It was advertised as the ultimate fitness class, and the best way for you to get a total body workout while increasing speed, strength, stamina and agility. The copy from the gym read:
What happens when you combine personal training with team motivation? You get in the best shape of your life with the UXF ultimate fitness experience. This eight session, cross-training workout blends strength training and cardio conditioning to improve your flexibility, agility, strength and endurance. Equipment such as TRX, kettlebells, ropes and bars are mixed with plyometric exercises to create a balanced circuit where you progress at your own pace. UXF is your one-stop shop for a total-body workout.
Sounds good, right? What they don’t mention is that they are really just trying to kill you.
I was invited to take a free UXF class at the Washington Sports Clubs Fairfax location. The gym is literally on the way home from my office, the class was at a convenient time in the evening, so why not? After all, this mama hasn’t done a serious fitness class in about 5 years, so I could really use the motivation. It was even better that my buddy and fellow The DC Moms contributor, Devra, would be taking the same class!
The trainers running the Fairfax class, Joey & Ben, were very welcoming, but made a point that they would not take it easy on “the moms.” With a small class size of 5 people, there was no way to hide from them or get lost in the crowd!
We started with an “easy” warm-up. Jog in place, jumping jacks, high kicks, jumping rope, push-ups… I can do all of that. However, after 5 minutes, I’m usually done. After five minutes, we were just getting started.
Quickness and Agility training came next, with 10 minutes of football-style shuffling on the “flat rung agility ladder” (I totally had to google the official name of this piece of equipment). It was around this time that I began worrying about keeping my lunch down.
The real muscle of the class was the stations. Designed to work each major muscle group, each of the 5 stations were performed for a minute before switching. Us students were instructed to keep a rolling tally of the number of repetitions we completed for all five stations, and at the end our counts were recoded. We did three sets of five stations, which included such lovely exercises as kettlebell dead lifts, standing box jumps, and burpees.
We were all dead at this point (well, aside from the woman who had already completed a previous 4-week session), but we still weren’t done. 5 more minutes of front and side planks, a few sit-ups thrown in for good measure, and then we got to stretch.
All told, it was a solid hour of one of the hardest workouts I’ve ever done. It took 4 days for the pain to go away, which happened just in time to go back for the second class on Friday.
Images courtesy of the MySportsClub website
Delora is a D.C. native and mother of two boys. She can often be found outside in the garden, or pontificating on twitter as @delora.
