At a few doctors appointments I’ve gotten a high blood pressure reading. Which means now I’m nervous every time I get my blood pressure taken and that elevates it even further 🙃. According to the American Heart Association, more than 40 percent of non-Hispanic African-Americans have high blood pressure and you can go years without showing any symptoms. I’m hoping my recent lifestyle changes will nip it in the bud sooner rather than later but with a history of heart disease in my family, it is a constant worry. With that in mind, I’ve been crazy intimidated by Orangetheory Fitness, or as they have affectionately (pretentiously?) nicknamed themselves, OTF. They use heart rate trackers during their workouts and I was worried that I would never be in the right “zone”. In my very small amount of research in writing this post I learned that heart rate and blood pressure measure different things. Reason #1 why I don’t recommend the ignorance is bliss approach that I’m totally relying on for my blood pressure… You can make false assumptions that may end up hindering you in the long run. Luckily, I have some pesky friends who are diehard OTF’ers that convinced me to at least give it a try (I agreed only after 3 or 4 glasses of wine).

Your first workout is free! I wasn’t getting out of it so my friend called to reserve my spot the morning of, heads up – they do ask for a card to keep on file. When you arrive at OTF for your first class, they sit you down with one of their staff members to give you a tour and briefly describe their methodology. I was a little less anxious after they said that while you are striving to spend most of your workout in the blue and green heart rate zones, it’s totally normal to see more of a variation and everyone is different. Here’s a graphic they showed us on the heart rate zones before class.

Your results are emailed to you after class and you’re looking for something resembling a bell curve (spoiler alert: I killed it 😉). After talking to that staff member, who I will later come to realize seems to be more of a sales rep, all of the new students are invited into the studio early to chat with the instructor. I was excited to see there were 3 other newbies with me in solidarity! The instructor asks if there are any injuries and then briefly describes each of the stations. In my class there was a treadmill, a rower and an area with benches and free weights. You choose where you start and then cycle through the stations.

This place was packed! I think there were 12 spots in each row (station) with 3 rows total. I think that’s the 3G part? Who knows. Get there early or you are absolutely not going to get a spot. I wonder how it is at other times of day. I was with the young professional/after work crowd at 6:30PM. I’d say that maybe a quarter of the room was men, two of them were the friends I came with. The class was full of mostly very fit regulars but there was at least one other plus-sized woman (go us!) and a few ethnically diverse students. Overall a pretty inviting and inclusive atmosphere, for sure.

I started on the rower, in line with my friends who proved to be awesome motivators that were still silly enough to break up the intensity. Your first instinct on these things is to use all of your arm strength but you want to kind of jump back using your legs. It took a while for me to get the form down but I think I was doing okay by the last rotation. Our instructor gave us a meter goal and once we hit that we got up and grabbed the medicine ball for some squats. Then back to the rower to do it all again. I got through 2.5 cycles which was pretty low, other people hit 3 and 4, but who cares. Give yourself time and space to learn to do things safely. After a quick 6 minutes you move on to the next station.

Next up was the free weights/bench area. The instructor showed us the three workouts we were doing and their optional modifications (yay for inclusivity!). I grabbed 10 pound weights and headed to my bench. There were planks, curls, leg lifts. I think this is why my back was sore the next day. A good strength building section in between the heavy cardio. I didn’t need to watch my heart rate much here but always remember to breathe!

Last but certainly not least was the treadmill. The treadmills are specific to OTF and you can definitely feel the difference. They are bouncy, supposed to have less impact on your joints, and they take a little while to get used to. I felt like I had to hold on the first time through lol. You start with a brief warm up but then there are structured intervals (base, push and all out). These intervals look different for different people; you can walk, jog or run and each pace changes accordingly. The first time through I did a combination of walk/jogging. If you are jogging or running your incline stays neutral but if you’re walking, the incline is what challenges you when you change intervals. It was super helpful having all of the information on the screen on the treadmill. This is totally where I hit the red heart rate zone every time and it was difficult to get it down during the cooldown.

The best part of OTF’s workout methodology is that as soon as you’re over one workout, it’s time to switch. It kept things exciting and interesting and made you really want to push through the tough parts because the end was always within reach. Here are my stats which generally resemble the bell curve I was shooting for so I guess I did pretty good!

I’m sure this would be great if I was going to regularly attend and could track my progress but I ain’t made of money soooo…

One downside is after your first class they start the HEAVY sales pitch. It’s not needed, it’s a good workout and methodology. They have you talk to the sales rep again before you leave and try to get you locked in to one of their very pricey plans. All the newbies, myself included, politely declined but felt bad doing it. I attended this class almost a month ago and I’m still getting regular phone calls to come back in at a fraction of the cost for a $12 drop in. I might take them up on it one of these days but it would be more in spite of the calls than because of them. Plus, it’s 2020 your pricing should be straight forward, easy to understand and readily available. I didn’t take notes and now it’s nearly impossible to find the pricing. I think it was $69 for 4 classes a month with the more premier memberships reaching over $150.

