When one of my good friend’s from SoulCyle invited me to go I knew I could not miss out on this opportunity. Barry’s Bootcamp was founded in West Hollywood, CA in 1998 by Barry Jay Stitch, John S. Mumford & Rachel Mumford. They wanted to create a no-nonsense workout that would provide the best cardio and strength training in one hour. In 2005  Joey Gonzalez joined and helped expand Barry’s to San Diego and New York (THANK YOU for bringing it to the East Coast).

Barry’s is made up of 2-30 minute segments, 6-10 minute segments or 4-15 minute segments depending on what workout the trainer wants to put you through and there is always a 5 minute cool down and stretch at the end. In the New York studio there is room for 40 people, 20 people start on the floor and 20 people start on the treadmill (Tip: Some people like to come early so they can get a spot for what they want to do first. I personally would like to do the treadmill first to get that pure evil over with but my friend insists we always start on the floor. It is totally personal preference.)

There is one trainer, who keeps time of everything and despite the fact that they have to manage two groups of people, they do a pretty amazing job. Every day of the week features a different workout, for New York the schedule is currently:

• Monday: Arms & Abs
• Tuesday: Butt, Legs & Shoulders
• Wednesday: Chest, Back & Abs
• Thursday: HARD Core
• Friday, Saturday & Sunday: Full Body
  • I should mention there is a “Dance party” on Saturday Nights

On Monday night I took my second Barry’s Bootcamp class, when you walk into the room it’s like walking into a dance club except with steps and treadmills. They have tinted red glowing lights, play awesome music and everyone is half-dressed so you can pretend like you are in a dance club and it actually might help you take your mind off the pain you’re putting your body through ( I promise this is the good kind of pain). The trainer that night was Patrick Frost who looked harmless at first but as soon as he said start was no longer harmless and his name became FROST. We did 4-15 minute segments, I started on the floor where we did an arm series with a body bar & resistance band and then we ended with an ab series. My face made a lot of funny faces going through this workout and my arms were screaming at me but I loved every second. After that we moved to my favorite part, the treadmill. On the treadmill we did a 15 minute set of jogs, runs, and pushes. FROST likes to say a jog is anywhere between a 5.5 to a 6.5, a run is a 7.5-9, and a push well that’s your highest push and he likes to see double digits. Not only did he have us doing 30 second pushes, we were doing runs on 5-8% inclines. I would like to say I was glistening during this workout but lets just face it, I was sweating my ass off. After we finished that torture we still had 2 sets left, one 15 minute set on the floor using a heavy dumbbell and another 15 minute set on the treadmill where FROST gave us a heart to heart and said listen I need you in your RED zone which to him is like a 12-15 on a treadmill, can you even go to a 15 on a treadmill? FROST all I have to say to you is, you are a total BADASS and I love it.

I am happy to report after we finished this workout I did not throw up and my fat was crying (Burn baby burn). I only found out after class that FROST said that was his 90%, which in my opinion I thought that was 110% so I am thinking the day he brings the 110% I will have thrown up at the end of class. I will keep you posted. Bottom line, it sounds a bit scary and that’s because it pushes you to where you didn’t think you could ever go. I did a sprint at a 9.5 on a treadmill, and I used to think a sprint was 7. This class is no-nonsense and you will see results. I have a very good feeling that if you did Barry’s Bootcamp 3x a week and ate a clean diet, you would see amazing results. “Burning fat, tightening up the body and building muscle has never been easier…” and that is because they don’t give you time to think about it, that hour is over before it started and you are out the door smiling about the insane workout you just accomplished.

So if you haven’t tried Barry’s Bootcamp, I highly recommend you try it once. Barry’s is expanding in New York, not only will they have the Chelsea studio, they are also opening a TriBeCa studio as well as a Hampton’s studio for your summer fun (no excuses). Prices in New York are as follows:

They also offer a couple of packages and they have the Academy where you go to Barry’s 5 days a week for 4 weeks, I want to try that so bad!! The cost of the Academy is $385 for 4 weeks. Not to bad if you can make the commitment but if you do this make sure that your diet is in check because you can NOT out-train a bad diet (just saying…).  Oh if you are wondering they do have a small locker room with two showers, free lockers and towels, and an amazing smoothie bar for your post workout protein shakes. If you want to take a class and don’t want to go alone, email me. I am always down for Barry’s Bootcamp!

