Wednesday Reviews- Centergy

Hi everyone!  As promised, Wednesdays will be devoted to reviews- new products, new places, new classes...something new each week!  The first installment will be of an exercise class that's offered at my gym called Group Centergy.  Enjoy!


To start things off, I am by no means a "yogi".  I started doing yoga in the summer, when Pittsburgh held free yoga classes every Sunday at Market Square (sponsored by Lululemon).

Beautiful place for a yoga class!

I figured I would try it out since it was free, plus I was living downtown at the time.  I really enjoyed it, but yoga studios are EXPENSIVE to join, and I wanted to join a gym that offered other classes and also had a cardio area.

When I joined my current gym, I saw this class and was immediately intrigued.  According to my gym’s website, Centergy is “a 60-minute journey of yoga and Pilates while moving to music, designed to help you center your energy, reduce stress and smile.”  The class certainly does make me smile!  Here’s what we do:

• Warm-up with light stretches
• Sun Salutations
• Challenge (usually involving holding a tough position for longer periods of time)
• Balance
• Core/back
• Core/front (always the toughest! This is the most "Pilates-type" song, then we go back down to yoga)
• Hip openers (my favorite!  This is great for runners-really helps open up and increase flexibility)
• Spirals
• Folds
• Meditation (my second favorite...the music they play is so relaxing after a tough workout!)

http://bodytrainingsystems.com/pages/bts_programs/GroupCentergy.htm

Here’s a video that shows what to expect from the workout.

This workout is similar to a popular class called PiYo (short for Pilates Yoga).  Here's some info from the website: "With every action-packed PiYo session, you can burn excess fat and sculpt and define your whole body, as you minimize the aches and pains that can come along with high-impact workouts. No matter your age, no matter your body type, PiYo will help give you dramatically visible, incredibly beautiful results." Sounds good to me! 

I personally love this class.  To me, there are a lot of pros:

• Great combination of flexibility, strength and balance
• Routine changes every few weeks, so I’m never bored
• I love listening to music while I work out, so this is better for me than a traditional yoga class
• I've learned basic yoga moves, so I feel more comfortable in an actual yoga class

There are also a few cons for me:

• Not truly a yoga or Pilates class
• Moves are set to music, so sometimes they seem a bit rushed
• The moves are very basic, so I don’t feel challenged after doing the routine once

PiYo DVD’s can be found on Amazon here, or you can try out some routines on YouTube (my favorite source for at-home workouts!)  You can also check out if there are Centergy classes around you here!