Nerdy Girl's Guide to Body Shred

Today I tried a Body Shred class at Chase Street Yoga. I came home and told my husband it was awful, but good.

It was a free class, an interval training class designed to keep you going for 30 minutes without rest—to really rev up your metabolism.

I decided I should try it. But thought I might die during the class. I haven't done this type of interval training in almost a year.

I showed up for the 8:30 a.m. class (in part because the instructor is a Lululemon ambassador and they usually teach a good class) and also figuring not many people would be up that early AND I could a run in afterwards and be done with the day early.

Prep
Before going to the class, I checked the Facebook page and saw people are wearing shorts and sneakers in photos. So that's what I wear. I do so many barefoot workouts I didn't want to show up in flipflops ;) Also, the post said you will get sweaty, so I wore my favorite Under Armour mesh back tank with Lulu shorts and sports bra.

The class
At 8:15 a.m. I'm the first one there. I sign in. I bring my water in, but leave my keys and phone in the cubby outside. (Don't want to trip over them during class). The owner say it's good I'm early, they've got 12 people already signed up. People trickle in after me. I grab a spot in the back. The class fills up. (I counted 19 yoga mat stations for people.) It's a mix of ages and body types. And I really like it. There's even a guy on the mat next to me. Yay for class diversity.

Shortly before 8:30 a.m. the instructor starts to explain the class—what it's for, some of the moves. So far, so good.

The class starts with marching in place, high knees, jumping jacks and cardio—and before I know it, there's fast feet and lunges, jump squats. Lots of squats. So many squats. And so much jumping. I tend to avoid jumping (knee issues).

And true to form, there is no break. I just want a sip of water, but no one else is stopping. So I don't either.

There's squats with back flies, rows, ice skaters. I'm trying not to trip over my mat. I'm not always successful. I'm not sure of all the moves. So I'm watching the cute girl who works at Lululemon (who keeps getting praise from the instructor). But, I CAN do most of the class. Some of my squats were awful, but I kept in there. I did take a 3 second water break towards the end. Sweat is dripping down my face, so I can tell this class is really working.

By the time we get to planks—for a blissfully short 30 seconds—I'm ready for the break. More planks please. And it's almost to the end of the class. The cool down in marching in place and we're done.

I survived
I'm happy to have survived. And it did seem like an effective class. I worked hard.

I liked the instructor. She did like to yell—but it was encouraging yelling. She yelled good jobs to the people whose names she knew, and she also gave alternatives—to ease or strengthen the activity. Yes, I can hold plank with one leg up. No, I don't want to add more jumps to these squats, thanks though. The yelling was more motivational than boot camp style corrections. It worked. She had a good energy that made us NOT want to quit.

After the class, I was really sweaty and completely wiped. Saturday is usually my day to run three miles. Running seemed like a really stupid idea—given how tired I was, but my legs were really tight and I decided a slow mile would be a good cool down, so I headed to the student gym and ran a mile. My legs were felling better after the first mile so I ran another. My pace was really slow: 9 minute first minute, 18 minutes total (which includes a few seconds of fiddling with my iPod which would stop working and play stupid songs). And I decided two was enough. (I was soooo sweaty. My hair was wet like I'd taken a shower.) And that was the end of my Saturday morning workout.

Happy to be done with my run. And for an empty track.

Would I do the workout again? Yes. I'd do it again. It could be a good addition to my Saturday workouts. I like the time it was offered. We'll have to see if they add it to their schedule for that time. Bonus: It's a $9 drop-in class. I like that price and I like drop-in classes.

Awful, but good: In all, it was a tough, demanding workout—for all ability levels. Everyone was working to their level. It was awful in places, like a tough workout should be. But overall, it was a good effective workout. And 30 minutes is great—for busy people, for ADD people, for people who don't want to waste time.

We'll see how I feel tomorrow.  (Update: sore-ish legs and butt. No running for me today.)

Battle wounds: Thigh chafing from running when I was already sweaty. :( Run in compression tights (not shorts) next time.