Brooklyn Body Burn Review: Hard + Humbling

Happy Sunday! I feel like I alternate between really busy weekends and weekends where I try to keep my calendar as clear as possible. Since I had a ball last weekend and am going to D.C. next weekend, I kept this one nice and low-key. Ish. 

I have to give a shout-out for International Women’s Day, a movement to celebrate the accomplishments of women.

I saw this quote on Lorna Jane’s Instagram when I woke up this morning and LOVED it. I don’t know about you, but I’m the first to celebrate all of my friends’ achievements and successes before I celebrate my own, and I can definitely be a victim of negative self-talk. I’m working to change that about myself, but I couldn’t help but love this quote.

Now, on to the review.

So, I’d said a few weeks ago I wanted to try Brooklyn Body Burn before the end of April. It was a random, arbitrary challenge but I was committed to it. I’d heard it was one of the hardest workouts in NYC, and, well, I had to put that to the test.

OH GOOD GOD.

Felicia, a BBB devotee, and one of my favorite bloggers these days for her insightful, thought-provoking posts, had read that I wanted to go and said she’d go with me, which I was secretly excited for. Moral support is always helpful for these types of classes.

To be honest, I hadn’t been out to Williamsburg in quite some time, and I don’t think ever during the day, so I was pleasantly surprised how fast the trip was out there. (Signed, a Manhattanite who knows she needs to leave her borough more often.)

I walked in and was happy to see both Felicia and the instructor right away, and I loved how chill the vibe was. It’s an expensive Megaformer class (although the first-time rate was a lovely $18!), but the instructor, Abby Geartner, and the rest of the class weren’t pretentious in the least. 

The studio was about a 10-minute walk from the L train at Bedford, and I was glad it had started to warm up a bit. The studio is almost right on the water. It would be lovely to take a post-class stroll on the waterfront when it warms up. (I’m just straight up dreaming of warm weather right now.) 

It’s big and bright.

And full of machines that promise near-death.

Abby was great at giving me a run-through of the machine. I told her I’d tried SLT before so was kind of familiar with the Megaformer. I’ve actually never taken a regular Pilates Reformer class, which I guess is next on my list.

And…go. Yikes. We started with some planks to warm things up, and I felt humbled within the first…2? 3? minutes of class. Even in the hardest workout classes I’ve taken, I’m good at fighting my way through a lot before I have to take a rest break, but there were so many rest breaks because every. single. move. challenged the hell out of me. BBB’s slogan is “You don’t need more time, you need more intensity.” While I generally agree with that, IN PRACTICE HERE, IT IS REALLY FREAKING HARD.

I went into some serious workout amnesia because it was so hard, but we did moves like plank pikes, bears, speed skaters (< one of the only moves that was relatively easy for me), teases, spider lunges and all kinds of crazy hard moves.

It was so humbling. I remember halfway through class, there was one move I just. couldn’t. get, and I looked at the clock and we were only halfway through. Eff this, I thought. I’m leaving. This is too hard. But Felicia, Abby and I had talked before class about “not being a hero,” and I decided I had nothing to prove…but to finish, on my own terms, safely. 

It was such a hard class that I can’t say if I liked it or not. What I do know: it is a really good workout, and my core feels really tight (and sore) today, and I’m glad I tried it. I will definitely try it again, because 1. I think you need to take a class a few times to decide if you really like it. and 2. Felicia and I went to the ADORABLE House of Small Wonder after, where I had eggs that rank in the top five of all eggs I’ve ever eaten. (Also on the list, Sunflower Caffe in Sonoma.) I need those eggs again, so I might as well go to BBB while I’m out there.

Also, my girl Liz Barnet took my “it is so much harder than SLT!” comment as a personal challenge. I am a little scared.

I followed up yesterday’s insane workout with a long run today, which does not rank among my best ideas of all time. Walking to the subway, I said to Jordan “oh! My legs aren’t bad! My glutes + inner thighs are a little sore, but it’s really my core that’s the most sore.” Well my run was not the easiest — even if the weather was GLORIOUS — and my hammies are pretty tight/sore right now. 

BRB, going to sleep on top of my foam roller tonight.

What’s the hardest workout you’ve ever done?