Workout Review: SolidCore

My wonderful company decided to close our offices between Christmas and New Years a few months ago. Dylan was already signed up for “Winter Camp” and I had a hot second of “mom guilt” and considered keeping her home. Then I remembered that a little bit of me time would probably be better for all of us in the long run. I mean with the Holidays we were talking about a few days here and there.

So with my extra days to myself I finally found time to get to SolidCore. I adore megaformer pilates classes. They always catch me by surprise and this was the first time in a year that I was able to get on the megareformer.

At the start of my first class, Adrianne let me know that the machine was cutely named Svetlana. This should have been my first clue. Take a moment, picture what you think a Svetlana would look like….got your image? If you are anything like me you are picturing a very tall, very strong woman, who might be a tiny bit stern (but its for your own good). Now imagine a workout designed by Svetlana.

There is a reason that my abs were so sore after that first class that I was having trouble laughing. In addition to great music, the way Adrianne sets up her class both challenges you and allows you to work at your own pace. There are no breaks. You go from one move to the next and you have to rely on yourself to know when you need to grab that water or in my case, wipe down so that you can continue working without slipping.

Both classes I took were Full Body, but there was a focus on arms one day and then lower body the next. (There were Bulgarian Split Squats on the lower body day, and I did roll my eyes when she called them out.) The hardest part for me of course, was not making my movements so big and going slower and more controlled. I like to power through the pain, whereas here you are encouraged to feel the burn.

I loved every bit of these classes.