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Workout I Did: Jamba Juice FiTrends Expo, Part Two

Whenever Jamba hosts an event, I know I’m in for a full day of intense muscle jubilee. The first year Jenn and I attended Jamba’s day of workouts, I didn’t properly fuel, and I paid for it handsomely with fatigue and Gumby-like limb movements. This year, I tried to prepare a bit better. I made sure to get in all my workouts that Mark prescribed, drank lots and lots of water, ate the yummy breakfast that Jamba provided (see what we noshed on and Jenn’s recap here) and attempted to not give it 100,000 percent (or 11 if you’re talking to Ms. Venus Williams) at the very start of the day. I should get a pat on the back for the attempt, but those workouts still worked me to my very core!

I must talk about Broadway Bodies first because it was by far my favorite workout. (Erin was right about it!) Being that I’m an actor in LA trying to land that big, beautiful break, I found home in this one. It was love at first move. Joseph Corella, a Broadway performer and choreographer, began with Rent’s Season of Love, and I about collapsed into Jenn’s arms. We started moving to the music, and he encouraged us to sing. What?! I can be happy, loud, smile AND belt out, “Five hundred twenty-five thousand six hundred minutes?”! It don’t get no betta, y’all.

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The class consists of high-impact, dance cardio moves to your favorite show tunes, movie musicals, TV musicals (Glee!) and pop videos. I’m not gonna lie: I have the coordination of a drunken baby giraffe, but the music and energy was so awesome I just forgot and kept moving, which led to some awesome sweat and increased heart flutters (and it wasn’t just because we did Beyoncé poses at the end of each song.) I SO want to grab a group of people and try this class again. It’s the perfect prescription for the blues. It’s impossible not to have fun. When you find workouts like that you have to hang on tight and never let go! (And sing like you’ve never sung before; jazz-hand like you’ve never jazz-handed before!)

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I cannot tell a lie. By the time Piloxing came around in our day of constant movement, I didn’t think I’d have it in me. I knew going in that it was an intense class, so I was shaking in my Nikes. But Cortney Gornall’s energy (see above) was so amazing and the moves were so easy to follow that I grabbed a third wind and started jabbing like it was the first workout of the day. I loved the music, the moves and especially the body parts the music and moves were working! In a nutshell, Piloxing is a mixture of Pilates and boxing. It’s marketed to those who want fat-torching, muscle-sculpting, core-centric interval workouts—and after experiencing 15 minutes of her program, I’d say they have it just about right on the money. When you feel the burn, oh, how the muscles churn!

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My summary of Bokwa: Choreographed cardio for the coordination-challenged. I had a completely different idea in my head of what Bokwa would be, I must admit. I assumed we would be lying on the ground and making numbers and letters in the air with our legs or something similar to that; something hard and ab crazy-licious, but Bokwa couldn’t be any more different. Instead, you draw letters and numbers with your steps to the beat of some awesomesauce music. The steps are easy to learn, and the intensity isn’t super crazy. It’ll keep your heart rate up without winding you or breaking you down. I actually came home and begged my fiance to bring this class to the gym he manages. I think it’s a great beginner class for folks who want to try a cardio dance class, but are intimidated by stuff like Zumba. (Tish raises her hand.)

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Let’s get one thing straight: I am by no means a dancer. Keep this in mind when I tell you how challenging the Physique 57 workout was for me. I’m not the most flexible gal. Sarah Pfeifer lead our team of newbies through a shorter version of the class. I barely made it out alive. I have no clue how people can do a full class. They’re bad-asses. That’s all I can say about that. Never, ever assume a dancer’s lean body is wimpy and weak. You have to be strong like a tank in order to master these moves.

Physique 57 combines isometric exercises and orthopedic stretches to systematically lengthen and sculpt your muscles. You use your own body weight as resistance; targeting and overloading your muscles to the point of sheer exhaustion. We did this one ab workout that made us shake like a Polaroid picture the entire time. I’m pretty sure the 57 in the workout name stands for “57 muscle pains you didn’t know you could find.” This class is for my gals who are looking to beast it out in a group environment. Ballet has never looked so gangster.

In all, I had a much better experience this time around. I love the days where we get to try a whole bunch of workouts and see what’s new in the world. You would have thought I’d hate that much activity; that it would have drained me to the point of no return, but that’s what I prepared my body to do! Just so we could share the fun with y’all.

I would love to hear from you all! Have you taken any of these classes? Have a favorite? Taking something similar you’d love to share with all of us? Sharing is caring, you know! —Tish

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