• Share the Barry’s love on Facebook
• Tweet Barry’s
• If there isn’t a Barry’s Bootcamp near you they sell DVDs, I haven’t tried them yet to compare but I will keep you posted

 (aka Avenger in training)

On Tuesday I attended a book launch for the book The $100 Startup by Chris Guillebeau. Chris Guillebeau writes a blog called The Art of Non-Conformity, ”a home for unconventional people doing remarkable things”. I first started reading his blog when I found out about his goal to travel to every country, he currently has been to 183 and has 10 remaining. The book is about making a business out of your passions, I thought the launch was great and I was really glad I was able to attend. The book is an easy read, I am half way done and I can’t wait to read the rest, if you want me to post a review on it just leave me a comment .

On Wednesday I attended FitBlogNYC! What an amazing event hosted by Fitness Magazine. First I was able to wear my favorite fitness gear which was great because I try to wear fitness gear everyday . I got to use my new bag I won in the raffle at the Fisher House ride. Thank you Abby and Lululemon for the amazing bag! It is such a great color for spring! We were greeted by Mia Hamm which was so nice of her to take her time out to be there. Then the morning was filled with amazing speakers. The first was A.J. Jacobs who I recently saw on the Today Show talking about his new book Drop Dead Healthy. I was so excited that he was there to talk about his book. Drop Dead Healthy is about his quest for “bodily perfection”. He tried every diet, fitness trend, gadget out there to find out what really works. As soon as I finish The $100 Startup, I will be reading Drop Dead Healthy and I can’t wait to tell you about what I learn! One of my favorite things he said was “Sitting is the new smoking.” Which if you haven’t seen this infographic on sitting you should check it out.

After A.J. Jacobs my next favorite panel was Fitness Facts and Fibs with Joe Dowdell from Peak Performance NYC and Alycea Ungaro from Real Pilates. This panel really spoke to me because I have something I like to call Fitness ADD (stay tuned for a post soon) and having Fitness ADD is not a good thing.

Joe recommends sticking to a training plan for 3-4 weeks and then switching it up with a new plan. You need to create patterns in your body and if you are constantly switching up your workouts your body isn’t going to retain anything and eventually get frustrated and give up. I have learned this the hard way because I haven’t been able to stick to a plan, I constantly want to try different workouts and now I have hit a plateau.Since trainers are so expensive, Ashley from Healthy Happier Bear, asked a great question, “What do you do if you are on a budget and can not afford a trainer to create a plan for you?” Joe recommended either signing up for one or two sessions with a trainer to get you started or he also mentioned two books, one he wrote called Ultimate You ( I will be reviewing this soon, yeah for new books!) and the other one he recommended is the Women’s Health Big Book of Exercises which has some great plans if you are just starting out. There were a lot of great panels at FitBlogNYC but those were two of my favorites. There was also a panel on How to Turn your Blog into a Business with Kelly Olexa, Tina, Carla, and Julie, I heard it was one of the best panels but I had to sadly miss it to get back to work.  At the end of FitBlogNYC we left with some amazing fitness swag, thank you Fitness Magazine!

At FitBlogNYC I met many FitFluential Ambassadors, I have always wanted to be a part of FitFluential but I never  took the time to apply. After meeting so many amazing ambassadors at FitBlogNYC, I knew I wanted to be a part of such a great organization and guess what I was accepted to be an  FitFluential Ambassador this morning! I am so excited to be a part of such an amazing network. If you don’t know what FitFluential is, it is a nationwide network of fitness enthusiasts sharing their journey both online and offline through multiple social media platforms. Founded in April of 2011 by Kelly Olexa, FitFluential was designed to connect health and wellness brands with their ideal target market through customized, long-term experiential and contextual marketing campaigns.

