willpower & Grace

I didn’t expect the actual result of willpower & Grace to be d) all of the above.

First of all, willpower & Grace is instructed by Regina, the same fitness fanatic who teaches BodyAttack, Results, and Power Pilates. If you haven’t taken a class from Regina then I expect you’ve never comprehended true pain. She leads her classes to areas of fitness not yet traversed by most mortals, all the while with higher knees, lower squats and a peppier attitude than any of her teenage students. There’s a rumor that the Princeton administration engineered her in an underground laboratory to whip their students into better shape than all the other Ivy League Students. Or at least that rumor will exist once I start it.

Upon walking into willpower & Grace and seeing Regina, I immediately knew this wouldn’t be an easy yoga tutorial. My instincts were dead on. It was a class of about seven people; of course, this meant extra individual attention and absolutely no place to hide. Thankfully, Regina started us off slowly. We removed our shoes and worked on warming up our feet, stretching out our ankles and getting balanced. Just when I was getting used to the pleasant sensation of not struggling for air, Regina began the strength segment. This meant lunges and squats. And lunges. And squats. All in a never-ending frenzy that left my butt and quads on fire. Then, we progressed to planks. We started in planks with our hands spread out and changed to planks with our hands meeting in the middle. Regina suggested that if we were “feeling strong” we could do five plank push-ups. I found this physically impossible, but the 60-year old woman to my right had no problem. Show-off.

Willpower & Grace differs from other classes in that it focuses more on balance and flexibility than on cardio activities. We did many exercises that involved balancing on one leg, which helps with core strength. There was no running, jumping or kicking. The home base we continually returned to was a series of squats, which gets the heart pumping in no time. Willpower & Grace is exactly the class to take in order to focus on specific strength areas such as your leg, gluteal and arm muscles. After leaving this class, I had difficulty sitting, standing, walking, climbing stairs, going down stairs and laying down. Although all of my activity has been limited by my aching butt, I’m very impressed by the class’ effectiveness. I definitely will be returning, and I recommend it to anyone looking for some solid strength training. At the very least, you should go for the class title — clever wordplay is highly underappreciated.

I’m going to take an ice bath now.