Weekly Workout Recap: Friendsgiving, Turkey Trotting, and an Awesome Uplift Deal!

Hi guys! 

Here are the workouts I got up to last week. I've come down with a nasty cold, so we'll see how this week looks. Between holidays last week and sickness this week, it probably won't be the best two weeks of workouts ever. But hey, that's the end of the year, right? 

Much more excitingly, I have an awesome Uplift Studios program to tell you about, and even better, a discount on the program! 

Workout Recap

Monday: 30 minutes lower body strength workout

Has anyone ever tried the "magic circle"? It's both evil (ow!) and wonderful (toning in tough to tone areas!). It's also super awkward to exercise with since basically you're squeezing it between your thighs. I wasn't thrilled when a few dudes walked into the gym while I was pulsing on this. Awkward.

Tuesday & Wednesday: Rest days (and by "rest" I mean crazy busy at work days).

Thursday: Second Annual @RxBethOnTheRun's Turkey Trot! 7.25 miles with Beth, Allison, Abby, Nicole, and Liz.

I printed out these bibs the night before. It's not official without a bib, right?

BRR it was "feels like 20 degrees" and we were all dying of frostbite. But so great to see Liz, down from Boston where she's doing her MBA, and continue the tradition of the Turkey Trot!

Luckily I had these "medals" saved from last year. I used gelt coins for the medal part, and the combination of gelt and a turkey seemed particularly appropriate this year because it was Thanksgivukkah!


Friday: 60 minutes lower body strength with Amanda

I was sore from this for roughly 4 days. We focused on hamstrings, glutes, and hips. She texted me the next day to see how I was feeling and I replied back, in all caps, that I was OMG SO SORE. Also that I was probably dying. In a good way.


Saturday: Rest day (unless journeying to Jersey City for Friendsgiving counts?)

Hana, my wonderful friend and office mate. She makes the long hours so much more fun!

The spread of delicious food. Huge thanks to my work friend Ben for hosting a fun night!

Also to Ben's cat, Tina, for providing endless entertainment. She tried to pilfer some turkey. Nope, she didn't get away with it, sadly. Also she wasn't the best thief since I was able to snag this picture of her nefarious attempts at thievery.


Sunday: 3 slow, painfully sore miles with Sourabh through a decidedly wintry Central Park

Ouch, these miles hurt. I could barely keep a 10:00 pace and Sourabh kept running ahead because he's working out and running these days and has gotten so fit! I'm a wee bit proud of him. Just a bit. I think he was probably ridiculously proud that he kept running faster than me, but just wait, Sourabh... A rematch will happen soon.


The Strengthen Up(lift) Team Challenge!

Y'all know that Uplift is one of my two favorite strength workouts in town, right? The instructors are kick-ass, the founders are incredibly awesome women, and they provide a gorgeous and welcoming space to work out or chill back. It's such a unique, special fitness space in the NYC exercise scene.

And now, they're adding an even cooler element -- a team challenge after the holidays!

Here's the deal:

• Teams of 4-6 women will compete to see which team can lose the greatest percentage of body fat during their 8-week challenge.
• Each team will have access to unlimited classes at Uplift and a Team Coach to help them plan their workouts and achieve their goals!
• Kick-off party at Uplift Studios on January 6, 2014. The challenge concludes on March 3, 2014, with a finale party in the studio, where final results will be tallied and winners will be announced.
• The winning team will receive $1,000 cash to divide amongst the team, and the second place team will receive $500. All participants will receive prizes from Uplift's amazing sponsors, which include Bliss Spa Products, BluePrint Juices, and Jack Rabbit sporting goods!

If you sign up before December 15, the cost for two months of unlimited classes is $450 -- but Jen's Best Life readers get a 10% discount, bringing the cost down to $405! 

Sign up by December 15 and get 10% off using the discount code STRENGTHENUPLIFT2014!

To sign up, go to Uplift's website, click on Buy, and select the Strengthen Uplift Challenge.

Have questions? Email info@upliftstudios.com for more details. 