I have so much more to tell but I think that is enough for now. Stay tuned for a post on Barry’s Boot Camp, The Fresh Diet, Fitness ADD and a couple of book reviews. If there is anything else you want to hear more about just leave me a comment or send me an email . Hope everyone is having a good Monday, now it is time to get ready for Barry’s Boot Camp!

After you watch the video you can check out the article on Blisstree

Happy Monday!

The winner of the Self Workout in the Park Fit Kit is…

Congratulations Beth! Please send me an email to kristine at shapeupnyc.com so we can coordinate your prize. If you didn’t win today do not worry because I have some great giveaways coming up this summer! So keep an eye out.

To draw the winner I used Random.org

Eugene Marathon Race Report via Sweat Once a Day

How Tapering is Like A Break Up via Enthusiastic Runner

5 Ways to Keep Your Fitness Focus via Blonde Ponytail

In case you missed out on the “I heart Sweat” shirts, they are back on sale! They are pretty amazing, I own one and I love it! Sweat for Sale via Ali on the Run

Because this made me happy today: Friday Favorites via Iowa Girl Eats

This is SELF magazine’s 19^th Annual Workout in the Park event.  It takes place on Saturday, May 12, from 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. at Rumsey Playfield in New York.  It will happen rain or shine! SELF Workout in the Park  features a full day of hands-on workouts and workshops. You can also enjoy a sampling of healthy and delicious foods, indulge in mini-spa services, demo the latest beauty and fitness products and score lots of free samples and goodies courtesy of SELF’s sponsors.  This year the workout in the park will be hosted by Dolvett Quince, celebrity trainer on The Biggest Loser. Workouts are provided and led by Crunch and this year there is even a Reebok  Zone where you can do a Crossfit WOD. Some of the workouts they will have this year are: Ab Attack, Fly Girls, Sucker Punch, and Tabura. To see the entire class schedule click here.

Tickets for the event are $20 but it includes a one-year subscription to SELF magazine. You can not purchase tickets on site so you must buy them online ahead of time. So grab some girlfriends and come to Central Park to check out this fun event, I will be there (most likely in hot pink).

I am excited to announce that one Shape Up NYC reader can win a SELF Fit Kit (valued at $200) and a pass to the SELF Workout in the Park! Inside the FIt kit you will find: SELF magazines, ear buds, an official WIP water bottle, fitness DVDs, month-long membership to Crunch and many more promotional items from sponsors like Garnier, Calvin Klein, Luna, La Roche-Posay, and lucy). One of my favorite things is the tote bag from lucy.

How to enter:

1) Tweet about the giveaway: “Win a SELF Workout in the Park Fit Kit from @kymarie13! Enter here: http://wp.me/pMzht-A5″

2) Leave me a comment telling me what workout you are most excited to try at the SELF Workout in the Park! (I personally want to try Masala Bhangra and Tabura)

And as a bonus if you like the Shape Up NYC Facebook page, I will give you an extra entry!

I will choose a random winner on Sunday, May 6th at 9:00pm EST. Good luck!

* If you do not live in New York you are still eligible to enter but you will have to provide your own transportation to the New York SELF Workout in the Park if you want to attend. If not you can just enjoy the free swag

I am a huge fan of action movies. I have seen them all. This weekend when I was at home visiting my family, my mom, sister and I decided to go see Act of Valor. I had heard a lot about this movie since they had used actual Navy Seals to film it so I was very excited to see it. While watching it, I was amazed at the bravery these men had. They give up everything to defend our Country. Even if it was only a movie, it was more realistic for me knowing that the men in this movie were actually some of the men out there protecting our Country. At the end of the movie they recited a poem that inspired me to make sure that I live every day without regrets.

