Fhitting Room Upper West Side

New YorkHIIT,

Review:

byHeidi Borenstein, March 30, 2019

High intensity interval training is all the rage these days, and Fhitting Room Upper West Side has certainly capitalized on these workouts. In our opinion, it’s definitely one of the harder workouts in NYC, and your muscles will thank you later! Start out with their newbie two-for-one pack to see if you’re ready to spend the big bucks on these workouts – at $38.00 a class, they’re an investment, but we can say without a doubt that these classes pack in the intensity and you’ll more than get your money’s worth. Fifty tightly scheduled minutes of kettlebell swinging, dumbbell snatching, burpees and rowing will get your heart pumping in a way not many classes do, while being cheered on by not one, but two experienced instructors, all make Fhitting Room one of our personal favorites.

RUNDOWN

WORKOUT

Fhitting Room classes always follow a similar format: warm-up, a strength-based section, the circuit, and the ‘Fhix’. However, the components of each section are always wildly different, meaning you can go every day of the week (if you’re a little bit crazy!) and always have a new experience. Some classes have more of a strength focus, others incorporate more cardio using Concept2 Rowers, SkiErgs, and Assault Bikes. The entire workout is written on a giant white board at the back of the studio, so once you walk into the workout room you’ll find most participants checking out what’s in store for the next 50 minutes. The white board is also very instagrammable: for those who think “it didn’t happen if I don’t post it on my insta-story”, it’s a great spot for the post-class flex photo-op.

Fhitting Room workouts predominantly use kettlebells and dumbbells, with resistance bands, TRX and body weight exercises peppered in as well. Our class started with a warmup of three exercises performed twice and then flowed straight into the strength component. Two rounds of kettlebell suitcase lunges, kettlebell strict presses, and single armed planks (ouch!). After this, the class split into groups of 6 for the circuit. Luckily everyone at Fhitting Room is extremely friendly, so there’s no playground PTSD about not being picked for a group! The circuit is the meat of the workout, with stations around the room for movements like kettlebells, rowing, SkiErg, and the fear-inducing burpee box jump. Lastly, the Fhix, where athletes are meant to use up all their remaining energy. This class had us doing AMRAP (as many rounds as possible) of jump lunges, push-ups, froggers and tuck ups. 5..4..3..2..1, five minutes is up and everyone collapses on the floor for a relaxing dimly-lit stretch.

INSTRUCTOR

All Fhitting Room classes are taught by two instructors, which we think is a big bonus of this studio and sets them apart from almost all other studios in the city. The participant to instructor ratio is improved, and it means double the eyes in the room to make sure everyone is on-point for form. Fhitting Room employs super upbeat instructors and Melody and Francis were no exception. Complementing each other well, Melody is a ray of sunshine, exuding positivity and excitement, while Francis is a cool, calm and collected guy with a mellow personality. Even though this class was at 11am and they had both already taught three previous classes, they showed no signs of slowing down. The interplay between the two instructors in a class is one of the best parts of Fhitting Room, and Melody and Francis took turns explaining and demonstrating each part of the workout, played a killer playlist, and acted as our cheerleaders when the going got tough.

SPACE

Fhitting Room is a lime green themed, brightly lit and impeccably clean space on the Upper West Side – one of three locations in the city. Walk in and you hit the check-in desk, where you can grab a towel and a hair tie and purchase a water if you forgot one (or be green and fill up your own at the water fountain). The changing area is an open co-ed area with self-locking lockers, a mirrored countertop area with hair dryers and deodorant, four showers and three bathrooms. If you prefer single gendered changing areas, you can make use of one of their large single bathrooms to get dressed post-shower, but beware: for those who are shy, there isn’t any real divide. We figure a towel is about as revealing as skin tight workout gear so we didn’t mind, but there were others who got dressed in the shower before emerging. The Aveda products in all the showers are a great way to rinse off after class, and big clean fluffy towels are piled high for use.

Fhitting Room Upper West Side

584 Columbus Ave, New York, NY 10024
Upper West Side HIIT $$$$

Fhitting Room Upper West Side

Upper West Side HIIT, $$$$

584 Columbus Ave, New York, NY 10024




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