Go Barre or Go Home.
In our last post, I regaled you all with just how amazing it was to work out in Tokyo, and just how totally out-of-love I’d fallen with my routine back home. I was headed toward a week-long rut until my Shoperone got me moving again through her winning recipe of light-hearted denigration and positive reinforcement. Bless her heart.
Barre Burn. Like tea-time for workouts.
When Laura visits my ‘box’ (Equinox), she does so mostly for amusement, and to motivate me. I imagine it to be similar to how Serena Williams might pick up a match of ping-pong with kids in the game room of a resort at Lake George. We chose the Barre Burn class at Equinox because with Spring here, we’re both all about lengthening and leaning up. Even if I’d veered slightly for a week. Besides, it fit our schedule so we would have time in the afternoon to review a new lunch place and maybe check out the athleisure sales. Amazing how a mile-long to-do list magically disappears when one’s Shoperone calls.
Athlete in repose. Waiting for the action.
Safe to say, the barre class was a bit of a sleeper for Laura, though she was mildly entertained (and embarrassed) by the pelvic thrusting. She was merely a tourist. She sized up the instructor the way an archeologist fresh from a dig might regard a docent misquoting facts in the Egyptian room at the Met. And she did it because she knew I needed something light to get me back on the horse and set us up for the rest of the week’s workouts. In truth, the class wasn’t all that easy, for me at least. And I’m kind of glad the sub didn’t have the kind of fervor I typically see from the regular instructors. I couldn’t have managed more exuberance on that particular day. So it worked for me, I got back in the game.
In fairness and defense, I think Laura caught Equinox on an off day, and soon, we’ll be going back so I can prove it to her that their workouts can totally crush her, if that’s what she’s looking for. At least they crush me. Plus, I love the lotion in the locker rooms and the eucalyptus towels. I need things she doesn’t.
Sweatflix. Bringing the hurt to your living room.
Though Laura has constructed a fairly comprehensive home gym with equipment for her athletic family, lately she’s been talking up this new, sweaty, mostly bodyweight regimen she found through BodyRock.TV. For something like $10 a month, she gets streaming workouts from their new Sweatflix app and trainers who will keep things fresh day-to-day. Their website touts having the “world’s largest platform for fitness videos,” everything from yoga to the kind of HITT (high-intensity interval training) boot camp that has you thinking you’re literally being hazed by Navy Seals.
It all sounded good, but coming from Chiquinox (Laura’s name for it), how would I like the sweat, without the scene? This question begged another:
‘If you wear great new athletic gear in your own living room and no one sees it, does the workout really count?’
Enter, Lisa Marie.
To explore the conundrum, I’d need to go to Laura’s living room. There, we made a date with Lisa Marie, the Barbie doll Sweatflix celeb who curses (and sweats) and tells us she’s crying on the inside right along with us, and I believe her. Even though it was pre-recorded, it seemed live enough. I liked her, she was funny, and not at all full of herself like my judgy brain wanted to believe when I first saw her chiseled twelve-pack and very-high-up boobs. She was witty and chatty and self-deprecating, in the good way if there's such a thing. She didn't seem contrived, and she made me feel she was in the workout with me, not better than me at completing it. Even though, come on.
Lisa Marie's Insta. Not even kidding.
Lisa Marie explained how it was an ‘off’ day for her so she wasn’t wearing her usual weight vest. I couldn’t have imagined such a thing on my own body as I made my way through the lunges, wall burpees, sit-ups and squats. She did require us to wear resistance bands for the full 60-minutes, and for me, that was more than enough. No wonder Laura has seen such great results in just a few weeks with this madwoman in her home.
Motivation. Whatever gets you going.
In the end, my Shoperone made all the difference this week. Not only did I start the week with a lackluster approach to “bringing it,” but I finished strong thanks to Laura and now, Lisa Marie. It reminded me what I already knew: the buddy system is good for workouts, and no one needs a fancy gym to bring it. Just a TV and some of the right motivation.
Thank you Laura, and Lisa Marie.
(Disclaimer: The Shoperones have not been paid or sponsored in any way for this review of Sweatflix or BodyRock.TV. We just love the workouts, and Lisa Marie ;) Check her out, you won't be disappointed.
