INTERN DIARIES WEEK 4: INTENSE HUMBLING

This week, Hannah and David get hardcore at Mind Muscle Fitness and AEROSPACE.  Between kettlebell and kickboxing, these FITiST interns got the chance to experience two workouts that were both intense and humbling.

Hannah:

As a constituent of Generation Y, I am all about multi-tasking—or as I prefer to call it, being efficient.  I don’t just study.  I send texts, check my Facebook, and study for my Econ test, while Gotye pumps through my ear buds, all at the same time.  I don’t just go to the gym.  I respond to emails, read my book (A Visit from the Goon Squad—a must read!), get in my interval training on the treadmill, while simultaneously glancing up at the Today Show to get my daily dose of news.  In fact, right now as I’m writing this, I am talking on the phone, eating an apple, and painting my nails (just kidding about that last one, although that would be pretty impressive).  When I heard about a class that offered cardio, strength training, and flexibility all in just 45 minutes, I was asking where I could sign my Generation Y-butt up!

Mind Muscle Fitness uses kettlebell training to target your whole body.  Through the use of weighted, controlled movement, kettlebell exercises target your core, along with all other major muscle groups, to provide muscle integration as opposed to muscle isolation.  This means I can work all of my muscles and burn up to 800 calories, while trying to attain a coveted “Kettlebell-butt” (the signature high, tight, and narrow behind that comes from this sort of training) in just one class!  This is a multi-tasker’s dream come true!

Mind Muscle Fitness is located in a studio within the Fitness Factory.  This place is no joke.  In a giant warehouse in West Hollywood, the Fitness Factory is packed with hard-core fitness fanatics, serious trainers, and seriously beautiful people and celebrities.  It was intimidating and inspiring all at the same time.  I don’t know if it was the catchy hip-hop song that was blasting through the weight room or the thought of my butt in my favorite bikini after a few kettlebell training sessions, but I was pumped and ready to get to work!

Griffin White, my instructor and the mind behind Mind Muscle Fitness, set me up with a few different sized bells, along with protective wristbands.  Griffin then explained and demonstrated each exercise that he had written out on a whiteboard at the front of the studio.  There were only seven exercises and each exercise only went up to 7, 10, or 25 reps, at most.  Just as I was getting confident and ready to strut my stuff down the aisles of the weight room…Griffin clued me in on the catch.  I had to go through all seven exercises as many times as possible in the next 30 minutes.  Now although I haven’t played a team sport since the 5^th grade (I had to give up my dream of becoming a professional basketball player once I realized I would stop growing at 5’2”), my competitive side still shines through from time to time and I was going to get in as many sets as I possibly could.

Before I knew it, I was performing kettlebell cleans, swings, crunches, and snatches like a pro.  Well maybe not like a pro…but Griffin was sure to come around often to help correct my form when I needed it.  I went through the set six times, but realized Mind Muscle Fitness fostered more of a supportive team environment than a competitive one.  It seemed like everyone in the room really wanted each other to succeed and reach their personal fitness goals.  It was awesome!

By the end of the 30 minutes, my arms were shaking, my core felt tighter, and I’m pretty sure my butt was just a tad bit higher.  Not to mention, I felt like I just had received a total cardio workout without ever stepping on a treadmill!  This was everything a Generation Y-er could ask for and more.  Only FITiST could satisfy all my multi-tasking needs in one 45-minute class and only Griffin’s workout could make me want to rock my itsy-est bikini to show off all my hard work—while simultaneously texting, reading, and curing cancer, of course.

David:

After a core-crunching session of Pilates, I needed to reassure myself of my manliness. I needed to choose a class that oozed testosterone and would give me a guaranteed butt kicking. Naturally, I decided on kickboxing—the quintessential badass workout. What better way to fulfill my desires than to dip, dodge, and throw punches for an hour. I chose to do my workout by way of AEROSPACE, which is a sleek, trendy studio frequented by models and actors. Though my hopes of running into Mark Wahlberg weren’t met, my hopes of getting a butt kicking were.

The building was unmarked—nothing but a long, tinted window marked the residence of the facility. I was ready for my rocky montage. Though the studio was ocated in the meatpacking district, I would not find myself punching frozen cow carcasses in an ice room. I signed up for much more than this. My instructor, Michael Olajide, Jr., was the former No. 1 ranked middleweight contender in the world—and he was all business. Weights and jump rope in-hand, I had no clue that the next sixty minutes would be the most adrenaline filled hour of my life.

Michael wasted little time. The second he flipped on the floor-rattling music, there was no turning back. Throwing punches only consumed a fraction of the class

time. Jump rope sessions and pushup variations gave me a cardio workout like never before. We went at a lightning fast paced, and rarely took a break. My feet were always moving, and before I knew it there was a pool of sweat around my feet. The instructor had me throwing complex combos like it was my job. At a point, I was convinced I could take on anybody, anywhere (luckily I toned down my ego shortly after I left the studio). When the music stopped, we did a few cool down stretches, and the exhaustion overtook me. Needless to say, the class was everything I desired—and everything I feared—at the same time.

AEROBOX was one of the most intense workouts I have ever encountered. As I carried my jump rope to the front desk, I realized that my arms were temporarily out of commission. My shoulders ached like never before, immediately

telling me this workout was successful. After just one class, I felt quicker, sharper, and more fit than ever. My internship with FITiST has given me a tour of New York’s best studios, and I couldn’t be more satisfied with this stop on my journey.