For the past few months, I’ve been seeing signs for “The SweatShed” at Crunch Fitness with an invitation to sign up for their classes there. I will admit, I was curious, but I figured I’d started a new workout routine and I was doing well with that, and things were fine.
This seemed gimmicky and I’m totally OK over here hogging the squat rack.
And then I signed up for class. The “Ripped” one. Now, I trained in dance. I do circus work where I haul myself into the air, or hoist people up on top of my shoulders. Everyone is always asking me to lift things or carry things for them. And I barely finished this class.
First of all, the 59th street Crunch gym location is pretty amazing. You almost could miss it, but then you sweep down a staircase to some sort of hidden gym grotto in the basement, with VERY nice changing rooms. You know, the important stuff.
The class I took was on the smaller side, but I feel it’s only the most dedicated people who take any sort of fitness class on Friday after 5. And these folks seemed pretty dedicated. Before class, the teacher asked us some questions about post-drinking activities, as an ice breaker, and then it turned out that everyone, including the teacher, were not heavy drinkers. We did some active stretching warm ups followed by what was one of the hardest workouts I’ve done in a long time.
The SweatShed is based on HIIT, so that means you don’t have much time to stop, which is even worse when you’ve realized you’ve probably picked weights that are too heavy. An hour of hopping back and forth from deceptively simple exercises, and I was beat. To the point where my shirt was soaked, and I could barely execute the box step up exercises we were doing.
But after that class… I felt amazing. Worn out, yes, but with that great post-exercise feeling. I didn’t know I could push myself that hard. One of the great things about this program is that it focuses on keeping you moving and your heart rate elevated, so it doesn’t really matter what weight you’re doing, which makes it more open then you’d think.
If you have a fitness goal you’re working towards… Crunch’s SweatShed is a great tool!! To learn more or sign up for classes, check out their website.