I am absolutely one of the crazies. I get joy from working my body physically. The more intense, the more challenging, the more space I can create from limb to limb, the more delight I experience. Pilates, Yoga, Aerial Yoga, TRX and Rebounding are my “exercise drugs” of choice for movement and endorphin blasts of energy.  So it may not come as a surprise that I didn’t hesitate very long but jumped to “go” immediately after reading about SLT (Strengthen, Lengthen & Tone), as defined by the NY studio owner, Amanda Freeman, as “Pilates on crack.”

Yea, the crack reference got my attention. Catchy marketing and yes, I knew it was something souped up and over the top and being a movement addict, I had to try it.

Yes, I also noticed after reading the bios of the teaching staff, that only one of the instructors was a certified Pilates teacher, so I expected the workout would be a “mishmash fusion” of pilates-inspired exercises.

And, yes again, I knew by looking at the pictures of the equipment, called a Megaformer, that resistance and strength training were at the core and that yes, the equipment was patterned after the Pilates Reformer but was definitely not the pure Joseph Pilates method system.

Still, I was curious.

I arrived quite a bit early, changed out of my street clothing and was able to sit and watch the final ten minutes to an earlier class. There was a great side plank and oblique move that I liked a lot and a variation on “knee stretches,” lots of lunges, squats and bicep curls all performed on the Megaformer.

Quite a few times I bit my tongue and held back the urge to “touch” and “cue” several individuals within my immediate vision to deepen the “scoop and hold the abdominals in and up,” or to lift their gaze and elongate their necks and to straighten their arms and legs a lot more thru the plank moves on the Megaformer carriage. But alas, I was an observer, not the teacher. While the instructor was calling out the clear instructions, there was a lot going on in the room filled with ten bodies and ten spring-loaded machines and resistance bands at the back end. Group classes are tough for the beginner.

I was just sitting and actually smiling. This was going to be fun.

The room was cleaned and cleared for the next class and I was greeted by the next instructor, and found my way to the front carriage and waited to get started.

This instructor was a former dancer; lithe body type, much better teacher than the screaming aerobics instructor of the earlier hour, She immediately took great command of the group. Her spotting and cueing to the individuals in need was also much more apparent.

I loved the flow of the movements. Great connections between each exercise which were all performed in 30 second counts of continuously fluid motion.

Within the first 30 minutes, I was drenched, wiping my brow and loving it! This was my kind of work. Very active, concentrated, controlled and with full-range of motion in each of the exercises. Sequenced nicely and I am sure based on the style and background of the instructor, each class would take on a different flavor and utilize different layering to the exercises.

There were a pile of Magic Circles in the corner (which we didn’t use in this class) and 2-5lb hand weights. The latter were used with an abdominal “stretch and reach” exercise that very easily could have been converted to a Pilates Teaser.

TRX Flow students will immediately recognize many of these coordinated moves from my classes with TRX Suspension, and their movements from a centered core. There were several advanced Pilates reformer exercises in the mix, e.g., standing side splits, Snake & Twist, balance controls, front splits with arabesque. Its the “core on fire” moves; variations on side-sit ups, California rowing, knee stretches, abdominal pikes, that sequenced together throughout the hour caused me to notice and feel my entire torso for the next three days in a way I haven’t in quite sometime.

Yes, I bought a class pack.  The only way to get a good workout for yourself is allow someone else to challenge and lead you through something new and different. This was it. Serious work.  The one major drawback is the haul of my butt to 57th Street from NJ to the one SLT NY studio location.

I’m addicted to movement. I told you, I’m one of the crazies.

If you enjoyed reading this post, resonated with it and smiled a bit, feel free to share!  

body weight resistance movement Pilates strength TRX Suspension