Gym rat
Gym Rat Paola Loriggio’s 5 favourite fitness classes of 2011
December 26, 2011
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Paola Lorrigio
SPECIAL TO THE STAR
For all you fitness buffs who hesitate to try new classes, let me reassure you: the odds are in your favour. After testing close to 20 classes this year, I can safely say most are perfectly passable. Some might not be particularly memorable, but they still deliver a decent workout.
There were a few missteps, of course — not every class gets an A — but rarely too serious. And only twice did I regret taking a class instead of working out on my own. I’ll leave you to figure out the culprits.
Photo gallery: Gym Rat’s 5 favourite fitness classes in Toronto
Meanwhile, the good ones really knocked it out of the park, largely thanks to friendly and engaged instructors who know how to bring the best out of their disciples.
Only one class has made it onto my permanent roster, even though it means getting up at 6 a.m. and working up an unholy sweat before most people are even awake. But there are a handful of others that I enjoyed and would gladly repeat if I had more time and the cash to join five different gyms.
High-Intensity Conditioning at the Dynamic Conditioning Centre, 619 Yonge St.
I’ve been going to this unorthodox gym once or twice a week since my test run in August, often with an equally masochistic friend. I’ve switched to a different time slot with the same instructor, the perpetually peppy Blaise Ambrose, who always comes up with torturous circuits that combine, say, pushing weight plates up a hill and bashing tractor tires with a sledgehammer. (I’m happy to say the good-natured teasing doesn’t ease up once you’re a regular.) The hour-long routines he designs always seem impossible, but somehow everyone survives and comes back for more. A mix of explosive cardio and strength moves, this class never gets boring and never stops being hard.
Circuit 60 at Track Fitness, 417 Spadina Rd. Suite 301
Getting me on a treadmill is no easy feat, but Track’s clever use of intervals made me rethink my aversion to the dreaded machine. Five-minute chunks of running drills are spaced out with five minutes of resistance training using a range of tools and equipment — think high reps with low weights and exercise bands, balance balls and the like. A great option for when the sidewalks ice over. It’s a little too early (6 a.m.) and crowded for my taste, but if I lived nearby, I’d definitely stake out a less popular time slot.
Yin and Meditation at iam yoga, 661 Yonge St., suite 300
A wonderful and woefully underrated alternative to all the brisk and borderline aggressive power yoga classes out there. In yin yoga, you perform fewer postures but hold them for much longer, up to five minutes at a time. The meditation part is less hokey than it sounds; it’s almost a side effect of the studio’s insistence on silence, meaning no music and definitely no cellphones in class. (It helps that the instructor, Courtney Lawrence, has a hypnotic voice.) But don’t mistake slow for easy — this 90-minute class is uncomfortable, physically and mentally. Still, in the end, you leave feeling that much closer to working it out.
Kettlebells at Energia Athletics, 164 Danforth Ave.
You’d be surprised at how many ways you can swing, press and hoist kettlebells, those cannonball-like weights originally reserved for Russian strongmen. Somehow this 45-minute class delivers a surprisingly challenging cardio workout along with the strength stuff, and manages to stay beginner-friendly thanks to a wide range of weights and lots of personal attention. I’m still not comfortable using cast-iron weights while barefoot, but clearly others are. Bring weightlifting gloves, unless you want muscle man calluses.
TRX Circuit at Get Spun, 129 Spadina Ave., Suite 2
Already popular with the military, this strappy piece of equipment should graduate from the infomercial circuit and hit the mainstream in the next few years. In the meantime, instructor Chris Cecile manages to make an intimidating contraption completely user-friendly while still delivering a tough workout that strengthens and stretches muscles all at once. As a bonus, he throws in high-intensity intervals with fun toys like glide disks and exercise bands just to keep you guessing. It feels like playtime, except with sweat (and sometimes a little cursing).
Paola Loriggio is a journalist in Toronto. She owns more workout clothes than real ones. Gym Rat runs twice a month.
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