We love Lisa. Wait, more like obsessed. Despite being surrounded by other students, we felt as though we had a personalized class complete with a killer workout. And we’re pretty sure the others felt the same way. After all, Lisa knew everyone by name, and gave individualized attention, keeping the pace of the class moving all the meanwhile demonstrating and clearly explaining the movements. We were guided accurately throughout the whole class–making us feel like total pros. It’s instructors like Lisa that–and the fact our abs are still sore four days later–will make us come back again and again. If your goal is to feel the burn and make sure every movement you’re doing is correct, then just look for Lisa on the schedule.

Jody was all the about the legs and the core. She had us rotating between leg and core movements every other minute and boy did we feel the burn. Jody kept the class moving and pushing us to transition between movements without dilly-dallying. She was extremely attentive; constantly walked around the room correcting form and giving demonstrations before each movement. She even went around fixing everyone’s carriages before each exercise to make sure the proper weight was on the machine. This attention to detail, along with her sweet personality made us feel welcomed and eager to come back to her class for more.

Amy was all business. She gave loud, clear direction and we liked it, a lot. She primarily focused on glutes and arms which we aren’t complaining about. We’ve been sore for days and our butt actually already feels rounded and toned from one class (miracles do happen). What we really appreciated was that Amy was supportive and motivating throughout the class. Trying to get us to hold and pulse just a little bit longer to really make the magic happen. We wish she had incorporated a bit more abs but now we’re just nit-picking.

Amanda is cute, bubbly, personable and a positive voice to coach us through the class. Amanda’s class goes by in the blink of an eye – the whole time we battled in our heads “when will this be over, I’m dying…” but then when it finally ended we thought “wow, that was quick!” Amanda started off the class blasting our core (we love and hate that feeling at the same time), then moved onto our legs and stayed focused on our legs and then still focused on our legs and then STILL focused on our legs…okay, you get it – we felt the burn in our legs and glutes too! We then moved onto a short yet impossible arm series and finished it off with our side obliques (our favorite part because um hi love handles go away please). Amanda kept the transitions from one move to another so quickly because she would make sure each of us had the equipment in the perfect spot and during each move would tell us what the next move was going to be – so our heads were thinking “what’s next” as our bodies continued pulsing and shaking. She proved to us you’re mind and body are DEFINITELY on two separate pages! In hindsight, she kind of tricked us into staying in these moves longer than our bodies wanted to – sneaky, sneaky! Needless to say, we left shaking and sore the next two days – feeling all the feelings for why we love btone 🙂

We know when we go to BTone we’re going to feel the burn, and Savannah definitely cranked up the heat. We loved her playlist from the start–she’s either a musical genius in the making or who someone knows how to work Spotify or Pandora like a boss. Savannah did a good job of giving us clear instructions and following a solid routine of arms and core followed by legs. Getting arms out of the way first was a nice change, as typically instructors will neglect the arms or leave them as an afterthought for the end. On the downside, there were a few exercises where Savannah forgot to repeat on both sides. Our right inner thighs and left triceps felt neglected after their counterparts were slayed but they got zilch. Suffice it to say everyone want their left and right sides to look equally sexy and toned!  But where Savanah lacked, she got extra points when things got uncomfortable and we wanted to give up. Just when we needed to push for 10 more seconds, she’d catch our attention and say “you can do it,” and “you got this.” It was just what was needed to finish strong. In the end, we left shaking and sore for the next few days, so you know that means we’ll be back.

No BS here! Kathleen was all business. She had a stern, clear voice with an air about her that said, “Listen up, b*tches, and follow along.” While we are all about that, it did make us a bit nervous to ask questions. Her intensity could be translated as seeming a bit on edge, a bit annoyed and a bit on auto-pilot. We had a funny feeling she was on her third or fourth class in a row. Now, we’re not asking that our instructor to be smiling and making jokes the entire time, but sometimes you need to craft a good balance between command and approachability. But regardless, Kathleen gave us just what we came for: a good, solid Pilates burn.