If I had to do it over I probably would have opted for an earlier workout. I went with friends so it was fun but for a girl who is usually in bed at 9PM, starting at 6:30PM was not ideal. I didn’t get home and eat dinner until around 8! On the plus side I had a TON of energy after my workout but on this night in particular that just meant it was really difficult to get to bed at a reasonable hour.

Overall, I’m really happy I overcame my fear of the heart rate monitor and I had an awesome time working out with my two friends. It’s definitely worth a try and I could totally see the appeal; just beware of the hard sell and give yourself time to get used to the workouts and equipment.

Recommendations: Orange 3G (at least for the free first class!)

Notes: 60 min

What to Wear/Bring: Your favorite workout gear and the confidence to turn down the sales rep if you aren’t ready to commit to a plan.

If you’re looking for an immersive spiritual experience, this ain’t it. CorePower is a big-box franchise with studios in 24 states. They have 28 studios in Colorado alone! There’s a new podcast called Yoga is Dead. Yoga is Dead is a revolutionary podcast that explores power, privilege, fair pay, harassment, race, cultural appropriation and capitalism in the yoga and wellness worlds from Indian-American hosts Tejal + Jesal. Their first episode is titled White Women Killed Yoga. I can’t help but think this studio is exactly what they are referencing. I’m attaching some of their tips on allyship here (cause y’all need it).

I went to a Saturday morning class in LoHi and the studio was all abuzz. There was at least one other class starting and ending around the same time. It was pretty hectic but the studio is extremely well organized, bright and modern. This was one of those studios with scary stock images of thin people incorporating weights into their practice so I decided to take a beginner friendly class to start. Also, even with the abundant schedule, there are only a few options on ClassPass so my choices were limited. It looks like you really have to plan ahead (not my bag) if you expect to make it in during a busier time. This was a small class of 8 in an appropriately sized room.

There was one male and a few older women so overall pretty diverse; the more advanced classes didn’t seem to have that same level of diversity. The class was as advertised, an unheated and beginner friendly foundations class. Good for beginners, not very memorable for me.

I didn’t feel like I had a grasp on what CorePower was really about so I took a C2 – CorePower Yoga 2 class Monday afternoon. This class is heated and the flow is faster than C1. This was my first class with a plus size instructor so I was super hype! I thought I’d be in for some great modification suggestions and hands on assists but none of that happened. It felt very impersonal, a little clinical. I’d say there were 20-25 people in class, mostly fit, with around 7 men. It was a great workout but I didn’t feel that sense of community and mindfulness that I usually feel leaving a hot yoga class.

As for the actual workout, it was a ton of legs and balance work. There was an extended sequence all on one leg – one legged tadasana, standing figure four, crescent lunge, shiva squat, standing split, and dancer to half pigeon. There was no waterfall, bridge, or wheel. I’d say right around halfway through class we did a core workout with crunches and some leg lowering drills.

Listen, I’d definitely go back if I need a good workout in a pinch but this felt less like yoga and more like a group personal training session. Take it for what it’s worth.

Recommendations: C2 – CorePower Yoga 2 for a hot and sweaty workout; don’t expect much mindfulness.

Notes: 60 min

What to Wear/Bring: Yoga Mat, Full Sized Towel, Water

Sometimes you just get stuck in a rut. I’ve been a complete slacker the past few months. Here are all of my bullshit excuses: a trip back to New Jersey messed up my schedule, daylight saving time, snow, thanksgiving, cold temperatures, blah, blah… These are all legitimate but there’s always something, right? You have to make yourself and your health a priority; I definitely haven’t been. After spending a full week in my apartment over thanksgiving, I finally got my act together.

Spin had been a regular part of my routine since the start so there’s no surprise it’s how I got my groove back. It’s relatively quick (45 minutes), it’s conveniently located and readily available, and most importantly – the setting allows me to get in the zone and grind it out.

The CycleBar at Union Station is a brand new location that was running all sorts of deals; including fewer credits per class than their neighborhood competition, Flywheel. I tried to research the instructors but I couldn’t find any bios. I just hoped for the best and selected a random tuesday night Classic class. I totally lucked out. There were employees at the front that showed me to the lockers which had names on them for each of the first timers. Inside of my locker was a free water bottle and the free rental cycling shoes. These shoes were brand spanking new (of course because it is a new location) which felt super luxurious. The bikes were pristine. I thought the music at Flywheel was good, this was the best playlist ever – curated by a warm and energetic young black male instructor. This class was fun from start to finish. It was a diverse class, full of people I want to be friends with. There were three women in the front having the time of their lives. It was a great atmosphere.

