This weeks marks one year since I taught my first Yoga Sculpt class at CorePower Yoga — how insane is that?
Yoga Sculpt is a class I’ve so loved teaching as it combines yoga, strength training and more often than not a playlist with Lady Gaga. I get a lot of questions about what the heck Yoga Sculpt is. I thought I’d do a big ole round-up of everything you need to know about Sculpt and some advice for your first class. *If you have any questions about the class not covered below, email me or comment and I’ll update the post to answer additional questions.
BTW: You get your first week free at all CorePower Yoga locations, not just in NYC. If you’ve never been before I highly recommend checking it out and taking advantage of this awesome deal.
What is yoga sculpt?
In short I describe it as a hot vinyasa class on crack. But don’t let that scare you away.
Yoga Sculpt fuses together strength training and cardio with your typical hot yoga class. During class you’ll focus on targeting different muscle groups alongside the mindful aspects of yoga. As someone that gets bored during certain yoga classes, it’s my kind of yoga because it moves FAST and there’s not much downtime during the sequence. And like I said, it’s hot yoga, so the class is heated to ~90 degrees. Yup, you’re doing burpees in a heated room. Understand why I call it yoga on crack?
The biggest difference between Yoga Sculpt and a typical yoga class is the use of weights which makes the class a bit more fitness-y than it is yoga-y.
How the class works
Instructors have some freedom in how they want to format their sculpt class, but the flow of class is typically more or less:
• a yoga inspired warm up: think child’s pose and cat/cow variations
• sun salutation a + sun salutation b: with weights added for the final sun b rounds.
• core engagement: typically targeting biceps and doing push-up variations.
• squats (often times there are two squat songs towards the beginning and end of class)
• devoted song to cardio
• sculpt sequence: it’s tricky to explain but the sculpt sequences combine weights with sun salutation b. Think doing things like tricep kickbacks when you’re in chair pose.
• glutes
• core
• surrender: cooling down with some final yoga postures
• savasana: after all, it is a yoga inspired class!
Advice for Sculpt Newbies
Arrive early. I mean, this is true for any fitness or yoga class you’re taking for the first time. Give yourself plenty of time to arrive, check-in and get situated in the studio. There’s nothing worst than feeling flustered because you ran into class at the last minute. And be warned that CorePower in particular can be strict about letting people in late.
Familiarize yourself with the yoga basics. If you’ve never done yoga before I’d recommend taking a yoga class before hitting up sculpt. Due to the quick nature of the format, there’s sadly not enough time to really flesh out the proper form in every posture. If you’re familiar with the basics i.e. up dog, down dog, Warrior 2, High lunge, you’re good to go! If not, check out C1 at CorePower Yoga or a basics class at another studio to familiarize yourself with some of the postures.
Grab an assortment of weights. Much like in a barre class you’ll do a high number of repetitions for each strength move. Because of this I recommend grabbing an assortment of weights, typically 3 lbs and 5 lbs for females to start and 5 lbs and 8 lbs for males. Focus on your form and then you can go crazy picking up heavier weights.
If you have an injury, inform the instructor beforehand: As an instructor I like knowing if someone is dealing with an injury so I can provide modifications throughout class. At CorePower Yoga your instructor might be one of the people checking you in before class. Be sure to ask beforehand so you can chat with them before class gets going!
Bring a towel. You will sweat a lot during sculpt. It’s inevitable given the heat. Bring a towel (or rent one from the studio) to avoid slipping and sliding on your yoga mat. Trust me, you’ll need it!
Take breaks if you need to. Even though I’ve been teaching for a year now, I still take breaks when I take class. Come down to a kneeling position to bring your heart rate back down if you need to at any time.
If you need to peace out early, do it before savasana. This goes for any yoga class, but if you have to leave early, please please please do so before savasana begins. I totally understand that sometimes you can’t stay until the end for one reason or another, but peace-ing out right when savasana begins (or during savasana!) can be super disruptive to the other students. Quietly start packing up and make your exit when the cool down starts.
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Your turn: Have you ever taken Yoga Sculpt at CorePower Yoga? What other questions do you have about Yoga Sculpt?
Sounds sort of Flybarre/Flybarre Sport (now “Sweat”)-esque. Is that accurate? Also reminds me of Uplift Strength a bit. Am I totally off? Is this the most me comment ever 🙂
Hmm I haven’t taken Flybarre in YEARS now. But I’d say it’s similar to Uplift’s Sculpt because it uses the yoga elements and lighter weights for high reps whereas the strength class is all about lifting heavy.
“In short I describe it as a hot vinyasa class on crack.” I describe it as: Zumba in a sauna, with weights. I got dragged there as my first class and wish I had know what a downward dog even was let alone a warrior and all those birds. Your advice for those unfamiliar with yoga poses is spot on. Despite going to the gym 6 days a week I had to leave the room to breathe. I took that as a challenge and now, 4 years later, CPY Yoga Sculpt is my go to workout. Still have trouble making it through a whole class!
HAHA I LOVE that description! Might have to start using it when people ask about sculpt!!
I’ve recently started taking the sculpt classes at CP as a regular workout. But I want to know if there is a recommended amount of days a week you should attend to optimize results. I ask this because I was doing lagree pilates for a while and they recommended attending every other day for best results.
So happy to hear you’ve been enjoying CPY! I personally would recommend max 3 sculpts a week mixed with some C1’s and C2’s. Because of the intense nature of sculpt I think it’s good to mix it up with the less amped up classes.
Informing your instructors about any injury, no matter how minute, can be the difference between short term and long-term physical constraints. Whether you’re taking a yoga sculpt class or a general fitness class, it’s imperative to mention any injury or pain as such issues can be aggravated quite easily during training.
Amen to that! It always surprises me when students don’t disclose an injury they are currently modifying for in classes.