Sometimes we’re shocked by the difference an instructor makes. Emily was smiley and bubbly and as nice as can be. However, we felt like her class was all over the place. She was unclear in her directions, so much so that everyone was constantly looking around lost. We could see others trying to follow someone else’s movements, only to discover that person was also doing it wrong. And it was an issue that kept occurring all through class–for us included. By the time anyone understood, we were on to the next movement. It made for a lot of confusion and frustration. There was also no personalized attention, and with a small class, we like a little love to motivate us or allow for improvement. While Emily did try hard to add jokes and sarcastic comments, they were lost on a class who was too lost on what to do.

Brooke taught us a solid class, textbook btone. She followed a clear outline and class structure, timing each movement perfectly and keeping everyone on track. Brooke demonstrated each movement on the Megaformer which made it super easy to follow along. She spoke slowly, clearly and in an upbeat tone all while keeping the class together, which was nice to feel like we were truly part of a group. She focused primarily on glute, thigh and inner thigh with a lot less emphasis on core and arms. In all fairness, Brooke prefaced the class by letting us know the specific areas we were going to focus on. We appreciate her transparency but we still wanted more core work. We still need to be prepared to flaunt our abs when we go out on a Saturday night. That being said, we did feel the burn, and that’s exactly what we came for.

Demi is young, bubbly, and has a personality that lights up the room. She smiled throughout the entire class all while instructing us through the workout with a clear tone of voice. She paid attention to the everyone in the class as she walked up and down the room correcting people’s form. There were a few newbies (sorry to call you out guys) but she gave equal attention to them and the regulars. Demi had a full body goal for the class, meaning we felt the burned all over. First, we worked our legs, thighs, inner thighs, then moved on to our abs and finally to our arms and back. At the end we blasted through burpees on the Megaformer just to make sure we had that full body burn pumping and sweat dripping as we walked out the door.

Ashley has her shit locked up. We loved every minute of the 45 minute class as she systematically and authoritatively took us through every body part. Her class reminded us why we LOVE btone. We started with our core (which we always love to burn out – six pack on fleek before the holidays – YA HURD). Then we moved to our legs, hamstrings and finally a bit of arm work. When we say a bit of arm work – we mean we didn’t do too much heavy lifting for our arms – definitely skimped on this part but with only 45 minutes we were happy to allot more time to our core (like we said – six pack for holiday time – HELLO)! Ashley had a bomb playlist and she herself had a perfectly toned body so we figured she knew what she was doing. She was great at correcting people as she explained where each movement should come from. For example, when dipping into our lunges she explained the bend should come from the right leg while the left leg glided (or pushed very hard, but glided sounds more elegant) against the weighted Megaformer. Our instinct is to bend the left leg to pull the machine up and down – but nope, she explained the mistake we were making, we fixed it and felt the burn. We let shaking, hungry and thirsty. Thanks Ashley!

Margaret Jackson taught a textbook btone class – and we are NOT complaining (as our triceps and abs are still burning two days later). She taught a very efficient pilates class which consisted of 45 minutes of systematically working every muscle group until it burned. Margaret started with core (which we love), took us through arms, then back and finally ended with burning out our glutes and thighs. She did not spend too much time on any one body part and kept the pace of the class moving. She had a clear, strong voice, demonstrated each movement; she was in total control of the class. Margaret didn’t spend time making jokes, or telling dumb stories about her Saturday night, she was there to give us the burn we paid for. We must say, we didn’t fall in love with her playlist – but since the music wasn’t turned up too loud, it didn’t make much of a difference. We walked out of class feeling as though we got a solid full body workout. Anyone who digs efficiency and a class that is a guaranteed solid burn should find Margaret on the schedule.