P.S. In full disclosure, I am not doing this challenge. HOWEVER I would 100% be doing it and propose putting together a team if I didn't have the triple whammy of my plane ticket home to WA for Christmas (way to gouge over the holidays, airlines!), buying Christmas presents for friends and support staff at my firm, and student loan payments starting this month.

Magic Marathon Numbers and Cool NYC Events

Hi guys! Hope you had a fantastic weekend!

I was staffed to a deal on Tuesday that picked up over the week (like, really picked up -- I billed 14 hours on Thursday!), so I spent most of the weekend working. But I still had time for a fun dinner at Madison Square Eats with Sourabh on Friday night, brunch and a New York Junior League scavenger hunt on Saturday, and a yoga class Sunday night.

Madison Square Eats is a cool outdoor market where restaurants and food trucks have carts serving their specialties. Sourabh and I shared dishes from several carts while sitting in Madison Square Park, and it was one of the most fun "date night dinners" we've had in a while! Hit it up before it gets too cold.

No weekly recap of workouts today because my workouts consisted of 20 minutes of upper body weights Saturday night and a yoga class Sunday night. I wasn't able to get as much sleep as I would have liked last week because of work, so I wanted to take it very easy on my body post-marathon.

I'm not sure when I'll get back to running since my hamstring ached a bit when I jogged to yoga last night. I'm hoping that a few more days without running should get things close to 100%, but I'm here to run for the long haul, so if healing my hamstring means another week without running, that's what I'll do!


More Marathon Details

Clearly I'm having a hard time letting go of the Chicago Marathon. Or I'm just incapable of remembering everything I want to talk about at one time! (If you missed my recap and my thoughts on the mental aspects of racing, I posted them Monday and Wednesday).

Here are some photos from over marathon weekend that I forgot to share:

The marathon route at the expo! As you can see, it involves what are essentially five half loops. I should have memorized the course but I definitely didn't, and so that second time you head on a loop east from the center of Chicago I was thinking, "wait, what?" But I was having such a good time that it didn't get to me, thankfully. However, if I hadn't been having a good race day, not knowing what was coming definitely would have affected me mentally.

13 is my lucky number (along with 4 and 36). Good luck sign that the marathon was on the 13th in 2013? OH I just realized, 10 + 13 + 13 = 36! Two favorite numbers! Clearly the numbers foretold a great marathon for me. Or it was just a coincidence, but let's say it was the numbers.

I'm not sure why I was doing a finish line pose at the start line photo center, but just go with it.

How cute are my mom and my uncle and family? These were the signs they made me to cheer (minus the green one -- Katie made that to be as noticeable as possible, and she succeeded!). My favorite was a tie: HYFR Jen (look it up) and "Run like zombies are chasing you!" My favorite book I've read in 2013 has been World War Z so I appreciated that one.

(Not to nerd rant, but the movie is nothing like the book, and while I've heard the movie is quite mindlessly entertaining, the book is brilliant and should be on everyone's must-read list).


NYC Events

For those living in NYC, here are some great events in the next few weeks!

JackRabbit Sports is hosting a number of great looking free seminars leading up to the New York City Marathon:

• Injury Prevention with Gretchen Stover - Gretchen Stover, DPT will talk about injuries, injury prevention, and overall body maintenance as we approach marathon time. There will also be a question and answer period, so bring your questions! Thursday, October 24, 7pm - Park Slope
• Foam rolling clinic with Finish Line PT - It's almost here - marathon day! You've survived training, and now you're in the final stages of the taper. Even if you feel ready for race day, chances are good that you have those last-minute questions about how best to prepare in this final week. Michael Conlon, owner of Finish Line Physical Therapy and a marathon coach for Team in Training, will be on-hand to offer tips and answer questions on how to stay loose and treat your body right leading up to the marathon. He'll also demonstrate a few effective foam rolling techniques to incorporate into your pre-race routine. Monday, October 28, 7pm - Union Square
• Stretching and Strength Workshop - Are you looking to get stronger and faster but are not sure how to use strength training to get there? Join us as Robert Troch from Fusion Fitness TV talks about the importance of strength training and how to do it effectively to improve your running. Be sure to wear your running gear and come prepared to try out some of the exercises! Monday, October 28, 7pm - Park Slope

Then, over at the wonderful Uplift Studios, there will be an awesome sounding, recess-inspired bootcamp class, with exercises like hop scotch and jump rope, to support She’s the First.

