Never quite mastered the moonwalk or any of MJ's other signature moves? No problem.
Michael Jackson’s routine in “Thriller” is arguably one of the most recognizable dance sequences in modern history, and always makes for an instant crowd pleaser at parties. (If you’ve seen 13 going on 30, you know what I’m talking about.) On Sunday, you’ll have a chance to learn the King of Pop’s famous moves from the teachers at Philly Dance Fitness in their 75 minute hip-hop workshop that pays tribute to the King of Pop himself.
You’ll learn combinations to songs like “ABC,” “Wanna Be Starting Something” and of course, “Thriller.” Even those with two left feet can try—no dance experience is necessary. And yes, hats and white gloves are (highly) encouraged. For more info and to purchase tickets (there are only a few left!), go here.
$15, June 23rd from 2 to 3:15 p.m., The Arts Parlor, 1170 South Broad Street, Philadelphia.
>> Have a health or fitness event you’d like to share with Be Well Philly readers? Email eleaman@phillymag.com with details.
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Get "crazy in love" with this workout event.
If you couldn’t make it to the Rihanna themed Flywheel event last month, you’re in luck! This Thursday, June 13th at 5:45 p.m., Flywheel in Center City is hosting a ride tandem-taught by instructors Tal M. and Jess B. to music by Beyoncé and Jay-Z. If music by this power couple doesn’t get you going for a cycling workout, I don’t know what will! If you want to try the same class during the weekend, there is a reprise of the ride at Flywheel’s Bryn Mawr location at 9:30 a.m on Saturday.
Perk alert: the ride will be free for first time riders, just create an account on the website first. For experienced Flywheelers, it is $25. Reserve a bike here.
$25, June 13 at 5:45 p.m. or June 15 at 9:30 a.m., 1521 Locust Street, Philadelphia, or 711 West Lancaster Avenue, suite 300, Bryn Mawr.
>> Have a health or fitness event you’d like to share with Be Well Philly readers? Email eleaman@phillymag.com with details.
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Maha Yoga is raising funds for Equality Advocates PA.
 You may have heard the hype surrounding Philly’s 25th annual Philly Gay Pride Parade and Festival taking place this Sunday. But for all you yoga devotees who want to celebrate the occasion by doing tree pose and supporting the LGBT community, join in on this made-for-you Yogahour class at Maha Yoga.
The Center City studio is hosting a Legalize Love fundraising yoga class on Friday, June 7th, from 5 to 6 p.m. Instructors Shawn and Justicia DeClue promise a rockin’ yoga class taught to the Latin beats of DJ NiiLO. All proceeds benefit Equality Advocates PA, which works to legalize same-sex marriage in Pennsylvania. More info about the class is here.
Suggested donation $20 to $100, June 7th at 5 p.m., 1700 Samson Street, sixth floor, Philadelphia.
>> Have a health or fitness event you’d like to share with Be Well Philly readers? Email eleaman@phillymag.com with details.
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Social booking makes meeting your pals for a ride even easier.
Flywheel’s gone social, folks. The already-super-high-tech Spinning studio, which features fancy bikes that give you lots of data read-outs and a TorqBoard that shows you how you stack up to other riders in your class, just debuted a new online-registration feature that allows you to see which of your Facebook friends are signed up for your upcoming classes. The so-called “social-booking” feature basically takes the whole making-workout-plans-with-your-friends-over-email stuff out of the equation.
From Well & Good NYC:
When you book a Flywheel bike, you can also elect to connect to Facebook. If your Facebook friends are in your class and they’ve opted in, too, their profile pictures will pop up in the circles that correspond with their bikes, explains Flywheel CEO Jay Galluzzo. Both sides have to opt in to see each other.
So yes, it takes some coordination up front, but at least this way you don’t have to tell your friend to book the fifth bike from the left in the third tier, if she wants to sit next to you. Now, she’ll be able to see exactly which bike you’ve reserved. The new online system works at both the Center City and Bryn Mawr Flywheel locations.
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I tried it out this morning!
This morning I got up at the ungodly hour of 5:30 a.m. As I’ve said on this blog before, I am not a morning-workout person. I’ve tried. I’ve failed. End of story.
But this morning I beat all odds and actually got myself out bed at said ungodly hour (go me!) to get my very tired self over to the Hotel Monaco for a 6:30 a.m. Lithe Method class. That’s right, folks—Lithe Method is officially at the Monaco, offering classes every Wednesday morning. They’re calling it “Lithe on Location” because, as Lithe purists (*ahem Carrie Denny and Christy Speer Lejeune ahem*) can see in the photo above, the set up doesn’t exaaaactly resemble a true-blue Lithe Method class. For one thing, there are no bands hanging from the ceiling. And for another, no one’s wearing trash-bag diapers. But no matter—instructor Tiffany Nork assured me that the adapted version of the studio’s Stems class would still kick my butt in the way only a Lithe class could. And so, it did.
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A no-pressure, no-cost way to get the skinny on Spinning.
Hands-down, the most common thing I hear from people who haven’t tried Spinning is that they’re nervous to try it because they don’t know how to do it. It’s not that they don’t know how to pedal a bike, of course. It’s just that setting up a Spin bike so it’s at the right height, and adjusting the handlebars, seat and resistance can feel a tad overwhelming. Although any good instructor will spend time adjusting newbies’ bikes before class, some people still feel sheepish. And I get it—trying something new is always intimidating, especially in a room of Spandex-clad people who seem like they’re already part of a club you don’t entirely understand.
