Review: Equinox Fitness

Posted on April 29, 2010 by kymarie13

Equinox Fitness is known as the mecca of fitness clubs in New York. Equinox Fitness is based in New York City and has 48 clubs total around the country  in: Northern and Southern California, Texas, Chicago, Washington DC, Connecticut, Boston, and Florida. There are 18 locations in New York City, 1 location in Brooklyn, 3 on Long Island and 2 in Westchester. What makes Equinox so alluring?

Equinox strives themselves on having the best of the best and they have every right to say this. All of their classes are amazing, I have not taken one class at Equinox that I wasn’t impressed with. They currently have Inten-Sati, taught by the founder Patricia Moreno, Jukari Fit to Fly (which can currently only be found in Equinox and Reebok clubs in the US), Urban Rebounding with the founder JB Burns, and Tabata 2010 (which I have still yet to take but I can’t wait to try).

Equinox has a partnership with Kiehl’s Since 1851 and they carry their locker amenities in every club! Say goodbye to generic locker room products when you workout at Equinox, you will be showering with the best. They offer all the amenities you could need in the locker room, except for locks, so don’t forget yours! All clubs of Equinox are kept extremely up to date and clean. I have been able to visit multiple clubs around the country and I haven’t walked into one that was not kept in perfect condition. 4 Locations in New York City have Lap Pools: 63rd Street, Columbus Circle, 54h Street, and Greenwich.

Is the gym crowded? I have to say every gym in New York is crowded, especially after work. If you plan on working out after work you will have to make it through the crowd. But I feel that every gym in New York City is like this. If you want to work out alone, learn to wake up in the morning ;)

A for personal trainers, Equinox has some of the best personal trainers around. In a couple of clubs around the Country Equinox have private clubs called “E” that has trainers who work one-on-one with clients every time they come into the club. I got to go with my Dad to workout with his trainer once and I was never in so much pain. Don’t worry it was a good pain :) .

As for clientele Equinox has a mix, because of high prices you see an older crowd. But the younger people do not stay away, many can be seen in their clubs. I have to say it is a good mix. Now all good things have a catch and Equinox’s catch is the price. They are pretty honorable that they do not change their monthly dues. The last time I checked monthly dues are $180 a month in New York. The one thing that can change depending on if they are offering promotions is the one time membership fee that you pay in the beginning.

So overall if you have the money, Equinox is an amazing Fitness Club, it would be my top choice.  If  you don’t have the money (like me) no worries! E-mail I have some amazing clubs that are affordable for the budget conscience gym-goer.

Oh and a celebrity sighting at Equinox, when I was taking Jukari Fit to Fly, Heather Graham was taking Inten-Sati. She looks great!

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Review: Jukari Fit to Fly

Posted on April 28, 2010 by kymarie13

When I was 18 years old my mom introduced me to one of the most amazing things in the world… Cirque du Soleil. Cirque du Soleil is a dramatic mix of the circus and street entertainment. I really don’t have words to describe it, it is better to be watched than talked about. Since my mom has taken me to my first show, I have seen 11 other shows. I am a huge fan and supporter of Cirque du Soleil and I was so excited when I heard they teamed up with Reebok and created a workout called Jukari Fit to Fly.

Reebok did a survey of 15,000 women across 25 countries in 2008 and found out that early two thirds (61%) of all women would workout more if it was more fun. More than half (54%) felt exercise was a chore. After these findings Reebok and Cirque du Soleil set out to create a workout that would no longer feel like a chore and Jukari was born. Jukari comes from a word dialect meaning to play, and that’s exactly what you do in this class. Jukari Fit to Fly was launched in 14 different cities all over the world. Celebrities like: Kim Kardashian, Audrina Partridge, Mischa Barton, Miranda Kerr and Molly Sims have all tried Jukari and love it.

The main equipment used in this class is the FlySet. The “FlySet” which was created by Cirque du Soleil and is similar to the trapeze bars that are used for training and for their shows. It is suspended from the ceiling and has a removable FlyBar that can be moved up and down the rope and also had feet loops to workout your legs. The FlyBar weighs about 4.5 pounds.

