Beyond 500

OMG THEY R PLAYING KE$HA THIS IS MY JAM BRING IT ON I AM KILLING IT RIGHT NOW!!!!!!!!

*Takes deep breath*


So there's a new Beyond 500 location on Henderson and to promote it they are offering free classes throughout the week.  So I decided to give it a try.  

Because I work at home I tend to work out at around noon so I signed up for the noon class. This means that I tend to work out with women.  I don't know why but it's very rare to find guys working out at noon.  Well, that and this is group exercise not named crossfit so it's rare to find guys. So as usual I was the only dude in the class. This doesn't usually bother me I mean everybody is always so focused on their own individual suffering that they're not paying attention to anybody else. However, I do feel a little out of place while waiting before class starts.

But if you are a woman and like wearing lululemon, you'll fit right in here.

Facilities/Layout

No power cord needed.

This place has lots of light through the windows, yet it's kind of dark inside.  They have track lighting throughout and exposed ducts, so it's a very urban feel.  There is a line of treadmills facing a wall of mirrors and then two rows of pilates benches behind the treadmills. 

Their treadmills are actually really cool. They don't require any electricity or anything it's basically a inclined loop so the closer you are to the front the faster it goes. It's really ingenious.  However, I didn't know that getting onto the machine and almost fell down because when I first stepped on it I stepped on the high part so it immediately started to take off.  There was a bit of a learning curve, but once I figured it out though it was actually pretty cool.

Classes

This place is basically guided group circuit training.  The instructor divided us up into three different groups and before he started the workout he explained what each group was doing while demo'ing the movements.

People prepping before class

The template was to work at each station for a five minutes.  We had a one minute break between stations and we did each station three times. For example, I started out on the treadmill, then I moved on to a Pilates bench and did three different movements (10 reps a set) and then when time is up I moved to the third station which was working with the kettle bells.  There is did three different movements, all in sets of ten.

The instructor turns on some mad beats, started the timer, and we were off to the races.  Throughout the workout the instructor is talking through his headset, reminding us of what we are supposed to be doing so you're never really at a loss of what to do.

It was kind of funny working out with all these women in that all the settings and weights were set for somebody who is much smaller than myself. The assistance spring on the board probably was probably set for somebody who weighs 100 pounds less than me. So all the board work was pretty darn difficult, felt like I had no help whatsoever.  Also, the kettle bells only went up to 26 pounds which is pretty light for me (I'm used to 56# KB swings). So that part of the circuit was where I took some rest.

The treadmill, however, was where I was able to really push myself.  Thanks to the sprinting classes I'm taking I actually have pretty good sprinting technique right now I was able to go really fast and that wore me out pretty quick.  However, the jelly-bean shape of the surface really made it difficult to work on striking the ground by punching it with my forefoot.  The same of the treadmill lends itself to a heel strike, which I find unnatural and hard on my heals.  This class made me realize how much I need to work on conditioning.

Surfability

So I lucked out on this in that they are offering free classes on their opening week. Their intro rate is $15 for the first class, which is higher then say surf fitness that offers $20 for two weeks of unlimited classes.  I just take this as an example of always looking for opening gyms who will usually offer some type of opening special.

So if you want to work on some of your conditioning do some light resistance work beyond 500 is a pretty good class. Personally, I don't enjoy the these RAMP IT UP BEAST MODE type of classes where the music is blaring from the speakers. That doesn't really amp me up that just hurts my ears and makes me cringe.  Obviously this is just a personal preference thing but I thought I should note that for anybody who is interested.  So if you like working out with others to the heavy beats of some pop song redone this is the place for you.

Days in: 76
Amount paid: $0