Strangely enough after I got out of the movie I received an email from a fellow blogger, Abby, who writes Run Stronger Every Day. Her husband is in the United States Marine Corps and while he was out on his second tour she wanted to get involved so she found the Fisher House Foundation and became part of their inaugural marathon team. She has now run 6 marathons with Team Fisher House and raised over $25,000. The Fisher House Foundation builds houses near military hospitals for the families of injured soldiers to stay for free while their soldier is recovering in the hospital. This year for the first time, Abby and her husband will be running the Marine Corps Marathon together as members of Team Fisher House.

To raise money for this they will be hosting a ride at Flywheel (UES) THIS SATURDAY, May 5th at 3pm. Master instructors Aleah Stander and former Marine, Steven Little have donated their time and will be leading the ride. To get a bike for this amazing ride all you have to do is donate $50 to Team Fisher House. For instructions on how to donate please email runstrongereveryday@gmail.com. Donate quickly because I know the bikes will fill up fast. Along with an amazing ride there will also have an awesome raffle that will take place after the ride with a sweet treat from the Soft Serve Fruit Co. You will not want to miss this. Even if you can’t make it you should still donate because it is for such an amazing cause. For more information on the ride and the raffle you can check out her website here or go to the Facebook page. With that I leave you with the poem from the end of Act of Valor, I hope it inspires you as much as it inspired me and I hope to see you at the ride on Saturday…

 “ So live your life that the fear of death can never enter your heart. Trouble no one about their religion; respect others in their view, and demand that they respect yours. Love your life, perfect your life, beautify all things in your life. Seek to make your life long and its purpose in the service of your people. Prepare a noble death song for the day when you go over the great divide.

 Always give a word or a sign of salute when meeting or passing a friend, even a stranger, when in a lonely place. Show respect to all people and grovel to none.

 When you arise in the morning give thanks for the food and for the joy of living. If you see no reason for giving thanks, the fault lies only in yourself. Abuse no one and no thing, for abuse turns the wise ones to fools and robs the spirit of its vision.

When it comes your time to die, be not like those whose hearts are filled with the fear of death, so that when their time comes they weep and pray for a little more time to live their lives over again in a different way. Sing your death song and die like a hero going home.” – Shawnee Chief, Tecumseh

1. Access Bars, my girlfriend who sells Melaleuca products recently got me hooked on these! They are a pre-workout bar which provides your body with the means to use its own fat stores as an extra energy source. Athletes such as Shalane Flangan and Tammy Van Wise swear by them. Do they work, I am not 100% sure yet (I will write a review soon). But they taste amazing and I love eating them before any workout I do.

2. Phillips Wake-up light, honestly if I did not have this alarm clock I would not wake up in the early mornings. I have started going to a 6am Soul Cycle class every week and this clock is the only reason I wake up. “Light gradually increases for 30 minutes before your alarm time to gently prepare your body to wake-up and feel more energetic at the start of your day.” I love this alarm clock, I have had it for a couple of months now and it really does work!

3.10 Year Journal, I am a huge fan of journaling. Ask my mom, I have 15 journals at home from my childhood (excluding my ballerina journal that got stolen when I was 7 years old ). I just found out about this journal from Ali Fedotowsky on Open Sky. It is a 10 year journal, each day has 10 years listed so you can look back to see what happened on a certain day over the years. It also only gives you a couple of lines so it doesn’t take that long to fill out. I think this is an amazing thing to have.

4. Lululemon Run: Inspire Crops II, I think these are the best leggings ever. I just got my first pair and I wear them everywhere (and I mean everywhere). The run inspire crops are made with  Power Luxtreme® and Circle Mesh. They are a bit pricey but worth every penny.

5.  The Soft Serve Fruit Co., I am a huge fan of frozen yogurt but having it too much isn’t good for you. Recently after a Soul Cycle class I stumbled up the Soft Serve Fruit Co. The frozen yogurt fruit consists of only 3 ingredients: real fruit, filtered water, and a touch of organic cane sugar. It is 100% natural: non-dairy, free of fat, sodium, cholesterol, glutens, and all 8 major allergens. A small cup of Soft Serve Fruit contains less than 90 calories. My favorite flavor is Banana. If you haven’t been you really need to try it!

