Five Things to Know When Entering ToneHouse

If any of you are avid Yelpers like me, you know the obsession that it becomes. I "yelp" every restaurant, workout studio, branch of Wells Fargo, Dunkin' Donuts, pet store.... You get it. I yelp everything. So, when yelping ToneHouse, I came across posts like "hardest workout you will ever do", "vomited during and after the workout", "comparable to a D1 athlete's practice" and much more! After reading all this, I was scared. I went in blind and experienced the torture that is ToneHouse. I wish I was a little more prepared for the beating... In the attempt to help you, I have created a list of things I would recommend you know beforehand.

1) BRING WATER. I cannot stress this enough. This is not one of those studios were you think to yourself that a water might have been a nice addition. It is one of those studios were drinking water is a absolute necessity. I think I went through three huge sixteen ounces bottles throughout the duration of the class.

2) Do not feel bad if you are slow. The environment that ToneHouse creates is one of teamwork and camaraderie. Your "team" will cheer you on regardless of the fact that you might be bringing up the back of the pack. (Yes, that was me...) We are all on our own fitness journey and I truly believe that everyone in the class respected and admired the fact that I was there to better my fitness. Being slow is a sign that you have room for improvement. Never feel bad about that.

3) Be prepared to run. This state of the art fitness studio has approximately 35 feet of space to run sprints. Oh yes, full out sprints. Do I remember the last time I sprinted? Hah, no. This was a bit of a wake up call. The previous classes that I have taken were more stationary and weight based or involved a treadmill. In this class, it was pure running. And a lot of it.

4) Do NOT do anything remotely strenuous before class. You work at 9 to 5 job and you sit in a chair all day? PERFECT. Sit on that chair and revel in the fact that your body doesn't feel like falling apart. I guarantee you that feeling will be so far from gone after you finish this class. I am sitting at home writing this with my legs up against the walls and my fingers/arms shaking. The after burn is really real.

5) Believe in yourself. The toughest thing to do is to tell your mind to shush with the word "can't". Working out is probably 80% a mental battle. Our bodies are capable of way more than we can even begin to think. Throughout the first half of the work out, I was a negative Nancy and was (internally) telling myself that there was no way I could keep going. Then, one of the couches struck a chord in me and said, "I see you telling yourself "no". How about replacing that with "yes"? Was it really that simple? I can honestly tell you that it was. I told myself that I could do it and I did. Yes, it was painful and sweat-inducing, but, gosh, it was beautiful.

I hope these little tools can help you in some way when you muster up enough courage to try ToneHouse! See you at there on the ToneHouse turf!