The latest group fitness offering gives you a fast-paced, total-body workout while connecting you with other members.
As you can likely remember from your high school days, working with a stranger or two to reach a goal — finishing a group science project, winning a kickball game — can feel incredibly awkward. And somehow, it doesn’t get any easier as an adult.
But Circuit Breaker, a new high-intensity cardio and strength circuit class that puts your individual performance to the test and forges bonds with other members, is here to change your perspective on group work in the Main Studio.
The class has been three years in the making, and it attempts to fulfill the need for a workout that requires 110 percent effort but doesn’t leave you feeling miserable, says Kristy DiScipio, Equinox’s director of athletic training and group fitness programming who helped develop Circuit Breaker. “With some of our workouts, people were coming in and saying, ‘It's so hard and it's just not fun at all,’ and then we have some classes where members are smiling, happy, and love it but the intensity level is not as high,” she explains. “Circuit Breaker was the way to combine those two elements.”
Throughout the 50-minute workout, you and your classmates will train individually at four stations, each of which represents a pillar of movement — mobility, strength, power, and stability — so you get a full athletic training experience, says DiScipio. You’ll power through two exercises at each station, trying to complete as many reps as possible within the allotted time frame, though your pace and resistance are completely up to you, she notes. You’ll also come together as a group for a mini Tabata session. Still, you’ll be able to maintain your own speed. At this point, you can focus solely on yourself — a win for introverts.
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As you grow more comfortable with the other members in your class, you’ll start working with partners and in teams, DiScipio explains. During the partner work, you might use innovative equipment such as the Wave, a rubber tube (similar to battle ropes) that requires you to stabilize your core and sync up with your buddy as you shake and swing it up and down or side to side, says DiScipio. “It’s almost like a large umbilical cord connecting you to your partner,” she jokes.
During the small group work, you might stand in a circle and, simultaneously, slam a SandBell to the floor, hop twice, then pick it up and repeat. Once all the SandBells are on the ground, the entire group will shuffle around the circle and start the process all over again. Not only will you feel physically challenged, but you’ll also be pushed mentally to continue moving and performing at your best so you don’t let your team down, says DiScipio. “There's communication and a little bit of accountability,” she adds. “It's not like the person who's the fastest [wins], but we're all trying to do it together and work as a team.”
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As you walk out of the studio, you’ll feel like you accomplished more than you would have working out solo, says DiScipio. “In society today, it's easy to silo yourself off and just be on your own,” she adds. “Breaking out of that comfort [zone] and working with somebody else…there's so much more that you can unlock physically and mentally when you’re out of your own space.”
While the idea of exercising with other members can stir up painful flashbacks to ninth grade gym class, DiScipio encourages you to keep an open mind: “Just try it. Put a new perspective on it, shake up the snow globe, and challenge your fitness level in a different way.” You may end up with a new friend along the way.
