cross-training: why & my favorite studios
It’s no secret that I spend a lot of time in the yoga studio. Even when I’m not teaching, I try to take 2-3 yoga classes per week. However, this year I’ve started to branch out of the studio more often and incorporate cross-training for a more balanced workout routine. This blog post is all about some of the reasons I love cross-training & some of my favorite places to cross-train in Boston.
Why I Love Cross-Training:
1. It helps you step outside of your comfort zone.
It can be really intimidating to try a new workout but if you never step outside of your comfort zone, you’ll miss out on the opportunity to grow & learn something you might not have known about yourself before.
2. It allows you to work muscles you might not normally use in your routine.
When you get into the habit of doing the same exercises/workouts over and over again, you’re working the same muscles over and over again. When you switch things up, you start to work muscles you might not have even known you had!
3. It gives you a mental break/opens you up to new exercise ideas
As an instructor, it can be easy to critique classes or know what’s coming when you take a format that you are trained in. Switching up your workout to something you aren’t trained in allows you to take a mental break. In addition, you never know what you can learn by taking another format… maybe you’ll even walk away with a new exercise idea that you can bring back to your classes.
4. You get to meet new instructors & students
This is by far my favorite part of trying out new workouts. I’ve made so many friends in the past year simply by approaching instructors after class and introducing myself.
My Favorite Spots:
I had myself convinced that I hated cardio up until this year. My coworker kept telling me about B/SPOKE so one day I finally caved and joined her for Aly Raymer’s lunchtime Hip Hop R/DE at their Downtown Boston location. I left class thinking wait THIS is what a spin class can be like? This is what I’ve been so resistant to the past few years? Fast forward 6 months and I’ve taken over 100 classes at B/SPOKE and call it my second home. What I think separates B/SPOKE from a lot of other spin studios is that their classes challenge you with careful attention to form. Their instructors are authentic, relatable & approachable even when they aren’t on their bikes. They have 3 locations (Downtown Boston, Wellesley & Cape House) and you can try your first ride for $15. In addition to spin classes, they also have a format called TRA/N which is an off-the-bike workout that focuses on movements matched to the beat of the music.
I used to coach bootcamps for CorePower Yoga so when my friend Juliana asked me to take a bootcamp class at Barry’s with her I jumped right in. Barry’s workouts are a combination of strength training & cardio. To be completely honest, I hate the treadmill. But Barry’s has helped me realize that I don’t actually hate the treadmill… I hate long runs on the treadmill. The way that Barry’s structures their runs to be based on intervals makes running much more approachable for me. I also love that I can lift heavy when I’m doing the floor exercises because you’re able to move at your own pace. What makes it even better? You can close out your class with a smoothie from the Fuel Bar (my fave is the PB & J). You can visit Barry’s at any of their 3 locations in Boston: Back Bay, Downtown Crossing & Chestnut Hill.
I’ve never experienced personal training the way that it’s done at Lynx. During my first training session, I was so impressed by my trainer Nicole’s focus on what I wanted to get out of my workout & her attention to detail (she kept careful count of my reps even when we were mid-conversation). She had me using equipment that I hadn’t touched in years (sleds, bands, barbells, TRX bands, etc.) and the workout she planned took me outside of my comfort zone (in a good way). At one point she upped my weights and she told me that the final reps aren’t ever supposed to be easy. You’re supposed to struggle with it even a little bit because that struggle is where you start to get stronger. Even if personal training isn’t your jam, Lynx offers small group training, unique studio classes (yoga, barre, boxing, HIIT, etc.) & they even house the only Topgolf Swing Suite facility in New England.