Class Review: B|X at Brick

Happy Monday, all. After the events of last week I’m doing my best to get back in the “swing of things” here in the city. Between snow days, long weekends, and a funeral I feel like I haven’t had a “full week” of school and work in ages so I’m craving routine and home cooked meals.

Here’s some fun schtuff from the weekend:

Sweaty Saturday: Brick New York

Saturday was the 2nd ever Sweaty Saturday. Last year I was living in California when Sweaty Saturday happened and had extreme FOMO. Sweaty Saturday is a one-day fitness event in Manhattan where a bunch of the best studios come together for charity with special classes, giveaways and raffles. I love the idea of bringing together fellow fitness enthusiasts for a great cause.

I ended up heading over to Brick for B|X. I’ve been meaning to check out Brick after hearing great things about the Cross Fit studio and was won over by the $20 Sweaty Saturday class (hey, I’m always looking for great fitness deals, no shame.) and to see Ben Sweeney on the roster who I knew from Flywheel and loved his class.

I wish I could’ve checked out other classes and studio hopped all day like the true fitness freak I am, but alas the boy was here and I try to limit my workout time to the wee hours of the weekend morning while he’s still sleeping so it doesn’t take away from our time together.

Brick’s exclusive class B|X is more of a bootcamp / CrossFit hybrid which uses some of the vocabulary and science behind CrossFit but without most of the heavy olympic lifts. For me personally this is more up my alley since I struggled with the olympic lifts during CrossFit and felt that’s where I was the most concerned about injury (and re-injury). It reminded me a lot of the bootcamp classes I used to take in Westchester with Adventure Bootcamp.

(sorry for the meh photos… it’s tricky to snap a picture of the light up blackboard)

First we did the warm-up 2 at a time from one side of the room to the other. We then split into groups of 3 or 4 to complete the workout. As a group we accomplished 15 rounds TOTAL (so 5 a piece if you were in a group of 3) of the top portions and then ended with 75 burpees total.

I’m not always wild about group or partner workouts because because I get REALLY anxious when it’s time to split into groups and have flashbacks of getting picked last in gym class. I tend to head to fitness classes solo which also makes “group time” anxiety inducing. It WAS helpful though during the workout to be surrounded by supportive people who were cheering you on, and it was cool to complete the workout as a group.

The workout definitely got my heart rate UP with all those cardio moves. I ended up modifying the double unders with normal jump rope and instead of pull-ups did some with a band and some as jumping pull-ups.

The class really was a good mix of the things I liked about CrossFit with elements that I’m more used to from bootcamp type classes. I could definitely see myself adding it into my routine every once in awhile as a nice change of pace.

 

Here’s a modified, gym-friendly version to try out for yourself. For the tabata section do 20 seconds on of burpees, 10 seconds rest, 20 seconds of body weight squat, 10 seconds rest, repeat!

Sunday Runday

Weather above freezing means it’s run time. I’m learning that winter half marathon training actually does suck more than summer half marathon training. Sure summer can be obnoxiously hot, but sometimes the early morning can be bearable and it doesn’t get dark until late. Winter running has proven to be a challenge since it’s bitter cold most of the time and it gets dark at 5:30pm. Womps.

Since I’ve already run a half marathon (and lived to tell the tale) I’m trying not to get myself too crazed about the extreme lack of running that’s been happening and instead try to focus on all the other kinds of workouts I am doing– lots of strength training, HIIT and indoor cycling. My plan right now is to continue to run once a week for now and then get back up to 2-3 times a week by March. Hold me to it!

Sunday’s run was glorious thanks to the unseasonably warm winter weather.

(this is in the hallway of my building outside the elevator. I’m always worried someone is going to catch me taking a pre-run selfie while I wait for the elevator…)

I ended up doing roughly 6.5 miles on the Westside Highway heading north from the West Village. I’ve actually never run that far up north since I usually head downtown for my long runs, so seeing the street signs for 50th street made me feel pretty accomplished and like I ran a long ways from the West Village. My body was a bit wonky and stiff from the lack of running, but eventually it kicked into gear and running felt great. I’m still a fan of telling myself “After __ miles you can take a quick walk break” which is how I survived training for my first half. For me it breaks down the run into mini runs and I’m never that far away from taking a quick break.

Will run for Starbucks.

 

Oh and a non-fitness highlight from the weekend: seeing the West Side Story movie at the United Palace Theater hosted by Lin Manuel Miranda (the brilliant mind behind In the Heights) with Rita Moreno who played Anita in the movie

The boy had never actually seen West Side Story (the movie or show) before yesterday so I was SUPER excited to introduce him to one of my all time favorites. Next month Lin Manuel is hosting Ghostbusters… uh the boy and I might have to go see that!

 

Onward to conquer my Monday to do list….

 

Anyone participate in sweaty Saturday?