I was lucky enough to take a class at the 19th Street location of Equinox (located on Broadway and 19th). Walking into class I was so nervous! All the bars were hanging from the ceiling and I just thought what had I gotten myself into! After talking to some of the students they didn’t have enough good things to say about it, some come 2-3 times a week. The class is taught by a beautiful, spunky blonde named Kristen Kenney. Kristen Kenney, the creator of Spice Fitness is a former ballerina and modern dancer with over 15 years of movement training. She is formally trained in Pilates and  Madd Dog Spinning.

The class lasts 45 minutes, which is long enough but I wish it would have lasted longer because there were many more tricks I wanted to learn. You start with a quick warm up with the FlySet and move right into a series of arm work. The arm work consists of suspended jumps like the: tuck, cat, and the split. My favorite part of the arm workout was the pull ups. My arms are still sore from yesterday! After a series of arms you take the FlyBar off and put on the footstraps and you do a series of planks while your legs are suspended from the straps. I used to think I had pretty strong abs, I no longer feel that way! It was one of the most challenging parts of the class. At the very end of the class you put the FlyBar all the way at the top of the straps and do a series of different spins. This made me extremely dizzy but was a lot of fun. The class is a combination of cardio, strength, and balance training and you really do get all three out of the class. I thought it was an amazing workout. You barely feel like you are working out but you are conditioning muscles you normally don’t use. By doing this workout enough I can see how this would make you lean and toned.

After finishing I found myself wishing that there was a studio solely dedicated to Jukari, not only because it is an amazing workout but because it was so much fun. I found myself wanting to learn all of the tricks and believe me I have a lot of work to get there. Jukari Fit to Fly is currently only offered at certain Equinox Gyms in New York City. If you belong to Equinox I highly suggest you take this class! To find out where  else Jukari Fit to Fly is located please visit the Reebok website.

Images From: Orlando Dreamin, Reebok, and Audrina Patridge.

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Review: Urban Rebounding

Posted on March 19, 2010 by kymarie13

“Urban Rebounding was created by J.B. Berns, a practicing martial artist for over 20 years, whom Fitness Magazine called one of the top personal trainers in the country. The Urban Rebounding Workout has it’s lineage in martial arts and core abdominal postures, resulting in a non-stop abdominal workout that melts away the fat and inches, strengthens your core and improves your balance and coordination like no other exercise! The Urban Rebounding System is the powerful total body workout that is in nearly 5,000 health clubs worldwide.”

Yesterday I was lucky enough to attend a Urban Rebounding class with the creator JB Berns. If you have never heard of Urban Rebounding, you are seriously missing out! JB Berns started the Urban Rebounding workout in 1995. The idea came after an injury he received from martial arts and his instructor put him on a rebounder to rehab. While he was on there he started to realize there was something more there and he was right. Since he started the Urban Rebounding Workout in 1995, it is now in 5000 gyms, 18 different countries and he has sold over 2 million systems to home users!

The class is so much fun and you get a great workout. Almost the entire workout is done on the rebounder except for push ups and stretches at the end. JB is an amazing guy with some great music taste, we only took a 35 minute class but that was enough to leave me sweating! We started with the basic jump and worked our way up into different jumping routines that included: double bounces, hamstring pulls, jabs, kicks, freestyle, 180′s and around the worlds. Being on the rebounder was so much fun and if you bounce correctly you can really feel it in your abs. My abs wore sore from the class for the rest of the night. The benefits you receive from rebounders are endless but some of them are: strengthens the heart, stimulates metabolism, improves circulation, and aids endurance. You can read about the research he has done on rebounders here.

You can find Urban Rebounding classes at: Crunch, Equinox,  and New York Health and Racquet. I would also check your gym near you to see if they have a class. If you can’t get to the gym he also sells his entire system with 6 DVD workouts  for $99.99 plus shipping charges.

I thought it was an amazing class and I will definitely be taking another class soon. If you haven’t tried Urban Rebounding yet, I suggest you give it a try.

Image from Weblogs.

Filed under: Workouts | Tagged: , , , , , , | 5 Comments »

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    Hello! My name is Kristine and I live and work in New York City. Since I have been here I have realized how hard it is to maintain a healthy balance while living in the City. Work starts to consume your life and you can get lost in everything around you.

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