Class Review: BTone Fitness + Recycle Studio

Hope you all had a lovely weekend. I’m just getting back from spending the weekend in Boston with the whole extended family on my dad’s side for my cousin’s wedding. NYC is still my true love, but not gonna lie, I found the Back Bay area to be incredibly charming and gorgeous.

Before the festivities on Saturday I went to a class at BTone Fitness which was super close to our hotel. Brownie points to my padre for booking a hotel in the middle of a fitness hub! Taking a megaformer class always feels like a treat since I rarely get to go in NYC so I was pretty psyched about class.

I loved how bright and sunny the studio was– when do you EVER see a studio with a skylight in Manhattan!? The class wasn’t my favorite megaformer class I’ve taken, I honestly thought it lacked personal attention and corrections. In a more traditional fitness class I’m pretty confident in my form and body awareness (as I would hope since I’m a personal trainer!) but on the megaformer I’m still clueless and a beginner. Like any class, you can’t base a studio on one experience though. It still felt good to get my body moving early in the morning!

If you’ve never experienced the megaformer I highly recommend it! The machine looks like a torture device… and sometimes feels like one, but holy moly can it get the core BURNING.

After class it was time to eat some breakfast and then go exploring around the area with Jeremy. We ended up at the nearby Prudential Center which is essentially a bunch of malls strung together. My kind of shopping. Before long it was time to head back to the hotel to start getting ready for the wedding!

It’s my dream to get married at the New York Public Library a la Carrie Bradshaw so I loved my cousin’s choice of venue– The Boston Public Library.

All fancy with Jeremy

My family who rarely gets a photo mention here on the ole blog.

Everything about the wedding was absolutely gorgeous and we had a great evening celebrating my cousin Adam and his new wife Ali.

Today I woke up bright and early for a spin class at Recycle Studio. When ClassPass launched in Boston last winter I spent a lot of time finding pictures of each studio and reading up on each and every one of them. The one that I knew I had to try was Recycle Studio and I was SO excited when I realized my hotel was walking distance to their Newbury studio.

I dig the inspirational quotes all over and couldn’t resist the discreet selfie.

The studio is homey and has a mom and pop feel complete with quirky artwork all over the place and the above area which is right outside the cycling studio. The cycling room itself is small but functional and lit only by candle light. Today was actually one of the last days with the studio looking like it currently does — it’s getting totally gutted and renovated starting this week.

The class itself was sweaty and a lot of fun. The instructor, Emily, had killer energy and a great playlist. When thinking about all the spin classes I’ve taken, it’s most similar to Soul Cycle in how focused it is on the rhythm and the dance-y elements of the cycle-ography. We were doing push-ups on the bikes and a few other dance-y moves that I’ve only previously seen at Soul Cycle. The class flew by and I was definitely sweating a ton by the end of it. My biggest complaint was that the bikes are SPD compatible or you can use sneakers in the cage. My own spin shoes are delta look and I’m not a huge fan of spinning in sneaks. Just a minor detail though.

What really stood out to me though was the homey quality of the studio, it felt like a place where people hang out and get to know each other. I had a great experience and would totally be a regular if I lived in Boston.

After class I had to head back to the hotel for a quick shower and breakfast before hitting the road with Jeremy. Guess we’ll just have to visit Boston again soon!