In researching her new book, “Fitness Junkie,” former fashion editor Lucy Sykes tried just about every trendy New York workout class under the sun. She breaks down what really goes on inside the ever-exclusive classes.
Soulcycle: “I’m very honest about it: I fell off the bike. The soul-sisters were helping me up. It didn’t matter. There were candles everywhere, and it was very loud and very hot. I wasn’t used to it, and it terrified me. They were lovely and invited me back, and I think, ‘Good for them,’ because I have told this story a few times so it’s gotten back to them. I will go back.”
FlyBarre: “It’s basically intense ballet, but not really any dance, just repetitive moves with a ton of weights. There is a bar there, but you’re basically just pressing up on the bar. I went to one of these classes, and it was so hard, but it had a bit of ballet in there. I had the rhythm to do it, and it wasn’t flying away, and I was in control. I found my niche. Three years later, 11 pounds lighter and probably three or four pounds of muscle…and when I started, I couldn’t even lift a one-pound weight. I’ve taken Ambien for the last 10 years and I haven’t taken it for the last two months. My doctor said, ‘It is totally because of what you’ve done in the classes.’”
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Tracy Anderson: “Okay, number one, there’s no talking. The instructor starts, and if you go, ‘Uh,’ — no. No talking ever. That’s one of Tracy’s things. It’s so hard. It’s like, you’re J.Lo. I can’t dance though. It’s so hard.”
SLT: “That’s the stretching one. It was really hard, too.”
Dogpound: “You go with a group of friends, and an instructor gives you boxing lessons, but what’s so funny is that they are almost all guys and they’re models walking around topless. It’s really fun to go there.”
Y7 Yoga: “The hip-hop one. I found it really difficult. Everyone took off their clothes. They were just in their underwear. The lady that was teaching was really sweet but totally bonkers. She was just in her underwear and about this thin. It was the weirdest thing.”
Body by Simone: “I used to [see] Gucci Westman and Marcus Wainwright there.”
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