SpinShred at Fit Girl Studio

Studio: Fit Girl Studio2350 N Clark Chicago, IL 60614 (Note: this Chicago location has since closed, but the Evanston location is still open at 1642 Maple Ave.)

Class Focus: This 60 minute class mixes spinning and toning to keep a workout interesting and to burn off the calories. The class is broken into three sequences: 20 minutes of spinning followed by 20 minutes of toning finished off with 20 more minutes of spinning.

Cost per class: $20

Money saving offers:

  • $20 for a week of unlimited classes (new clients only)
  • 20%Student/Teacher Discount

The Fab Fit take:

Do you know what people don’t care about on St. Patrick’s Day (observed) in Chicago? Fitness. Because of that, enough people dropped out of SpinShred at Fit Girl Studio in Lincoln Park that I was able to move quickly off of the wait list and into the class. At what I imagine was the exact time the green dye was dropped into the Chicago River, Liz was leading the class through 60 minutes of spinning and toning.

We started in Fit Girl Studio’s spin room, which houses about 20 Evo spinning bikes that have 10 degrees of tilt to both sides. On these bikes, you get a more toned-down version of a Real Ryder bike (which has a lot of tilt and requires a lot of stabilization), but your body still moves and stabilizes more than it would on a totally stationary bike. The bikes were idiot proof and made for the easiest bike setup I’ve experienced in my life.

Both 20 minute spinning session were like a mini spin class. The first time on the bike, we went through hills, jumps and sprints, never having time to get bored or saddle sore.

fit girl studio 3

We completed of our last sprint to Jennifer Lopez’s Let’s get Loud (thank you Liz for lodging that in my head for two days). Share that experience with me, people.

[soundcloud url=”http://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/19023042″ params=”” width=” 100%” height=”166″ iframe=”true” /]

Our toning work in the studio’s barre room was nothing to laugh at. In a quick 20 minute toning burst, we managed to hit legs, arms and abs in an effective way. Using chair pose, squats and lunges to strengthen our already tired legs, there was some serious leg shaking happening. Moving quickly through sets of push-ups, biceps-curls and everyone’s favorite triceps strengthener (a barre class staple)  straight-armed triceps extensions, we totally burned out the arms. We spent an intense 5 minutes working the core with a mix of c-curve, planks, mountain climbers and abs on the floor, which was a satisfying way to finish the strength work. Who doesn’t want to feel like her tummy is a little tighter before eating corned beef and cabbage?

fit girl studio 2

The final 20 minutes on the spin bikes was spent on a mix of jumps and hills. Liz kept the workout and the music in the last section of class varied enough to keep everyone engaged and working hard on the final stretch.

This class helped me to battle my biggest indoor workout woe: I have the attention span of a gnat. I need constant variety or my mind will wander to work, my dog or my appetite – for me this class was a perfect way to keep me focused and kick my butt.

Fit girl studio 1

Tips:

  • Sign up early! This class was full on Thursday when I signed up for Saturday and I’m willing to bet that on a non green-beer weekend, the wait list might not turn over so quickly.

Date/time taken: 3/16/2013

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About Jeana Anderson Cohen

Jeana Anderson Cohen is the founder and CEO of asweatlife.com a premiere wellness media destination that creates content and community to help womxn live better lives and achieve their goals. Before founding health-focused companies Jeana earned a degree in Journalism from the University of Wisconsin-Madison - and fresh out of college she worked on the '08 Obama campaign in Michigan. From there, she created and executed social media strategies for brands. aSweatLife fuses her experience in building community and her passion for wellness. You can find Jeana leading the team at aSweatLife, trying to join a book club, and walking her dog Maverick.

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