The actual workout was similar to Flywheel and I assume Soul Cycle. The instructor calls out goal ranges (Resistance 4-6, 90-120 RPM) and positions (“up in third”, get off your butt, and “saddle”, sit down and power through). It’s like interval training, you push hard and then recover. Again, you closeout with some arm workouts. Even after 6+ spin classes, I still can’t figure out how to clip out so I just take the shoes off and leave them on the bike for the light stretching portion. One of these days I’ll shave my legs and get there early enough so I can practice with a professional (not gonna be today).

Now for the downsides. If you book on ClassPass you don’t get to choose your bike and these bikes are soooo close together. If you have some extra meat on your bones like me, get there early to find your spot. You’ll be sucking it in and squeezing through these bikes. Next, the resistance/torque gauge is difficult to understand. At Flywheel, the instructor says to turn the torque to ten and you twist the knob until you get there. Not the case at CycleBar, they have “smart” or “intuitive” bikes so if you turn the resistance up and your legs don’t speed up with it, the bike isn’t adding anything. You have to turn the resistance up then maintain a certain speed before you’ll see that change. That is really annoying to me. I like to know where I stand. I don’t want to wait for the bike to catch up or even out. I want to push myself to the proper resistance, even if I can’t pedal super fast when I get there. I want to know if I’m in the right range per the instructions. Hopefully I’ll get used to it with time! I guess we’ll see.

Also similar to Flywheel, CycleBar has their own stats, showing during the ride that are emailed to you after. These include a class rank as well. I’m not uber competitive so I’ll never need to be number 1 but for some of you I’m sure this can be a trigger for some obsessive workouts… I attached a picture of my stats. The proof is in the pudding from before and after my seasonal slump 😩. Don’t worry I’m going to come back stronger! And I’m still really proud of myself. I can’t believe I beat 15 people on that first ride!

Recommendations: Absolutely! Classic at CycleBar – Union Station

Notes: “Smart” Bikes, ClassPass Credits – 6, 45 min

What to Wear/Bring: Yourself! They provide a free water bottle for first timers, towels, and cycling shoes!

Of all the places I have tried so far, this was the most intimidating. On their website, the trainers and clients look like American Ninja Warriors. The bikes are all equipped with performance-tracking metrics so you are painfully aware of how well, or not so well, you stack up against your classmates. A drop-in class will run you $28 and an unlimited monthly membership comes with a whopping $220/month price tag. I knew I wasn’t going to fit in with this clientele. But, the first class is free and the whole point of this self-discovery fitness journey was to push myself. Flywheel has helpful bios for all of their instructors that list things like their hometown, guilty pleasure, class vibe and playlists. Denver’s instructors are pretty diverse with two men and one black woman rounding out the small staff of seven. I saw the black woman was from East Orange, NJ and knew it was fate. I redeemed the free class and made sure to opt out of the TorqBoard, large screens that display personal Power Scores (with coded names) and race coundowns. When you sign up you have to select a bike. I picked one three rows back from the instructor and all the way to the right side, 36 (I wouldn’t recommend this bike, see more later).

I took a 5:30pm class and the studio was really hectic with turnover. There’s no reception desk at this location but I knew from signing up that the class came with a complimentary shoe rental, placed on a wall labeled with your bike number, so I was wandering around aimlessly trying to find them. I must have looked as confused as I felt because eventually a nice woman with a tablet said “Hi! Is this your first time?“ obviously lol. She grabbed my shoes from the bucket on the wall and walked me over to an area full of free lockers. I have wide feet so I sized accordingly and I’m pretty sure they were too big.

The “stadium” is cool and club like down to the lighting. The bikes are arranged on varying platform heights with plenty of room in between. There were a few people in the room helping first-timers like me get their bike setup, when in doubt look for the ipads. By now, I’m thinking the staff could benefit from some uniforms or at least a Flywheel t-shirt. The bikes aren’t well labeled so I wouldn’t have been able to find mine without their help. I knew classes were kept dark so I didn’t think twice when I wore capri leggings with unshaven legs. Unfortunately, I had no idea how to “clip in” so a pretty blonde spent a few minutes at eye level with my fuzzy legs (sorry girl!). She helped me adjust the seat height and handlebars. Your preferred settings are saved and for every other class your bike will be setup just for you before the start of class (how luxurious). The bottle holders are pretty much horizontal so make sure you bring a water bottle with a tight lid (another major fail for me). Each bike is equipped with a mini tablet that provides readings of your torque, RPM, current, and overall Power Score. It felt super state of the art, like I could have been training with the Broncos. I had a good side view of the instructor but almost no view of the Torqboard. Maybe that’s for the best if you get distracted by competition but I really wanted to experience everything so I wish I had selected a different bike. If you’re on the bike selection page I’d suggest one on the left hand side at least 2 rows from the front.