All of which is a long-winded way to say: Body Cycle Studio’s Intro to Indoor Cycling classes are brilliant. For one, the sessions are free, so you don’t have to feel pressure to actually commit to Spinning before you’ve ever even sat on a bike. They’re also only 20 minutes long, which is long enough for studio manager Shoshanna Katz to run you through the basics—good form, how a typical class works, etc.—and offer some adjustments, but it’s not like you’re stuck there for an hour watching the clock. Genius, right? You’re welcome.
Body Cycle’s intro classes run every Sunday afternoon at 12:30. Sign up here.
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For those who've always wanted to push off from Boathouse Row—here's your chance.
If rowing on the Schuylkill is on your bucket list, listen up: RowZone’s Manayunk location is offering a “Row on the Water” program that’ll get you out for, well, on-the-water training. This season marks the second run for the rowing program.
Note that you actually only get one river session as part of the package, but, hey, one turn at the oars is all you really need to check this activity off your personal “I tried it” list, right? The rest of the training sessions will take place at the RowZone studio on erg machines; you’ll get 20 RowZone group classes and two rowing technique sessions. You’ll be coached by RowZone’s athletic director Sean Clarke, who also coaches at the Vesper Boathouse on Boathouse Row and works with elite rowers. The package also includes a ticket to the Fourth of July Vesper Boathouse Tour and Social, where you can watch the fireworks (and score free drinks—woo!).
The package costs $299. You have to complete 20 studio group sessions and two rowing-technique sessions before going on the water. And of course, you have to know how to swim. The on-the-water sessions will be offered from 9 a.m. to noon on May 12th, 19th and 26th. Sign up here if you’re interested.
RowZone is located at 4401 Main Street in Manayunk.
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And rumor has it it'll be a FlyBarre outpost to boot.
When I posted in February about the opening of Philly’s first Flywheel studio, I alluded to a second outpost on the Main Line. Now, I’ve got some more details.
The area’s second studio will be at 711 West Lancaster Avenue in Bryn Mawr, according to Flywheel regional manager Hayley Broder. She added that they expect to open shop by the end of this month or early May, though an exact opening date hasn’t been pinned down yet.
I’ve also learned—by way of grapevine whisperings and a Flywheel Facebook posting—that the studio will be include FlyBarre classes, a first for the area. It’s an hourlong, interval-based sculpting class that’s been dubbed “a barre class for athletes” and uses light weight training, dance (hence the barre), and core-strengthening exercises to sculpt long, lean muscles. I’ve not tried it, but from the descriptions I’m reading it sounds like a boot-camp-meets-barre class, which is an interesting concept. The class is meant to be taken in conjunction with Flywheel’s signature Spin classes for a well-rounded fitness routine.
The new studio will be less than a mile down the road from Haverford’s Lithe Method and Barre Focus Fitness studios, which opened within weeks of each other last year.
UPDATE: Aw, bummer. Hayley just confirmed with me that the new Bryn Mawr studio in fact won’t have FlyBarre classes after all. She says that was a consideration at one point, but they’re no longer going that direction. She also reassures me that I’m “not going crazy” for thinking FlyBarre would be there, since it had been in the works at one point. Phew. Flywheel Spin classes, of course, will still be offered, which is not such a bad consolation prize, if you ask me. I’ll post an exact opening date once they’ve pinned it down.
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The brand new trampoline park in Oaks debuted some bounce-tastic fitness classes. I got to try one out!
Before last Friday, I hadn’t jumped on a trampoline since I was a kid. Our neighbors growing up had one in their backyard, and I remember spending many post-school-day hours on that thing seeing how high we could “popcorn” each other. Ahh, those were the days.
Barring the occasional drunken Fourth of July party, when do we adults ever get to bounce on a trampoline for an hour, just because? Even better: How often do we get to do bounce our little hearts out and call it a work out?
This is where Sky Zone comes in—more specifically, Sky Zone’s newly minted fitness classes. The brand new trampoline park in Oaks (yes, there is such a thing as a trampoline park) just debuted a pair of new fitness classes, and I got to try one out last week. SkyRobics, which is the class I took, focuses on aerobics (duh) and keeping your heart rate up for an hour with some conditioning thrown in to mix it up. I’m told the other class, SkyFit, does the opposite: it focuses mainly on conditioning, with the help of resistance bands, and mixes in some cardio here and there.
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Plus: how you can replicate her routine right here in Philly!
 If you haven’t been following Kate Middleton’s Royal Baby Watch, I’m going to go ahead and assume that you’ve been living under a rock. The media has been in a frenzy since early January, when the royal palace announced that the Duchess of Cambridge is expecting, with reports on everything from her morning sickness to the baby’s gender to what the royal couple refers to the fetus as. (It’s their “little grape,” in case you were wondering.)
The latest story comes from the newest issue of Us Weekly (quoted here, since the story doesn’t seem to be online yet), in which a source close to Middleton reveals how the Duchess keeps in tip-top shape during pregnancy, while also keeping her baby safe.
“She’s been reading a lot,” the source told the magazine, “from how to be a good parent to how to stay healthy for the baby.”
This reading is what prompted Kate to switch up her high-intensity cardio routine for something that’s a bit easier on her unborn child, swapping hiking and running for prenatal yoga. She also has a yoga instructor who makes house calls. To the palace. Nice.
While I can’t get you an on-call yoga instructor (sorry), I can offer a few options for prenatal yoga and Pilates in our area. Here’s how to work out like a preggo Kate Middleton in Philly.
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