Class Review: WundaBar Pilates – Soho

The Scoop on WundaBar:

Like many killer workouts, WundaBar Pilates hails from Los Angeles. I remember reading about them when they first came to NYC and thinking “Wow, those machines sound CRAZY.”

I was right. The patented WundaFormer is pretty ridiculous. Creator Amy Jordan explained it herself as the “swiss army knife of workout machines.” It combines your typical pilates reformer with a jumpboard, ballet barre and wundachair. I luckily had the chance to take class with Amy which felt extra special.

The 45-minute class I took was part of an influencer event, so it might have been slightly different than a typical class. Either way I was a sweaty, sweaty mess post class and left planning my return to the WundaFormer.

THE DEETS:

WundaBar Pilates – Soho
21 Thompson St B, New York, NY 10013
Website || Facebook || Instagram
$39 per class. Class Packages available too.

for my west coast friends: WundaBar has 8 studios in Southern California.

 

THE STUDIO:

The studio space in Soho is small but cute and light-filled. It gets the job done. I don’t know if this was a personal preference of Amy, but it got REALLY hot in the studio. I started wondering if I was sweaty from the workout or really just sweating from the heat.

There’s no locker room or shower so you’ll want to plan accordingly and head home after class to freshen up. Or you can be gross like me and say eh, who needs clean hair?

 

THE CLASS:

Is there anything better than a quick and dirty, 45-minute fitness class?

After a short warm-up on the machine focused on activating our core muscles, we were OFF.

Much of the moves we did on the reformer part of the machine felt familiar from reformer and megaformer class I’ve taken. A plank is a plank is a plank at the end of the day. What was super different was the use of the jump board and WundaChair, both of which I’ve never used before.

The jump board sounds MUCH scarier than it is — yes we did use it to jump. All this jumping took place while we were lying on our backs and was actually kind of fun.

The WundaChair reminded me a bit of classes I’ve taken at Chaise Fitness. It’s hard to explain but you sort of use the lift as a way to do step-ups.

Even though we were doing a ton of different exercises on different parts of the machine, the class had a good flow to it.

I was impressed with Amy’s attention to injuries. I’m currently dealing with some minor wrist issues and had to modify a few times during class. Every step of the way Amy was there to help and offer suggestions which was really awesome.

WundaBar as a whole seems to be super focused on moms. The modifications for those who are pregnant are written on a poster on the wall. I also think this event was geared towards mama influencers so some of the commentary reflected this. I’m not sure how this 27-year-old hot mess ended up in the mix 😂 but hey I still loved the class.

Bottom Line:

A few hours after class I was walking to go get coffee (as always…) and thought holy smokes. My legs are gonna be SORE thanks to this class. So, yes, it was a good workout.

The intensity of this class lies somewhere between a not-so-sweaty pilates reformer class and the holy crap I think I’m going to break my body intensity of a megaformer class. I’ll argue that it’s the perfect sweet spot making it a more approachable workout to the casual class goer but also enough of a burn that it’s worth your time.

The classes are pricey [what ISN’T pricey in NYC?] but there are a few package options that will at least get you started without totally breaking the bank.