The music was a fun upbeat mix; I was happy to finally hear some hip-hop even though it was more of the club/EDM versions of the songs. Things progressed quickly and it was difficult to hear the instructor so I was pretty lost for the first few minutes, just keep pedaling. There are no personal corrections, the instructor stays on their pedestal at the front of class but you eventually get the hang of it. The instructor calls out goal ranges (Torque 18-25, 90-120 RPM) and positions (“up in third”, get off your butt, and “saddle”, sit down and power through). It is like interval training, you push hard and then recover. Towards the end we incorporated some arm workouts. There are bars that look like shower curtain tension rods cradled at the front of the bike that weigh 2 pounds each, I only grabbed one. You go through a few curls, pulses while mindlessly pedaling at a low torque. I couldn’t figure out how to clip out so I just took the shoes off and left them on the bike. We did some light stretching to close things out. The workout was fun, challenging, motivating.

After the workout you can pull up your Flywheel account to see how you did. I’m loving this feature. While I don’t plan to partake in the intense real-time competitions, I would love to monitor my own personal progress and set individual goals. My Power Score was 242 and here’s a snapshot of my personal stats:

I have no idea how these measure up against others and I don’t really care. Do you see that 20 miles?! I had no idea I could ride 20 miles simulating sprints, surges, and hill climbs all in 45 minutes. I’m proud of that!

Recommendations: Method 45 (the beginner/all-level class here, make sure you take a Method class before trying the others)

Notes: Your first class is free if you sign up on their site; ClassPass Credits: range from 7-9 and not all classes are available through the app; Cycling shoes, towels and locker rental are all complimentary; 45 min

What to Wear/Bring: Water

My new girlfriend from Nashville, who is also on ClassPass, had previously attended The River’s original studio in Golden Triangle and couldn’t wait to go back. We signed up for a Power Vinyasa, Hot, Sunday evening class. This was my first weekend evening class and getting ready I was starting to realize that I prefer getting my workout out of the way earlier in the day. I was running a little late so I was really excited to see that there was free parking!

The building is a bit of a maze. It is long and narrow. You walk in and make a u-turn to the cubbies before checking in at the front desk. The woman at the front desk was warm and inviting and I was happy to see she was also our instructor for class. The studio was similarly long and narrow. This was a big class of around 24 with about 7 or 8 men. There seemed to be a few people of color from varying ethnic groups. I was the largest in class but there was a range of body types, ages and levels (the range skewed towards white, young and fit but at least there was a range). The instructor was goals af. I have a serious girl crush. Racially ambiguous, sweet, empowering, and confident while serving body. Abs glistening. She had an assistant for class that hung out towards the back of the room and offered lots of hands on massaging/deepening assists. You can opt out of the hands-on assist at the beginning of class, but I love the extra attention (Thomas would agree 😉).

Class was good, what you’d expect for a Power Vinyasa class. Like the class I took in Five Points but kicked up a notch. I was surprised the music was more of the typical calming yoga playlist. The music at the class in Five Points was more current and fun. I guess it’s up to the instructor. Wasn’t much of a deal breaker since the workout was enough to keep me distracted! There were lots of side planks and binds which are hard for me. On side plank I took the modification and dropped a knee. I skipped out on fallen triangle, flip dog, and some binds opting for some recovery in child’s pose instead. I imagine twists and binds are difficult for most plus sized people, I am no exception. Too much of my body gets in the way. I’m suffocating – all thighs, belly, and boobs. I hate opting out of these poses. I want the workout, I want to open my chest and hips, but my body is limited. I usually end up opening up and stretching my arms out when they instruct to do a twist with hands together, it just feels much less restrictive. Maybe a strap would also come in handy? I’ve thought about taking a private class to learn how to utilize the strap as a tool in my personal practice. Usually the Power Vinyasa classes are moving too fast to consider this as an option but maybe with the right knowledge base I could take my own modifications. It’s an idea. If I get around to it, I will certainly post my lessons learned. It would be nice to stay active and in the zone; celebrating my thighs, belly, and boobs.

Class seemed to fly by. Besides the few poses I discussed above, I was totally honed in. My back and shoulders are still sore 2 days later. In shavasana someone came around and gave me a little massage, it was so nice. I left all smiles and sweat.

Overall I had a great time. I liked the feel, overall flow and vibe, of the Five Points location better. I appreciated the smaller class size and more open layout but I would definitely go back.

Recommendations: I’d try out the warm class first to see if this type of yoga is for you. This class was a little more difficult. I enjoyed it and if you like the power vinyasa style I’d recommend it – Power Vinyasa, Hot at The River Yoga – Golden Triangle!

Notes: ClassPass Credits – 3, 60 min

What to Wear/Bring: Yoga Mat, Microfiber Sports Towel (a must!)