for some bloggers to try out.
We were supposed to have a larger group but luckily Sarah, Mar and I got the class all to ourselves 🙂 I do wish more bloggers had been able to make it but it’s always nice to have more personalized training!
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| Me, Mar, Sarah before getting started in the studio |
Roam Fitness is an outdoor adventure type of workout taking place on local trails, combining running and boot camp like exercises together. Their motto is “Fitness Without Boundaries” and it fits in nicely with the recent outdoor adventure craze of races like Tough Mudder, Warrior Dash, Spartan Race and more.
Of course I was drawn to it because it reminded me of Crossfit. Functional fitness, lots of body weight exercises and tons of variety. This is a must for people who get bored fast and want a total body workout.
The studio is in Glover Park at the Savoy Hotel. I think pairing with hotels in big cities a really unique idea that could take off successfully, actually. This is their first location but they are set to expand to Dupont Circle soon — and more locations thereafter.
We were lead by Chris and Graham. Graham is the owner and founder and Chris is the OutRun Director. Both were very enthusiastic and ready to workout with us! The thing about this class is that the teachers are working just as hard as you to provide the best experience for participants.
The staff at Roam have awesome fitness backgrounds and it’s clear to me that they are passionate about what they do — and that makes all the difference in a class like this.
It was hard capturing everything we did — because we did a lot! Basically, the workout entailed running 4 miles with 5-6 stops in between to work different parts of our bodies. Exercises included:
- Tricep dips
- Uphill log climbs
- Axing a fallen tree
- Resistance running with band
- Partner resistance band traning
- Burpees
- Push-ups
- Hip flexor push ups (not sure what they were called!)
- Mountain climbers
- Parachute sprints
I personally LOVE that stop and go variety. That’s one reason I really enjoyed doing Tough Mudder — because it’s not about speed, just the workout. Plus, with Roam, everyone stays around the same pace and there’s a really encouraging group atmosphere.
I make awesome facial expressions when I’m focusing and working hard, don’t I? Ahhh!
I had one of the guys tape us doing the parachute sprints. Man, do I suck at sprinting! No wonder, I prefer long distance….this is one of the hardest things for me but something I need to do more of obviously!
Let’s not forget some awesome shots of the hacking:
Yeah, I had fun 🙂 I also really enjoyed running up and down the trails — there are some really awesome paths in DC if you know where to find them. Running uphill was the hardest part for me — especially when I was wearing the backpack but…I could tell I was getting a great workout in.
We were sweating buckets but stopping often for water and I was just generally feeling awesome the whole way. When we finally came to the end, we stopped for a sweaty pic.
But…here’s the real one:
Afterward, we sat down with the guys to talk about the workout about and hear more about the history and plans for the future of Roam Fitness. I think it sounds like a really promising business model and lots of Sweet Life readers would be into this kind of thing. I know many of you are in the DC-area and I’d recommend giving them a try!
Oh yeah, and they got us mimosas for our chat — how great is that?!
They’ve got classes every day of the week, various times of the day. I’m looking forward to trying another class sometime soon and hope you will check it out too. Follow Roam Fitness on Facebook and Twitter too! Here is the schedule — sign up!