Learn the history of Equinox’s iconic intenSati classes and the unique format’s influence on the fitness industry.
Radical self-love and Instagram-friendly affirmations are commonplace in today’s fitness landscape. But if you look past the cute fonts lining mirrors in boutique studio changing rooms, you can trace the roots of this physicality-meets-spirituality approach back to intenSati, one of Equinox's first signature formats.
This October, Equinox will be hosting pop-up events on Mondays at Equinox Flatiron in tribute to intenSati and its creator Patrica Moreno, who passed away in 2022. Once you understand this particular workout’s legacy within the group fitness industry, you’ll see that the revival is warranted — and well-timed.
“intenSati launched in early 2002, when a whole bunch of fitness trends were coming together to create a new wellness movement,” explains fitness historian Natalia Petrzela, who will be instructing the pop-up classes. “It married this really uplifting, inspiring language traditionally used in less challenging workouts with high-energy intensity.”
In an era where language like “no pain, no gain” defined gym culture and “blast belly fat” was emblazoned across health magazine covers, combining the positive psychology of yoga and meditation with heart-pumping aerobic exercises was revolutionary. “It really hit at a moment when there was a new hunger for that kind of mind-body sensibility,” says Petrzela.
Moreno blended her experiences teaching different styles of group fitness — including kickboxing at Equinox — and studying yoga and meditation to create a workout that was as much about personal empowerment as it was movement.
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The affirmations are the crux of the programming, explains Petrzela. You start with a slow warm-up that gets your blood flowing, move into a choreographed mix of kicks, punches, yoga moves, mountain climbers, and similar cardio-inspired movements, and finish with a slower lower-body segment. “Every single move is paired with a vocal affirmation, a call and response with the instructor,” says Petrzela. For example, if the affirmation is “I am strong,” you’d punch with your right arm every time you say strong.
In stacking the choreography, you also start to string words together. There are foundational ideas, like “I am strong,” but also more complex affirmations. “One I really like is ‘What used to be hard has now become easy,’” says Petrzela. “Or, ‘My body is strong, my mind is focused, and my heart is passionate.’” Sometimes they’re descriptive, and sometimes they’re prescriptive.
It may feel silly to shout out positive mantras in a room full of strangers, but that’s where the power of the workout lies. “I thought they were strange at first, too,” says Petrzela. “But when I asked myself why I was so hooked on this workout, I realized it was because the affirmations are connected to the physical movement. When the sweat is flying off of you and you’re pushing yourself to do something hard, those ideas get imprinted a little bit more.”
There’s plenty of power in positive self-talk. Hyping yourself up can improve performance and boost endurance, research suggests. It may also make your workout feel less intense, suggests 2014 research published in the journal Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise.
“What intenSati is inviting people to do is to speak themselves into a higher state,” says Petrzela. “These words may not define or describe where you are right now, but by articulating them, you not only get a more intense cardio effect, you’re deliberately speaking yourself into that state of strength and energy and power. And you’re doing that in a room full of people who are amplifying that message.”
The benefits translate to life outside the gym, too. “If you’re able to tell yourself ‘I’m strong’ while doing a type of exercise you maybe didn’t think you were capable of, what could happen if you use that language when you go out to ask for a raise, or whatever your goal might be?” says Petrzela. The biggest lesson she learned from Moreno, she adds, was that “the most powerful lessons we learn in the gym are the ones we take out into the world.”
The group fitness experience is about more than just a good calorie burn — it’s about community and the collective experience of moving together.
intenSati may have launched in an era when skinny jeans were still in style and Spice Girls ruled the radio, but its messaging remains relevant today. “The group fitness experience is about more than just a good calorie burn — it’s about community and the collective experience of moving together,” says Petrzela. “Coming out of the pandemic, people are realizing how worth it that is, because we were deprived of it for three years. And intenSati is so well-positioned to feed that appetite.”
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While Equinox’s pop-up pays homage to Moreno, “at the same time, we know a lot more about exercise science, and trends have changed,” says Petrzela. “So you can expect a very up-to-date contemporary format — with a hot playlist and hip programming — that takes the best of this foundational program but has moved with the times.”
Plus, the idea of infusing self-help talk in exercise has become so widespread, no one would even blink at being asked to yell about empowerment among strangers. Go ahead and let it out.