Studio: 2215 N. Halsted

Class Focus: This is a circuit-training style class that works to spike your heart rate and tone to get you ready for summer

Cost per class: $25.00

Nike+ Fuel Points Earned: ~1,500

The Fab Fit take:

I strolled into Flirty Girl Fitness early on a Saturday morning, confronting my fear of a studio filled with poles. After looking through the studio’s offerings (and many enthusiastic recommendations from friends and co-workers), I realized that Flirty Girl Fitness has a lot more to offer than pole dancing.

Class threw something totally unique into my week by mixing kickboxing staples, High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) and toning moves. Starting off with fast-paced kickboxing series, our heart rates were through the roof. We alternated between punches and kicks and burpees or squats, with instructor telling us to hit the floor at random.

Following the first section of class, we broke into rounds of Tabatas. I love Tabatas in a “please don’t throw up” kind of way. We grabbed jump ropes, mats and some sliding disks and started to work in 25 second intervals with 5 seconds of rest between. We started started by leaving it all on the studio floor in five rounds of jumprope. After getting fatigued, it turned from jumprope to whipping myself in the arm repeatedly. Hey, last time I checked, if you’re moving, you’re burning calories.

Getting onto the floor into a plank position with sliding disks under our feet and a mat under our hands, we devoted the next five rounds of  Tabatas to variations of mountain climbers. Another sputtering, coughing, wear-yourself-out experience. We concluded our Tabata portion with with five rounds of abs, killing it ever so quickly on five rounds of bicycles, scissors and leg lifts.

Just to prove a point to our abs (be bikini ready or else), we finished the class with everyone’s favorite beach-ready exercises: arms and more abs. I left feeling challenged after this totally worthwhile boot camp – try it if you’re looking to push yourself this weekend.

Date taken: 4/13/13