If you have any questions about any of the things above feel free to email me or leave a comment. I would love to know what have you been loving lately? I like learning about new things. I hope you all have an amazing weekend. I am off to Chicago for work!

When my good friend, Bianca from MizzFit, asked me to try Crossfit with her, I knew I couldn’t pass up the opportunity. Crossfit has been becoming quite the fitness phenomenon and I wanted to see what all the fuss was about. Bob Harper, trainer from the Biggest Loser, swears by it.

“Dude, it has been the best, most eye-opening experience for me. I’ve been in the training business for over twenty years and all of a sudden I start doing Crossfit and you know what it just all makes sense to me now.” – Bob Harper

It also caught my attention when Reebok came out with an entire clothing and shoe line exclusively for Crossfit. If this workout has its own line of clothing it must be good (clearly my head is in the right place). Crossfit was founded in 2000 by Greg Glassman. Crossfit is known for its virtual online community where the workout of the day (WOD) is posted daily along with blog posts about members and the upcoming games. You can participate in Crossfit two ways, either on your own getting by getting your workouts online daily or going to one of 3,400 CrossFit-affiliated gyms (aka “boxes”) worldwide (most are located in the US). In 2010 Reebok signed a 10-year deal with Crossfit, and in 2011 sponsored the annual Crossfit games which have been going on since 2007.

So what exactly is Crossfit? Crossfit is exercise program that focuses on strength and conditioning with the goal of improving your fitness level. “Our program delivers a fitness that is, by design, broad, general, and inclusive. Our specialty is not specializing.”  

If you really want to know all the details click here and enjoy the 11 page read. The types of exercises you can expect to see at a Crossfit gym  are functional movements (like pushups and pullups, deadlifts and squats, gymnastics, kettlebells, running, rowing, and olympic lifting), executed at high intensity in a group setting.

In New York City there are 6 “boxes”. I checked out the Black Box (aka Crossfit NYC) located on 25 West 26th Street. Walking the couple of blocks from my apartment to the Black Box I was extremely nervous, I had no idea what to expect. All I had heard was everyone passes out and since I have T-Rex arms I knew my chances of this happening to me were great. I walked into a large loft space that had bench presses around the outside of the room, pull up bars hanging all around the room and various fitness equipment scattered about. There was a WOD class going on as well as a clearly experienced Crossfitter with his shirt off running laps around the loft (I did not mind this). I would say the make-up of the people there were mostly guys but there was a good amount of girls there as well. Since I got there early I decided to make friends with some of the guys standing around me. One said he had been going there for a couple of months so he could get back in shape. He said so far the results has been great. He also reassured me I wouldn’t die (thank goodness, I had a double Soul Cycle class the next day I did not want to miss).

The way the classes are set up is there is an intro class which anyone can take for free (did you see that, I said FREE). After you take the intro class you can decide if you want to sign up for the two-week elements workshop. The elements workshop meets 3x a week for two weeks (6 sessions total in case you didn’t drink your coffee today). EVERYONE MUST TAKE THE ELEMENTS WORKSHOP to be allowed into their WOD classes. It does not matter how fit you are you must take this workshop. You would be surprised how many people do not know the correct way to do a proper squat or pushup. Once you have completed the elements workshop you can start doing the WOD workouts. The Black Box offers 3 different WODs: beginner, intermediate, and advanced.

I was lucky enough to drop-in on one of the sessions of the elements course. That day we were learning the proper form of a pushup, squat, and a pull-up from a badass instructor named Jeff. The first 45 minutes of the class went through the proper forms of the exercises and the last 15 minutes was dedicated to a workout. During the 45 minutes of proper form it was quite educational to learn that I could not do a pushup with my T-Rex arms and watching me TRY to get into a sling band to help me with my pull-ups was highly entertaining. MizzFit was kicking herself for not filming me (I was honestly happy she couldn’t get to her phone in time). During the last 15 minutes I was put through a workout that  would result in me not being able to walk for the next 3 days. What did this magical workout consist of, you ask… 1 minute of squats with a 10 second rest x 4 and 1 minute of pushups with a 10 second rest x 4. That was it! And I am telling you I could NOT walk. It was the most pain my legs had been in (my legs hurt more from this than from running a half marathon).