She's the First scholars

100% of proceeds will go to the organization, which sponsors girls’ education in developing nations, giving them the chance to become the first in their families to graduate from secondary school.

Instructor Emily Cook Harris making working out look fun

Who: New Yorkers looking to work hard, but play harder

What: RECESS Bootcamp class

Where: Uplift Studios, 24 W 23rd St (between 5th and 6th Ave)

When: October 30, 2013 – 7:30 p.m.

Why: 100% of proceeds benefit non-profit She’s the First to sponsor girls’ education


If you've run a marathon before, how long did it take you to recover? Do you like market-style eating? What's your favorite book of 2013?

Workout Recap and Weekly Goals: LA Adventures

Hi guys!

I spent the past four days exploring Los Angeles and Orange County. The weather is incredible -- 85 degrees feels pleasant when it's not humid!

While Sourabh interviewed at firms, I got to explore a bit and work out -- my favorite combination, obviously. We also got to hang out with my cousin Julia and her husband, Patrick, which has been awesome. I hadn't seen them in over three years!

On Thursday, I spent half the day acting as chauffeur for Sourabh who had to get around the city for his interviews. I spent the afternoon walking through Beverly Hills and taking a class at Physique 57 LA, which was a ton of fun. I'd forgotten how quickly those classes fly by!

By the way, apparently Beverly Hills takes their juice bars seriously. There was a juice ATM in front of one of the stores!

Of course, there was also a cupcake ATM nearby, so clearly the residents of Beverly Hills appreciate balance ;)

Friday we were in Orange County for Sourabh's interview, so I met up with Monica from Run Eat Repeat and logged a tempo run while chatting away. While running with someone for a tempo run definitely makes it harder for me, it also makes the time fly by so I dread the workouts a lot less.

Friday afternoon I checked out the beautiful beach at Corona Del Mar.

I missed the ocean so much! I know it exists on the east coast, believe me -- there's this thing called the Atlantic Ocean -- but the Pacific coastline is so rugged that it feels totally different to me.

Absolutely gorgeous, right?

By the way, people in LA really love their valet parking. Check out the IHOP valet parking I spotted...

We headed back to LA on Friday night and spent Saturday with my cousin. We had breakfast at the Farmer's Market in the Grove, tacos for lunch, and a delicious dinner at Luna Park in West Hollywood. I guess you could say I was fueling for Sunday's long run...?

Sunday was spent long running and relaxing with Julia and Patrick. We were all exhausted and wanted nothing more than to order delivery and hang out on the couch! It was a great weekend -- it was so good to catch up with family and explore LA!


Chicago Marathon Training Recap: Week 9

Um, I'm officially in the second half of marathon training. More than half done? Eek! Of course, the second half is the toughest because that's when the mileage gets highest. But so far I've really been enjoying this process and am excited for the next 8 weeks!

Here was what Coach Jess assigned me for last week:
√ 1 yoga practice
√ 1 tempo run (60 minutes)
√ 1 easy run (75 minutes)
√ 2 strength workouts (Uplift and Physique 57)
√ 1 long run (18 miles!)

How'd it all go?

Monday: Rest day.


Tuesday: 50 minute STRENGTH class at Uplift Studios with Theodora.

[old Uplift picture because I forgot to take a picture for this workout]

Shannon was teaching this class and made sure it was tough since it was my birthday. There were multiple moments, especially during the tabata intervals, when Theodora and I looked at each other with "holy crap this is hard" expressions on our faces. 


Wednesday: 75 minutes easy run (7.00 miles) with Laura.

