Teacher Review: Anne Marie from Unite Fitness

Category:  Cardio, Strength

Target Zone:  Total Body Location:  Midtown Village

Intensity:

Cardio:

Tighten & Tone:

Total: 

On the teacher.

I love her.  This was my first class with Anne Marie at Unite Fitness and I cannot wait for the next. Super friendly and personable, I immediately liked her. Then within the first minute of class she was talking about the Grammy's and Justin Beiber... Liked her even more. Fast forward to the end of class, when I was drenched in sweat after 30 minutes of totally killer cardio, and 30 minutes of circuit training and I was in love. 

Personable. It's pretty simple... When teachers remember your name, you feel special. And when you feel special, you want to work harder because you don't want to disappoint your teacher. Right? Well Anne Marie remembers everyones name, and if she doesn't, she'll make sure to come up and ask you to remind her. Its a super effective strategy because throughout the whole class she will be using everyones first name to encourage and motivate. 

Challenging. So I will admit that I generally shy away from using heavier dumbbells in classes, having been forever scarred by my college lifting experience for lacrosse (can you say, freshman 30... of muscle?!). Building muscle, toning and sculpting is good. Getting bulked up is not on my agenda. Well Anne Marie was totally onto me. After about 30 seconds of the circuit training she came over and dropped off some heavier weights “just in case” I wanted to up my game. —I tried them and she was totally right. I loved that she took the initiative and wasn't afraid to give me the extra push I needed. Not only did I switch to the heavier weights, but knowing that she was watching that closely made me work that much harder for the rest of class to make her proud! 

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On the class.

Express Cross Training. Her 6 am Cross-Training Express class is a great way to kick off the week. It’s a half hour of insane cardio and a half hour of challenging strength training to get you in, out and on your way.

Innovative. During the cardio segment, we did a 3-minute steep incline walk for three minutes with our hands straight over our head. First thing I thought was.. Ok great, a little active rest. Well that was definitely not the case. Those 3-minutes were harder than my 100% sprint, and totally different than anything I would ever think to do myself. My heart was pounding out of my chest and my muscles had no clue what was going on-- which doesn't happen too often! 

Music. Great music for both segments of the class, mixing current music with a few remixes. She puts on whatever she feels like, but also plays to the crowd. At one point, she said how about we listen to some Selena Gomez? Someone in the crowd jokingly screamed out ‘Why???’ Clearly he wasn’t on board, so she was flexible and moved on from the teeny bop pop music genre to something else. 

All in All

I cannot say enough good things about Anne Marie-- she’s upbeat, encouraging, and teaches a killer class. I just wish she taught on Saturdays! However,  I will definitely be making an extra effort to get to her classes during the week. 

Unite Fitness: Twelfth Street Treasure

Category:  Cardio, Strength, Yoga

Target Zone:  Legs, Arms, Core Location:  Midtown Village

Intensity: 

Cardio:

Tighten & Tone:

Total:

We LOVE Unite Fitness. It's intense and results driven, designed to improve your endurance, strength, and flexibility... all in just an hour and fifteen minutes. Each class is a special cocktail of cardio, strength, and stretching - testing your stamina, keeping you motivated, and strategically working to improve your overall fitness at a rapid speed. Intrigued? You should be. Whether you're a competitive athlete, or someone who dabbled on a high school JV team, if you want to take your fitness to the next level, Unite will help you do it. 

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Break it down.  30 mins of cardio, 30 mins of strength training, and 15 of yoga/stretching. That's the standard "Cross-Training" class (not to be confused with CrossFit!!), however there are different series (A,B, C, D and Express) where you will have slightly different allocations of time. My personal favorite: Cross-Training D. 45 minutes of heart pumping out of your chest cardio. Go to this Saturday morning class and you will feel totally OK enjoying the rest of your weekend knowing that you worked for that R&R.. and bottle of wine on Saturday night :)
     Part One: Cardio. In the "cardio room" you will find a fleet of treadmills, spin bikes and rowers. The choice is yours as to what machine you want to use, so choose wisely. In some classes the cardio segment will involve stations on each (or maybe even the seven flights of stairs in the hallway). In this portion of the class the teachers set the parameters and structure for your workout; giving you a target pace (as a % of your max speed), incline and time for each interval, but it's up to you to set your own speed. So PUSH it. But really, with the teacher pacing around and checking your speed, a guy next to you grimacing in all out exertion, and music pumping all around you... You won't be slacking off. 
    Part Two: Strength. Don't be fooled into thinking that once the cardio is over its an easy ride to the finish-line. It's not. This segment is essentially a circuit training class, incorporating weights, bands, TRX, and other functional resistance exercises to tighten and tone, strengthen and build muscle. In conjunction with the cardiovascular benefits of the cardio segment, this element of strength training will help keep your metabolism ramped up and burning for long after you leave the gym.
    Part Three: Stretch. After your cardio and strength circuits, its time to slow it down. Focusing on flexibility is essential to preventing injury, and lengthening the muscles that you have just worked out during class. On top of these physical benefits, your mind will be ready for a break too! A quick meditation at the end of class allows you to lay back, close your eyes, and just allow your body to feel the benefits of the major workout that you just rocked.

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On the people. The trainers at Unite are legit. Seriously. These aren't just instructors who have gone through a Unite teacher course, every single one of their trainers are certified personal trainers... These guys (and girls) know their stuff but they aren't just kick-butt trainers, they are also SO friendly, helpful and welcoming. I walked in for the first time and they already knew my name--did I have "new girl" written all over my forehead? Probably... But whatever, the teacher immediately came and introduced himself, set me up on a treadmill, explained everything that we were going to be doing, and made sure I was totally good to go. And it didn't stop there. All through class he was checking in to make sure I was good, and afterwards took a solid 10 minutes to walk me through all of the different package options and benefits that come with becoming a Unite member. Love the personal service.

Packages/Pricing.  First class is FREE. Just go onto the website and sign up. You will get an email from an instructor asking what class you want to take and then all you have to do is show up! After your first class, if you think this is something you want to stick with, it definitely makes sense to buy some sort of package. Yearly and monthly memberships are a good option if you think you will make it to at least 3 classes a week (which is ideal to see results quickly, but also can be tough to accomplish). You can also buy 10 class packages or just stick with the Drop-In option. 

Specific class and teacher reviews to come soon! Enjoy!