Where: Equinox, 568 Broadway, New York, NY

Phoenix: "You Pay Too Much for this Membership Not to Work Hard!"

Phoenix Carnevale, not to be confused with my other friend Arizona Mardi Gras, is a pleasant gal who cracked some funny jokes. The class is focused on strength over cardio, with an emphasis on back and shoulders. I can dig it.

On Phoenix:

Besides having the best name ever:

• Phoenix is a petite Hispanic chick.
• Her style is calm, cool and collected, but she throws in little jokes and clearly enjoys herself as she teaches.
• Her voice is a tad monotone, but it doesn't affect the class negatively. She kind of got me to chill out a little, actually.
• Asked about injuries at the beginning of class.
• I didn't notice her correcting form.
• Gave a little speech at the beginning about using both light and heavy weights to achieve both strength and tone, but we pretty much only used light weights. Not the 2-3 pounder Lotte Berk weights, but I never picked up anything over 8.

Phoenix-isms:

• I got a kick out of it when Phoenix encouraged us: "Come on guys. You pay too much for this membership not to work hard!" So true - might as well get your money's worth.
• At the end, we partnered up for a push-pull exercise (I can't describe this - just look at the pic below.) Phoenix goes, "it's like good date/bad date!" HAHAHA.

• As we're doing a back exercise: "Yeah, sometimes I think about fitness. And sometimes I think about that racerback I want to wear this spring."
• "I'm going to give you a stretch for your inner thighs. You know when you go to a class and the teacher used to be a dancer and she goes, 'okay, time to stretch' and rolls right into a middle split? And you're like, 'what, that's not helpful, I can't do that'?" [Phoenix rolls into a middle split]
• Phoenix put a lot of emphasis on exercises that help compensate for the havoc us desk-jobbers wreak on our posture.

Oh wait - I don't have a desk job anymore! (Sorry to rub it in. I love you guys)

On the class:

• Happily, this class was heavy on back and shoulders - a favorite of mine. This muscle group is also basically ignored in group fitness, so it was appreciated. We did a "dip and pull" motion that was just like something I did in Noah's BBC class.

• Great abs section - held a weight in one hand and did flys to the side while twisting the torso the other way. My neck tensed up during this section (despite a conscious effort to relax it) and interestingly another woman mentioned the same neck tension to Phoenix after class. Phoenix told her to hold on to a bar and lean back in a slight back bend with neck hanging back, chin up. Interesante.
• Only part I didn't like was the lunge section. We did a lot of stepping forward and stepping back - it was awkward for me and hurt my back a bit. There was nothing wrong with the exercise - a healthy person would do fine - it was just a personal gripe.

Music:

• I don't remember a ton of the music, but I did get very excited to hear Manu Chao pop onto the playlist.
• The cooldown song, according to my post-class notes, was "creepy elevator style". In retrospect, Whitney Houston had just died and I think it was one of her songs. I'm too young for Whitney. Don't judge.

In sum:

The class was not super hard, but it was creative and fun. A class that I'd be able to motivate for.

From the Equinox website: Born martial artist, amateur boxer and on camera fitness expert; Phoenix Carnevale believes, in order to look better and feel better, you have to move better. Certified under The National Academy of Sports Medicine, ACE, Pre & Post Natal, Urban Rebounding and Spinning; Phoenix combines an intense work ethic with a vibrant spirit of fun!

Find out more about Equinox at www.equinox.com

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Watch a video of Phoenix doing some boxing moves here 

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