I ran down Riverside Park to meet up with Laura for 30 minutes to say good bye since I was flying out to LA that afternoon. Neither of us were feeling great so it was good to have company! Headed up to Columbia to run a couple errands before finishing with the final mile / ten minutes back to my place.

1:15:57 for 7 miles and 10:51 average pace.



Thursday: 60 minute Physique 57 Mixed class in Beverly Hills.

I hadn't taken a Physique in months, so it was fun to get back in to the studio and pulse at the barre. I'd forgotten how quickly the classes go by! They really do a great job of keeping class moving by switching things up. I took a class taught by Chloe, who was fantastic. She adjusted everyone and would move around the room a lot so that you didn't feel like you could slack.


Friday: 60 minute tempo run (6.55 miles) with Monica.

When I knew I'd be in Orange County on Friday, I reached out to Monica, who I had briefly met at Fitness Magazine's Meet & Tweet in May. We met up for my tempo run and I got to check out one of the OC trails.

w/u ~9:15
(1) 8:52, (2) 9:00, (3) 9:05, (4) 9:09, (.44) 8:48 pace
c/d - 9:49


Saturday: 30 minute yoga practice.


Sunday: 18 mile long run in West Hollywood and Griffith Park.

Sourabh was going to accompany me during the run so I ran 5 miles in West Hollywood while waiting for him to finish his law review assignment. Once he'd finished, we headed to Griffith Park for my final 13 miles. Unfortunately my Garmin died at mile 14, so I don't have the splits (since I still haven't charged it, oops), but we used Sourabh's phone to measure the final 4 miles and made sure I hit the full 18.

Since it was the afternoon, it was a bit of a slog with the heat, but it was still fun to run in a new place. And... longest distance yet! 18 miles WOOT!


Total Mileage = 31.55 <--- highest mileage week ever!


This Week's Training Schedule

I'm heading back to Washington and will have lots of access to yoga classes again. Woot! Here's what Coach Jess has me doing:

• 3 mile recovery run
• 3 strength workouts (2 classes, 1 mini workout)
• 2 yoga classes
• cutback week long run (8 miles)
• tempo intervals (ahh this one looks scary!)
• mid-distance run (8 miles)


What are your workout goals this week? Does moving into the second part of a training cycle freak you out, too?

Goodbye Runs on the High Line and Red Mango Giveaway Winners

Good morning!

One day until Friday! We can do this. Sourabh and I didn't end up making it to the beach on Monday since I had so much studying I needed to get done, but we did go to a nice local park and got amazing Indian food from a local restaurant. I had one of my favorite dishes, baingan bharta (an eggplant stew, basically), and it caused both of us to say "wowww" after tasting it.

Either the beach or a hike this coming weekend is going to be my reward for a good week of studying -- we're heading back to NJ again, just from Friday to Sunday evening. I definitely tried to earn it today, and I'm hoping the next two days will be equally productive!

Why does train travel seem so much nicer than air travel?

Tuesday night, after we got back from Jersey, I celebrated being back in NYC by sweating it out at Uplift Studios with the deceivingly perky Shannon (she seems so nice until OUCH you cannot lift another weight).

This class left me drained, but I loved every sweaty minute of it. Shannon had an awesome playlist that included old school hip hop and a few fantastic throwbacks, like Aqua's "Barbie Girl." This picture is basically a preview of what the lucky winner of my blogiversary giveaway will get: sweat, smiles, and sparkle. Yup, of course I wore a Sparkly Soul headband to Uplift! :)

Speaking of Uplift, I updated yesterday's post on free and discounted fitness around NYC after hearing that they are slashing class prices in half for off-peak class hours through Labor Day. Check out the updated post. If you can make those class times, take advantage of the great deal!

Yesterday morning, less than 12 hours after the class, I met Ashley for a farewell run. She's leaving today for Geneva, Switzerland, where she's been given an amazing work opportunity. I am so excited for her, but I'm sad that she'll be gone! Since marathon training started, we've worked out together several times since our marathons are the same weekend so we matched plans quite often. It was wonderful to have an early morning workout buddy and I'm sad to see her move!