We felt well taken care of – like little babies in a stroller all tucked in. Okay, maybe not the BEST analogy but you get the point. Genevieve held our hand from start to finish throughout our class. From the moment we began she explained how the class would go down, which areas we would hit and when. After each move she would let us know what was coming up next, and she event demoed each move on the empty Megaformer. She was extremely motivating as we pulsed through each movement. There was a lot of emphasis on our lower half (butts and thighs) and in our personal opinion maybe not enough on arms and core. But we will have to give it to Genevieve, we weren’t able to walk down the stairs after class which to us is a sign that we worked something that maybe needed some working.

The most perky of them all! We love her – she’s so cheerful and smiley we felt like we already accomplished the class before we even started. She may be small but don’t put it past her to push your limits. She will make you feel the burn in the most chipper voice all the while making you smile as you half hate her for how sore you are feeling. Dana gave us a full body workout – we figured she would as she is very well toned herself. She appears to look as a “b-toner” would – perfectly toned and lean. Our one complaint is that we wished she had given more demonstrations herself so that we could be sure we were feeling the moves in the right spot.

Rachel appeared tall, lean and toned – so she had our expectations high from the moment we walked in and saw her. We enjoyed the overall class, we were still sore the following day – but we didn’t break a sweat (which we love to do). We think this is because Rachel didn’t push us to add on extra strength or offer modifications to make the moves harder. Also, there were extra Megaformers – so we wish Rachel had taken a Megaformer herself and showed us each move as some of her moves were different from the typical routine of other teachers. She brought her own flare with moves that were intended to work more than one part of your body, and to make sure we were doing these moves we really wish she gave us more individualized attention. On a more positive note, we loved her music, she was extremely motivating and transitioned smoothly from move to move.

With only two people in attendance there were two ways this class could go 1. we receive an almost private pilates lesson (people pay good money for this)! or 2. Laura slacks off (no demos, chit chats with us, etc.). We are happy to report (and our still quivering abs are too) that Laura chose option 1. Laura was on us like white on rice!  You know those pulses at the end of the squats after you’ve burned out your left and right glutes/hamstrings and you kind of just, well, cop it – forget that! Laura held us so accountable that we often had to stop the exercise altogether and regroup before pulsing onward. Her attentiveness and “I know what I’m doing here” attitude made us feel like pros when she threw us a compliment. Given how knowledgeable Laura was, we think that even in a fully packed class she would still be attentive to all participants, but not sure if her energy/voice is loud enough to really get a full class pumped up.  Laura demoed almost every move for us, and it’s a good thing because she threw in a lot of exercises that we had never done before at Btone. Btone can get a bit repetitive so we really appreciated her incorporating some fresh moves!

Btone does a great job of hiring quality instructors, and Gabriella fits the bill. She’s a tiny little thing, but still managed to command the room and successfully lead the class. She was great at teeing-up the next movement which allowed the class to move along nicely. Gabriella’s class structure was not unlike other Btone classes, but we’re cool with it. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it! Proof came in the form of our legs being Jello when we walked out the door.

WORKOUT

We’re not entirely sure how Dynamic Tone is different from Btone’s signature class, Tone. We were still on the Megaformer, dying on the inside while our bod was shaking on the outside. The only difference we saw with Dynamic Tone was that the movements were bigger and not as sophisticated. Less sophisticated movements = jock friendly. This class is great for peeps who aren’t entirely comfortable with Pilates, but still want that type of killer core workout. Dynamic Tone would be an awesome supplement to marathon training or your regular cardio regimen.

INSTRUCTOR

Denise ain’t messin’ around. She seems to run the show at Btone Southie (and we’ve also seen her in action at the Back Bay studio). Her class is really hard. But she takes a simpler approach to the movements, which we really liked. It allowed us to focus on that particular body part and make sure we were doing it right. And for those ladies that had never done Pilates before, Denise gave a detailed overview of the machine before class began. So, newbies – don’t be scared off! Denise is a great instructor whether it’s your first or fiftieth class.