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"My first introduction to Physique57 actually came in the pages of Glamour, when our health eds reported on the exercises celebs were really doing to get their bombshell bods. When the piece came out in August 2010, my body was definitely not strong enough to be Physique-ified. However, last month, when the lovely ladies at Blake Brody asked me to try their new limited-edition Physique57 shoes, I decided I was ready to give the whole thing a go. And hot damn, I&amp;#x27;m glad I did!Here&amp;#x27;s the famed &amp;quot;waterski&amp;quot; position. Not entirely sure why these lovely ladies are barefoot--socks or Blake Brody&amp;#x27;s shoes are required in the studio--but I love Physique so much that I&amp;#x27;ll let it slide. The Workout: A targeted toning workout for your arms, abs, butt and thighs. The secret weapons? A barre, a ball, a band and a slew of gorgeous, motivating instructors. As I mentioned in my review of Pure Barre, ballet-boot camp-style classes are not my cup of tea. Admittedly, when I walked into the studio and saw the barre, I was afraid I&amp;#x27;d gotten myself into another three-day post-workout pain sesh. The workout started with a cardio warmup, and we grabbed some weights--I used 5-pounders--to do a set of arm exercises. Next, we headed to the barre (ahhh!), aligned our knees over our ankles, and started squatting. And yes, it burned, and kept on burning, but we kept on going. That&amp;#x27;s the thinking behind Physique57: lots of reps, &amp;#x27;cause when you&amp;#x27;re burning and shaking, your body is changing. After finishing squats, we hit the carpet to work a little more, then stretch. Next, we worked our thighs by squeezing a playground ball between them, followed by stretches, worked our butts by pushing our heels up to the sky behind us while standing on one leg, then stretches, then three sets of abs all punctuated by stretches, plus a cool down. All in 57 minutes! Yes, I was definitely feeling it (the Physique57 instructors always say your first class is by far the hardest), but since each group of exercises was in short sections, plus broken up by stretches, I couldn&amp;#x27;t believe how fast the 57 minutes went by. I liked that there were built-in goals, too--you knew that you only had a little more work on each part of your body before you got to stretch and move on. I left feeling so invigorated, and pretty impressed with what my not-so-balletic body accomplished. The fab feeling carried back to the office the next morning when, though a bit sore and stiff, my rave review caused Megan and Caitlin to sign up for their first classes. Yes, I really, really loved it that much. I&amp;#x27;ve been back for four more classes (all in my Blake Brody Physique57 shoes, which make me confident that I won&amp;#x27;t slip and slide on the carpet), and I&amp;#x27;ve already seen a difference in my body; I&amp;#x27;m built fairly slim, but my butt and outer-thighs are definitely more toned with less to hold on to, and I&amp;#x27;ve cultured an awareness for my physique, no pun intended, that I didn&amp;#x27;t have before. In fact, I credit Physqiue for allowing me to enjoy the movements in Diana Vishneva&amp;#x27;s ballet performance last night. Intensity factor: 7.5/10 during your first class, but it gets easier, I swear. So, crazy-good workout or just plain crazy? Crazy, insanely good! When my 10 classes expire, I&amp;#x27;m headed back for more! Have those of you in LA or NY taken a Physique57 class? (There&amp;#x27;s a book, too, if you&amp;#x27;re elsewhere!) Does this sound like a way you&amp;#x27;d love to get your body in shape? Photo: Courtesy of Physiue57"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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