Since she was working from home on her last day, and I had no plans besides studying, I offered to meet her in Gramercy for my 55 minute easy run. We headed west and hit the High Line. We'd planned on going down the West Side Highway, but Ashley proposed we run the High Line. I'd never run it before so I was totally game!

It was totally gorgeous and was such a fun new place to run in New York City! If you can make it down there before 9:00 AM, when the crowds start to arrive, you should. I'd walked it with my mom before, but it's a totally different experience to be running up above the sidewalk, with flowers and foliage at your sides and skyscrapers in your sightline.

After descending from the High Line, we headed toward the West Side Highway run path, logging a few more miles on that route, before turning back towards Chelsea and Gramercy. There was a nice breeze, which always feels like a huge blessing when the humidity is high.

Hudson filter for the Hudson River running shot, obvs.

The run turned into 50:45 minutes instead of the 55 planned minutes. We could have found a few loops to make it 55:00 minutes, but my legs were feeling extremely tired after Tuesday night's totally-awesome-but-totally-kicked-my-ass Strength class at Uplift Studios. The heat was also starting to beat down on us, and since we were right by the delicious Barry's Bootcamp protein shakes, we decided to end early. Yes, cold smoothies made our decision for us. You can't blame me, right, Coach Jess?

OH HEY, speaking of Coach Jess, look whose running coach was featured in Runner's World!!

I feel like a celebrity just for knowing her :) Although this morning I'm doing those hill repeats, so I may be less smiley after those...


Red Mango Giveaway Winners!

Temperatures on the East Coast continue to be absolutely sweltering, so I'm pleased to announce the three lucky winners of $25 in fro yo and smoothies Red Mango! They are...

Congratulations Brittany, Michelle, and Allison!! Please email me at jensbestlife (at) gmail (dot) com with your address so I can mail you the gift cards!


What do you do when you lose a training partner? What are your hot weather training tips? Am I going to survive hill repeats???

One Year Blogiversary Giveaway!

Hi everyone!

Today is my one year anniversary of blogging. Yep, one year ago today, I hit publish on my first post! It's been an incredible year -- I went from being scared of running a half marathon and struggling with making it 5 miles to now training for a full marathon and loving it.

I never imagined that blogging would become a hobby of mine, or that I would make so many friends through social media.

Thank you so much for reading my blog! 
It means so much to me to be able to write about something I love and know that not only are people reading it, we're able to engage in a conversation. I love hearing from you all so much! Every time I get an email with a comment, it makes me smile to see what people have to say.

To celebrate my one-year anniversary and thank you for reading, I reached out to two of my favorite NYC fitness brands who graciously agreed to help me put together a giveaway for one lucky winner.

I am so excited to announce that Uplift Studios is giving away a free class and Sparkly Soul is giving away a headband of their choice!!!

I've talked about both Uplift Studios and Sparkly Soul many, many times on this blog. Both companies are run by amazing women, which makes me love them even more. They graciously agreed to sponsor this giveaway and celebrate my blogging birthday with me!

Uplift Studios is a women-only boutique fitness studio with cardio or strength classes. Both give you an incredible kickass workout, but the great thing about Uplift is how pampered you are before and after. Cold water and towels are waiting for you before you start the workout, snacks and coffee are available after, and the shower and locker room is literally the most beautiful locker room ever, with every beauty product necessary to get you out the door and looking great.

Sparkly Soul makes gorgeous headbands that are fun and don't slip off. They're my go-to for runs, spin classes, strength workouts, and when I just want some fun sparkle (I wear my blue and orange headband for Knicks games!). They also don't give me headaches, like a lot of headbands do.

The Giveaway!
So, how do you win a class and headband of your choice??? Enter the giveaway! I'm giving you four ways (which should total four comments):

1. Leave a comment telling me how blogging or social media has changed aspects of your fitness regime, running, diet, etc.

