Cxworks

[blackbirdpie url=”https://twitter.com/LisaEirene/status/326508680029814785″]

That’s how I felt taking the “CxWorks” class at my gym. I’d never heard of the class before but I wanted to take a class for one of my workout days this week and decided to give it a try.

“CXWORX™ is a 30-minute revolution in core training, transforming the muscles that power your body every day. Our tried-and-true formula of great choreography and chart-topping music, presented by inspirational instructors and backed by cutting-edge scientific research, will help you run faster… play harder… stand stronger.”

Core strength is definitely something I try and work on when I’m at the gym. I’ve made progress but I have a long way to go. At first I thought, it’s only 30 minutes? That seems like a waste. But boy, once you’re in the class doing constant ab work for 30 minutes it feels like an eternity!

Sorry the picture is so blurry, I was trying to be stealthy. I got there a little early but the class was filling up fast. I set up my little spot and then spent about 15 minutes warming up and doing some of my PT exercises.

I had no idea what I was doing so I just copied everyone else around me. My tip for taking new classes: if you can’t have a quick one-on-one with the instructor, find that person in the class that seems to know all the moves before the teacher even tells the class. Work out next to them and do what they do! That’s what I did and it was really helpful. Otherwise I would have been pretty lost.

For the class you needed a weight plate (I grabbed a 5 and a 10 pound because I didn’t know what it was for yet), a mat, and stretchy tube (looks like a jump rope).

The exercises probably had names for them but I didn’t know. We did a lot of planks and what I know as the “spiderman.” There was a lot of variations of crunches and side crunches. The stretchy tube was for standing work when we did side-step type exercises for our glutes. Then there were sitting exercises with the tubes. I wish I could describe them more accurately but being a newbie I was just trying to catch up to the class!

My abs were on FIRE. It’s been a long time since I was doing an exercise and felt my muscles burning so much I thought I’d pass out. This class did that. There were a few times I couldn’t do all of the moves the instructor said and had to take a breathe for a moment or two. You definitely feel the burn when you’re in a class being pushed and not on your own where you can stop anytime you want!

The class was fast-paced and he tried to fit in a ton of stuff into 30 minutes. I’m glad I went and tried it. I’ll probably go again to try and get the hang of the exercises but I doubt this will become something I do every single week. The more likely scenario is that I steal the moves for my own workouts.

I was surprised at how many calories I burned in such a short class! It was worth it. I left the gym feeling accomplished. When I got home Michael was grilling up burgers! Thank goodness. I was famished.

Michael’s burger was on a gluten-free bun and I went without a bun. I just don’t feel like I need it anymore. His burger had some of the cave-aged blue cheese I got for my book club and I had some of the English Cheddar with caramelized onions on my burger. SO GOOD. On the side: pickles, green olives, a green salad topped with leftover fajita mix (peppers and onions) and a beer:

It was such a nice, sunny day that we ate dinner on the porch outside listening to the neighboring baseball game. It was a nice evening. The next day I was slightly sore but not much. I was expecting to be crippled and for my abs to hurt with every move I made. Maybe they aren’t as badly out of shape as I thought they were?

QUESTION: Have you tried this class or something similar? What did you think?