I love trying out new fitness studios but it can be hard to get to them all, in NYC a new one is popping up each week. I have an extensive to-visit list so when I was invited on a Ketanga Fitness Krawl to 3 studios I had never been to, it was a no-brainer.
I’ve written about Ketanga before, the new fitness retreat company. To get the word out about Ketanga and to get people moving at home, they’ve started doing Krawls. The first one was in Union Square visiting Core Pilates NYC, Tone House and CrossFit Union Square.
We were split into two groups, one group started at Core Pilates (my group) and the other at Tone House, then we met up for a final workout together at Union Square, each class was about 30 minutes.
The workout started at 8am which felt super early since I was coming from the UWS. I wasn’t mad about starting at Core Pilates, it was very low impact and and eased me into the morning of fitness. I’m not a huge pilates fan, I find it a little slow and not that hard. I will admit part of this is because I’m likely not doing the moves right but either way, I never feel like i get that much out of it.
Core Pilates NYC is a beautiful and clean facility. We had our class happening on one side of the room and the other side had someone taking a private class. If you’re a pilates fan I’d recommend checking this place out.
[photo cred: Ketanga)
Next up was Tone House, which can only be explained as the complete opposite of pilates. I’d heard about this studio and how it is THE HARDEST THING EVER. This was a 30 minute class so not as long as a typical class but I can see what all the hype is about. We were running, jumping, using the TRX and large bungee bands and working up a serious sweat. The class has a nice group mentality going on, you are sort of working out as a team and your energy feeds off the energy of those around you. The two instructors were fantastic keeping everyone motivated and pushing past perceived limits.
[photo cred: Ketanga…that’s me closest to the camera!]
The room has a dark orange lighting and is a smallish studio with a bathroom and no locker room (none that I saw anyways). If you want a unique and HARD workout, go to Tone House.
Last up we headed to CrossFit Union Square. This workout started out a bit slow with squats with resistance bands and some barbell business. I think we were all a bit worn out from Tone House at this point.
After the warmup we got into some competitive CrossFitting. We were set up in groups of 3 and did rowing until you hit 10 calories, holding kettlebells and doing burpees then jumping over a box. We did this for 10 minutes straight and switched stations when the person on the rower hit their 10 calories. We kept count of how many burpees were completed. My team of Emily, Brittany and myself are umm kinda competitive. We got our butts in gear and won with 118 burpees!
After class we had smoothies and other treats plus went home with a little gift bags with $10 off Jack Rabbit, discounts to the studios we visited and some fit food samples. While we started super early, by 11am I was done with three workouts and feeling mighty good! This was the perfect way to check out new studios, hang with my friends and meet some new fit folks.
[Photo cred: Ketanga]
Ketanga will be hosting more of these Krawls, next up is one in Chelsea April 18th, sign up HERE. I have 4 discount codes available so when you sign up, use the code shapin5 for $5 off and the first 4 of you get the deal (full price is $30)! This Krawl is slightly smaller due to studio size, only 20 spots available so act fast. I can’t make it to that one but I’ll definitely hit up the next one, I had a great time!
