I’ve written about Trooper Fitness before (you can read my first review HERE) but last night was my first time taking class with Jennifer and it deserves it’s own review.
I recently purchased a 10-pack of Trooper Fitness classes from Gilt, an awesome deal at $89 (less than $9 per hour class). Trooper is what I’d call a no-frills intense workout. The sessions are held at various little studio spaces around the city. Last night it was Fit Factory on West 27th.
Jennifer’s class is high intensity for the entire hour. Immediately upon meeting Jennifer I was thinking, I’ll do whatever you tell me, you are FIT, teach me your ways! The warm up nearly killed me. It was full of squats (all different kinds), push ups and burpees with barely any breaks for 15 minutes. Jennifer has a tough-love attitude in class, she’s not mean but she also isn’t sweet; personally it’s a style I’m a fan of when I’m taking that sort of class. She threatened that if anyone dropped their plank or squat hold everyone would have to start over. That sort of attitude will keep you on top of your game.
The workout was split into a few different rounds of intervals. The warm up round followed by an 8-minute set using heavy weights then body weight exercises and tabatas. In Jennifer’s class when you think you’ve finally finished a round of moves she’ll tell you to do 20 push ups. You’re always moving.
The class has a good vibe, it was my first time at this session but it seems like most people sort of know each other and everyone is friendly.
There are some pros and cons to Trooper Fitness.
The pros are that it’s affordable, it’s hard, it’s an awesome workout, it makes you work and it leaves you a sweaty disgusting mess. It’s small group training so you get individual attention and the instructor knows your name and will call you out (positively and negatively)
The cons are that there aren’t a ton of class options, it’s seriously no frills (as in no water, no towels), and the spaces aren’t great. Last night it was a little cramped and dark. I get it, I only paid $9 for the class and if I wanted a fancy workout I can go spend $35 at an upscale studio; that’s not going to happen. So I guess I can’t really complain. Trooper doesn’t have a permanent location so some spaces are better than others. They also host some outdoor workouts, I may try to make it to a Central Park one soon.
As for Jennifer’s style, for the most part I liked it. If you’re the type who likes to use 3 pound weights and do 1,000 reps, do not come. We were encouraged to use heavy weights (I used 15lbs which is a lot when you’ve got two of them and you’re using them for burpees and plank rows). I do wish there was a little more direction. I got a little lost in some of the routines, it would have been helpful to have things written out on a white board for reference. Jennifer also doesn’t give much form direction/correction so half the time I felt like my form sucked and I was doing it wrong. Maybe she didn’t correct me because I was actually doing everything 100% correct, ha! Definitely not the case.
I left feeling like I had really pushed myself and got a solid workout, I’d happily return to Jennifer’s class. She is a no-nonsense bad-ass, my kinda girl.
These are actual pictures from last night’s workout and thankfully I’m barely visible because let’s be real, I looked like a hot mess.
If you’re interested in trying Trooper Fitness you can do your first class for $15 or keep an eye on Gilt and maybe they will offer a discounted package again soon.
I’ve got 9 sessions left so if you do go, maybe I’ll see you there!
