Solidcore

Workout Review: Solidcore (The hardest workout of my life!)
When I saw the “coming soon” sign in the Solidcore window near Ballston Mall in Arlington last winter, I was determined to try a class. Having tried just about every “trendy” workout known to woman, I wasn’t intimidated by the description listed in several articles and dozens of Yelp reviews as “the hardest workout in DC”.
Solidcore is the first studio in the DC area (with locations at Ballston & Mosaic District for the northern Virgina set) to offer the Lagree Fitness Method, a high-energy, low-impact, full-body workout done on a spring-loaded pilates machine called the MegaFormer. The classes are small (about a dozen students per class), the instructors are positively motivational and the sound system amplifies the latest club anthems and classics. The class is an electrifying combination of pilates, barre, yoga and body sculpt infused with a ton of sauna like induced perspiration! You will burn hundreds of calories in this class!
The Solidcore workout consists of an insanely intense mix of isometric, cardiovascular, endurance, resistance and strength training exercises. With such moves as the French twist, palm springs crunch, the saw, serve the platter, tree hugger, walk the plank, plank to pike and escalator lunges along with “traditional” exercises like squats, shoulder press and tricep extensions you are certain to burn up those calories, build solid muscles and sculpt your body from the inside out. I have only been there three days this week and I can already feel and see the difference!
The workout is indeed intense. However, if you’re used to doing Tabata or Bikram Yoga, it may not exhaust you the way that some people feel afterward. I found it highly invigorating and the best part about it is, you will live and you will feel stronger afterward.
The price may seem expensive at $37 per class. However, when you compare that price to what your standard box gym charges for personal training sessions or small group training and measure the results that you receive from this class versus the standard, run of the mill traditional weight training and the choice becomes more clear. Solidcore isn’t trendy. Solidcore is here to stay. We are lucky that we are one of the first major cities to have a studio. Solidcore has redefined fitness and the owner/founder Anne Mahlum is a new fitness hero to me. I can’t wait to meet her one day!
For more information about Solidcore, click here.
{This article reflects my own personal experience. I was given one complimentary class and I purchased a package of my own to write a full review}.