SoulCycle & Pure Barre Birthday Celebration (workout recap)

Happy Birthday to me!!

My friend Dina is so awesome. She treated me yesterday to a special morning of birthday workouts: my first SoulCycle class directly followed by a Pure Barre class!

The best part – the double workouts were her idea! I still can’t get over that.

Just look at her endorphins on display as we arrived at Pure Barre after sweating through SoulCycle – doesn’t she look like fun?!

Dina isn’t a runner but is always up for some fitness fun. She takes regular pilates and yoga classes and often tags along with me in the summer when I run the Boardwalk. We used to take kickboxing classes together at New York Sports Club when our kids were younger.

The Birthday Workout Plan

Dina signed us both up for SoulCycle at 7:15 am which was a 45 minute spin class. Following SoulCycle, we were to drive to the next shopping center for an 8:30 am Pure Barre class < – Still not the new Pure Barre Platform class, that class isn’t offered much and the few on the schedule are either at off times or booked.

Soul Cycle:

I arrived at 7:00 am to fill out some paperwork since it was my first time at SoulCycle.

All SoulCycle spin bikes require spin shoes that clip to the pedals so I love that they provide you with spin shoes if you don’t have a pair – the shoes were free for me yesterday since it was my first class.  If I go again, they said the shoe rental is three dollars.

A nice SoulCycle person (not the instructor, not sure who she was actually) then set me up on my bike, positioning it to fit me perfectly. She also took my picture before I got my hair up in a ponytail…

Thoughts on my first SoulCycle class:

The 45 minutes flew by! I think the spin classes I used to take at Lifetime were longer.

The energy in the room was amazing for 7:15 am. I loved the music and fast paced nature of the class.

I haven’t taken a spin class in probably two years (I would have to check my posts to see for sure) but it really didn’t matter – I held my own just fine. I was actually surprised at how strong my legs felt.

I loved that the spin bikes have a place behind the bike seat to hold free weights. We used those 1 lb free weights for the arm section towards the end of class.

The room was a bit hot but maybe that is done on purpose to help us sweat? I prefer it cooler.

The spin bikes are not technical. They don’t display your RPM or any of that stuff which I am totally okay with. I never paid much attention to those numbers.

Once class was over, we darted out the door to get down the block to Pure Barre!

Pure Barre:

I love popping into the Pure Barre studio for a class now and then for two reasons:

1. I like to see if the Pure Barre workouts I do from home are keeping me in Pure Barre shape
2. I like to learn what new moves are being featured in the studio class

Oh my goodness – this Pure Barre class felt KILLER! A part of me thinks it’s great to warm up first with a cardio session like spin or a run before Pure Barre and the other part of me thinks it definitely increases the burn.

While the class flew by fast, Dina and I were exchanging OMG at each other several times throughout the 55 minutes.

The pace of the class felt slightly faster than I recall and is a bit quicker than the pace of the at home workouts, especially during the stretching segments.

I enjoyed the studio atmosphere and slight variations to all of the regular exercises. The warm up is still the most challenging part if you ask me and the planks felt especially grueling!

Spin + Pure Barre VS. Running:

It is worth noting that although I probably spent the same amount of time exercising through both classes yesterday morning as I would have had I run my usually long run, the after effects and feelings were NOT the same.

Even though Pure Barre felt killer, I felt completely fine when we were finished. I was not sore, fatigued or tired. There was no lingering drained feeling at any point during the day as there usually is after a long run. I actually could not get over how fine my legs and feet felt all day! I am so used to that after long run tired, happy, tired, stiff but not sore feeling!

And a quick look at the rest of the week’s workouts:

Monday – Treadmill Run & Pure Barre

Rainy Memorial Day meant treadmill time in the gym: Two sets of 30 minutes on the treadmill (over 6.5 miles but less than 7 miles) following closely to my easy run on the treadmill workout plan. In between the treadmill sets I stepped off for some free weight work for biceps and triceps.

Pure Barre Tone in 10 workout when I got home: Thighs & Seat

Tuesday – 9 Miles

I went with one of Laura‘s workouts that was part of my half marathon training plan and tacked on an extra cool down mile to make it 9 miles for the morning.

2 mile warm up + 8 rounds of 3 minutes 10k effort/2 minutes recovery + 2 mile cool down.

Wednesday – 5 Easy Miles & Pure Barre

Pure Barre Tone in 10 Combo:

• Arms & Abs
• Thighs & Abs
• Back & Cooldown

Thursday – 10 Miles

Running 10 miles during the week may become a trend since the early daylight allows me squeeze in some extra miles.

2 mile warm up + 3 miles @ 10k – half pace + 1 mile easy + 3 miles @ 10k – half pace + 1 mile cool down.

Friday – 30 Min Easy Run & Pure Barre

Saturday – Soul Cycle & Pure Barre

Sunday – Birthday Run

I love to run on my birthday so it really worked out perfectly that I didn’t run long yesterday.

I will be back tomorrow with a full birthday weekend recap including this morning’s birthday run!

Birthday Flashbacks:

June 5, 2015 – I now want a slice of Linda’s Fudge Cake

June 5, 2014 – A really fun birthday survey, my answers are still the same today!

June 5, 2013 – When my birthday and National Running Day fell on the same day

[bctt tweet=”Birthday celebrating at SoulCycle & Pure Barre! @soulcycle @pure_barre #birthday #running #workouts #soulcycle #spin #LTB #fitfluential” username=”cookiechrunicle”]

Are you a spin class fan? SoulCycle or another type of spin class?

Best thing you ate so far this weekend?

Who else is running today?