Fit Club: 103 Hot Pilates & Yoga

Wow, I honestly didn’t expect to have my A** handed to me like it was in this class. We did the Hot Yoga Bootcamp. The temperature is around 98 degrees and I didn’t expect it to affect things to much. I thought I would obviously sweat a lot more but that’d be it. Boy was I wrong! The heat truly makes all the exercises about twice as hard on your body. Add that to the fact that bootcamp class is designed to keep your cardio going from the minute the class starts until its over and your in for one heck of a workout. The instructor was really nice, as in when people couldn’t keep up she didn’t make an example of us or try to tell us we had to keep going. But she also didn’t scale the class back for begginners. But I appreciated it. That way everyone can maximize their own ability level. Will I be back, ya probably. Although next time I might prefer to try the 103 degree candelite yoga I heard they also offer. That might be more my ability level right now.

This was my second visit to 103 Hot Pilates & Yoga, my first visit was for the Elite event the end of last month. On that visit I tried the Candelit Class and it was AMAZING, but I sort of felt like I had wussed out by not trying the Boot Camp so I just had to come back and do it!
I don’t remember our instructor’s name but I have to give her props — she said ours was her 4^th class of the day, yet she was sweating it out and doing every single exercise with us. I have to say that after a month of Fit Club classes this is the very first class that I really truly was too out of shape to complete to the fullest. The heat was just one factor, it really was a Boot Camp and my body told me right away that I was kidding myself for trying to do this. I got super light headed at one point and had to step out for a few minutes to get some air and put my head between my knees. As soon as I was able I came right back into the class and kept on kicking my ass.
I was so impressed with the other Unilocalers there, everyone but me seemed to keep up, seemed to finish strong and seemed to have the will power to power through some of the more difficult moves. We did lunges, squats, crunches, jumping jacks and like a zillion arm exercises with small hand weights. It was a total body workout and I’m already feeling it today (sore muscles!).
Many of the other Fit Club classes were shortened or modified for newbies, this class sure didn’t seem that way. I have to give our instructor credit because not once did she complain about people having to stop for a drink, or setting down their weights, or modifying the movements. Each of us were at different skill levels and although a few were able to keep at it 100%, most everyone had to modify something at some point. I appreciate that she was understanding and didn’t seem to take offense. She continued to encourage us all the while.
I’m so glad I got to try this class! As difficult as it was, I’d love to do it again. That’s the only way to get better and to get back in shape right?
Props once again to Drew (who was right there sweating it out next to us) and to 103 Hot Pilates & Yoga for being gracious hosts once again! I think I’m going to sign up for the $ 30 for 30 offer!

So if Vegas isn’t hot enough for you already, take a peek at this place. You may change your mind.
The studio is bit tricky to find as there’s not much else around it right now but parking was great because of that. Inside it is simply beautiful. Everything merges together to make it a simple but elegant aesthetic. I changed my clothes in the bathroom area (which was just as fantastic) then filled up my water bottle and tried to mentally ready myself for this.
A quick peek at the thermostat when getting my yoga block showed a warm 97 degrees. Okay, not too bad.
Then the exercise began. It gets hot FAST. If you’re not sweating, you’re not human.
If you were one of the people that didn’t step outside for the entire session, I seriously applaud you. I had to get some cool air and cold water on a couple of occasions.
Our instructor was friendly and upbeat, keeping a great pace with awesome music. Warmed up with a little cardio (jogging in place, jumping jacks, etc.) then got down to the yoga-​esque moves which sometimes incorporated light weights. It felt very similar to some P90X videos I have done in the class, so it was nice to be familiar with moves ahead of time.
The wind-​down was really nice because the lights were turned down low and we focused on breathing and stretching. Love it.
I really enjoyed the class, I just kept reminding myself to breathe. Hah. Serious kudos to the instructor — I don’t think I could do this once a month and I think she mentioned she had already done a few classes that day. Dang.