As most of you know, being pregnant hasn’t kept me from staying active — very active. I’ve been singing the praises of Class Pass all year and I’m quite sad to be leaving the program when I move. It’s simply the best deal around for class lovers like myself. Ever since having to quit CrossFit, I’ve been all about finding variety and new workouts to keep me occupied.
>>>> Barre Hopping in DC
While I have generally stuck with my core studios: Xtend Barre, Barre Tech, Refresh Yoga, Pure Barre and Gold’s Gym — I wanted to explore some new places to spice things up. Here’s what I thought of the new studios I tried in the past two weeks.
1. Fuse Pilates
I always though this one sounded awesome, but it wasn’t near my house. However, when Fuse invited me to try their pre-natal push class in Dupont Circle, I couldn’t refuse! I didn’t realize it was going to be on a Pilates reformer machine but was game for anything (the main photo is at Fuse!) It was my first time using the reformer and it is much less intimidating than it looks — don’t worry! There were 3 other ladies in class and we were all definitely well into our third trimesters. The space was unique, clean and the machines were awesome. The class was slow enough for us preggos but good enough to feel the burn. There were levels of things you could do to adjust according to how hard you wanted to work. Overall, I enjoyed the class and the studio so for those of you near Dupont or Logan Circle (they have two locations), check ’em out.
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2. JOURNEY Yoga
I’m always on the hunt for pre-natal yoga classes on ClassPass. There aren’t that many so when I found this one on a weeknight I had free, I decided to give it a try. I really enjoy showing up at full prenatal classes because it’s always more social than other classes. Usually, everyone says their name and how far along they are — and there’s just a general positive vibe in the room because we’re all happy and excited to be mommies soon. I’ve found most of these classes are usually first-time Moms too. I liked the Journey space and it was pretty closet to my house. Parking wasn’t super easy but there was a parking garage for $2 behind the studio that worked. The class was perfect for prenatal and I left satisfied!
3. Biker Barre
I had heard of these place awhile back and always wanted to go…mostly because the name sounds so cool! I walked by recently and realized how close it was to my office. I usually don’t do evening classes but needed to and felt like it was the perfect chance to finally try out this studio. I took a basic barre class and true to it’s name, the studio was very unique and cool looking on the inside and out. Definitely worked up a sweat and instructors were very nice about helping me find modifications to work for pregnancy. I love studios that offer more than one thing so knowing they have both bike AND barre here is great. This is in the Capitol Hill/Eastern market area.
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4. LavaBarre
This is the studio I’m most sad I won’t be around for. Because it’s in Virginia, I would probably go to it more often — plus they have yoga, barre, spin and TRX — and an abundance of classes offered on ClassPass. I have no doubt I’d be using up my 3 passes every single month! More studios with variety please! Either way, I had to at least try before I left (and will probably go back at least once more before I go.) I went to a barre class and it was one of the tougher ones I’ve done. It could be because my legs are shot from squats yesterday but they were burning in this class. I felt like the hugest wimp! The one downside was that the floor was super slippery even with my grippy socks and the mats slid around quite a bit. The studio space, however, was awesome and I loved the vibe!
There are so many awesome studios to check out on Class Pass. If I weren’t moving away, I’d try them all! However, wanted to give you a taste of some those I have tried lately. While I still mourn the loss of CrossFit and running in my life, it forced me to get out there and try new things — and that has been a good thing!
Have you tried any new studios lately? What do like about smaller studios versus bigger gyms?