2. Follow Sparkly Soul on Twitter, LinkedIn, Google + and/or Facebook. Leave a separate comment telling me you did so.

3. Follow Uplift Studios on Twitter and/or Facebook. Leave a separate comment telling me you did so.

4. Tweet the following about the giveaway: "Happy Blogiversary @JensBestLife! I want to win a free class @UpliftStudios and a free headband from @SPARKLYSOULINC! bit.ly/183Yp2Q" Leave a separate comment telling me you did so.

NOTE: This giveaway is only open to those in the greater NYC area since you wouldn't be able to take a class at Uplift otherwise. Sorry to the amazing readers outside of NYC! I will have another giveaway for everyone later this week :)

Giveaway closes Monday, July 15, at 11:59 PM. Good luck!!

Wednesday Ramblings

Random thoughts and updates for y'all on this hump day. Speaking of humps, have you seen that Geico commercial with the camel? I think it's basically the funniest thing ever.


1. I woke up at 6:30 this morning to study, despite it being a rest day where I could have slept in, after feeling crazy inspired by dinner with Ashley last night at Hu Kitchen (yes, I love that place a lot). A lot of our conversation was me asking her for tips on how she balances her demanding corporate job with marathon training, healthy eating, and her husband and friends. Getting used to early mornings, both for workouts and for getting extra work done, was one of her biggest tips, and I'm determined to get into that habit before I start work in September!

2. Related: waking up early is hard when your lazy dog doesn't get out of bed until 11:30, and only then because you yell "treats!" from the other room.

3. Dinner at Hu Kitchen confirmed to me what I had suspected: I am unable to go to Hu Kitchen without getting something from the mash bar. This time it was berries with vanilla chia pudding and cashew cream, which I inhaled between 14th Street and 34th Street on the express train.

4. I returned to Uplift Studios last night for a Strength class, after far too long away, and completely got my ass kicked by Liz Barnet. Girlfriend is TOUGH. I took the class with Ashley before our dinner and also saw Angela and Allison there (that's a lot of A's, in retrospect). They all confirmed that it was a killer class, in the best possible way. I think my legs are still jelly-filled this morning!

5. Regardless of your views on her political stance, seeing a woman in politics who stands up for what she believes in is awesome. Especially when she's literally standing for 11 hours in hot pink running shoes! And in case you were wondering, they were Mizunos! (Here's the picture I linked to). Only a runner would care about her brand of shoes!

6. I need new support shoes for long runs since my Brooks Adrenaline 11's I got last November are on their last legs. I'm going to be hitting up a run store today and this makes me kind of giddy. New (running) shoes!!! Thinking I'll go with the Brooks Adrenaline 13's, but I'll obviously have to try on every shoe in the store, right?

7. Speaking of running gear, I ordered a Tiger Tail from Amazon to aid in recovery. I have a hard time getting into my calves with my foam roller and my calves tend to get really tight, so this seemed necessary. Anyone have this? Any tips?

8. At least someone likes my bar review books! She's certainly cuddled up with that thing...


What's on your mind today? Any Tiger Tail tips? Supportive running shoes suggestions? Fat cat pictures?

Class Review: Uplifting - Cardio w/ Steph Nieman at Uplift Studios

Last night, I went to one of my favorite NYC fitness studios: Uplift Studios. Uplift is revamping their class schedule, moving to two kinds of classes only, Cardio and Strength, and I was invited to try one of them before they're offered starting on Monday, February 18.

The Strength class is similar to the original Uplifting class, but according to Melissa, who I chatted with briefly after she took the Strength class, the short cardio intervals are less integrated with the strength sections now.

Here's the Strength class description from Uplift's website:

Uplifting-Strength incorporates dumbbells, resistance bands and your own body in order to build strength and power—two of a woman’s most powerful assets! In this strength-training focused class, you’ll work each muscle group to fatigue with longer timed intervals before moving on to the next. To build explosive power (and to keep calorie burn high!), Tabata-style cardio intervals (i.e., 20 seconds of intense work followed by 10 seconds of active recovery for 8 rounds, or 4 minutes straight) are incorporated throughout the workout, including a high-energy cardio “finisher” to leave you feeling exhilarated, accomplished, and strong.