After my experience I can now see why people do it and get addicted to it. You get great results and you build strength (you can also wear the cool knee-high socks everyone seems to wear, but you should know this trend hasn’t picked up in New York yet). The key to this workout is just showing up. If you don’t show up, you won’t get results it is that simple. MizzFit had a different viewpoint on the class which I am sure she will write about soon so check out her website. Will I join? I don’t know yet because I love trying lots of different classes (but that tends to be my downfall in fitness, too much variety). If I do join I will make sure to let you know. For more information click any of the links below:

• Crossfit NYC
• Tweet the Black Box
• Share the love on Facebook

When I belonged to Equinox, I was a religious rider and loved taking their High Gear class. When I gave up my membership I stopped spinning. A couple of months later while I was in a Refine class I heard someone go “This class was insane, we were waving towels over our head! I will be going back to SoulCycle all the time now!”. After hearing that I knew I had to take a class. I signed up for a 2:00pm class in Union Square which I would take after my 12:00pm Refined class. I thought how hard could this be in it just spinning.

I got to class 30 minutes early, the studio was beautiful. They offered me free shoes since it was my first class (luckily I own them, but it is a $3 rental if you do not have them). I went downstairs put my stuff in my locker and went back upstairs. Just as I was finishing putting on my shoes the class before mine walked out. They were drenched.

Small warning bells started going off in my head, what had I gotten myself into, I thought this was just spin, but these people clearly were on a whole other level. They cleaned the room and let us in, it was dark and lit by candles and smelled like grapefruit (let me tell you how thankful I was for this, I was slightly nervous about what it would smell like based on what the people looked like from the class before). I got on my bike and immediately noticed how close all the bikes were and the giant speakers above my head. Warning bell number 2, this was not like any other spin class I have ever taken. A cute girl named Madison came walking in, in converse high tops (I should mention I now want to own converse high tops) and started the music. It was fast and had a great beat, I almost felt like I was in a club and then it happened… The entire class went from just spinning to dipping down on the bike in unison. I was amazed! It dancing while spinning.

SoulCycle is a 45 minute class that consists of dips, push-ups, jumping, tap backs, and other rhythm movements.  It also has an arm section that can last anywhere from 4-7 minutes (yes, you are lifting weights while spinning I promise you won’t fall off the bike). Everyone in class is required to wear clip in shoes ($3 rental) and I highly recommend water  ($2 if you forget your own). The class itself costs $32, yes I realize this is crazy expensive and so do the instructors. The first class I took with Madison she said “I know you just paid $32 for this class so I am going to give you the workout you deserve!” And she did I came out feeling like a new person that looked like they just went swimming in a pool.

Yes SoulCycle does have its drawbacks: it is super expensive, they do not offer any discounts or membership prices, they only have showers at two locations, and their lobbies tend to be small. But even with all these drawbacks they still get me to come twice a week (putting me farther and farther into debt ). The reasons why SoulCycle is so addicting and people pay the money they do is for the following reasons:

1. The instructors, the passion they have for what they do and their students is amazing. They make you want to come back to their class every week. They make it a point to know your name and make you feel like you are a part of something. I have a couple of instructors that I would never miss a class with!
2. The music, great music will make any class fly by and makes me feel like I am in a dance club every time
3. The Soul Community, I have made some amazing friends at Soul Cycle who all have the same passion as me. It is great to have that kind of support, they motivate me to make better choices and push me harder in class. I even have friends in WEHO (West Hollywood) who I have yet to meet! – Noa I am coming for you

I just started taking classes in February so I have yet to try all the instructors (I will give you an update when I do) but in the meantime below are some rockstars that you have to check out if you go to SoulCycle.

If you ever want to take class, email me! I am always up to go to SoulCycle.