I arrived in time to catch a sneak peek of the class, and it looked like the typical kickass Uplift class, with each exercise being timed by a clock counting down at the front of the room.

Uplift's new Strength class

Since I've taken the original Uplifting class several times, I wanted to try the brand new Cardio class that Uplift is introducing:

Uplifting-Cardio is a music-infused full body rhythmic bootcamp. This workout challenges all major muscle groups by alternating cardio and strength intervals. The cardio will utilize fun combos of plyometrics and other high-energy movements while the music motivates you to push it to your limits. The strength portion will use light dumbbells, body weight, and anaerobic intervals. Be warned—this class is infectious!

The class was developed by Steph Nieman, who previously was at Barry's Bootcamp and Flywheel. When I asked her why she decided to come to Uplift Studios, she said that while she loved the beat and rhythm of spin classes, she had started to become bored with sitting on a spin bike.

Steph wanted to create an athletic, rhythmic cardio class that incorporated strength concepts of a bootcamp-style workout, without turning the class into a dance class that required students to learn choreography.

Well, mission accomplished, Steph. I had no problem following along this high-energy class that had students woo-ing along with Steph as she pushed us, bouncing around the room and motivating us to push through the six high-energy intervals.

The last interval, a high-jump requiring you to (try to) get your knees up to your elbows killed me. I could barely get my knees up to my hips. Apparently I need to work on that...

Steph and me

Multiple Rate Your Burn reviews mentioned Steph's tininess. When I got to Uplift and met her, I was like, "What? She's not that small..." Her personality and charisma in class was enormous and filled the room. Then I saw this picture and realized that she is, actually, quite diminutive. (In comparison to me, leaning forward -- why do I always do this in pictures? It makes me look like a giant person.)

Enough of my giant head. Back to the class. One thing I loved was that the exercises were set to the beat of the music. I am extremely music-conscious on classes, and being able to do things to the rhythm of a song motivates me and makes the class a lot more fun.

By the end of class, I was soaked in sweat. Everyone else was, too, so it wasn't just me being a sweaty beast. The cardio portion is for real; I was breathing heavy for much of the class. And the strength portions, despite using lighter weights, still lead to muscle fatigue because you're doing them in combination with high-energy plyometrics intervals.

As for those who can't handle high-impact exercises, rest assured, Steph started class by mentioning that she had modifications for every exercise, and she followed through by showing a modification for every single high-impact exercise.

the lovely founding mothers of Uplift, Helena, Katie, and Leanne 

As always, wine was set out after class, one of the most fun aspects of Uplift. They really stress the social aspect of fitness, which is something I love about the studio. I got to know my fellow sweat-ers as we sipped wine and chatted with Steph and the Uplift ladies.

For those curious about the changes, it seems that Uplift is trying to create a more uniform experience. Classes are offered on alternate times. For instance, Monday mornings and Tuesday evenings are Uplifting - Strength and Monday evenings and Tuesday mornings are Uplifting - Cardio. This means that you could go to Uplift at the same time every day and get in both strength and cardio workouts throughout the week. 

I'll certainly miss some of the old classes, like the Warrior Fight Club boxing-yoga hybrid, but I really enjoyed the Uplifting - Cardio class, and it looks like the Uplifting - Strength class will be a terrific strength workout.

love these ladies

Bottom line? Uplift has always been a fun, feminine environment where you can get a kickass workout and have fun. While the class offerings are changing, the classes will still be tough and awesome, and the atmosphere will still be fun and indulgent. 

The Facts:

Length - 55 minutes
Cost - $32 (first class is half-price)
Location - Flatiron (24 W 23rd Street, between 5th and 6th Avenues, second floor)
Skill Level - Anyone! While the class is tough, modifications are given that can fit any skill level.