AS ONE with George Vafiades

http://as1effect.com/about-us/

He Sweats: So after months and months of rescheduling SHE and HE were finally able to get to restart our summer adventure of finding only the best and hardest places to sweat in the NYC. This time around we were fortunate to get an invite to AS ONE for a good old fashion ass kicking by George Vafiades. George holds a BS in Anatomy/Physiology and his professional certifications include USA Triathlon (USAT) Level One, and USA Cycling, Level Three. He also has competed in multiple Ironman and Triathlon competitions. Not to mention he has battle scars plastered all over his body. The man screams “Let’s work our asses off.” I was just a bit nervous heading into this workout though as the mid-week runs had most certainly taken a toll on my legs. I think I crawled through the As One doors. SHE was in no better shape herself after 24 hours of hell in a hand basket partaking in every Nike event under the sun but I’ll let her walk you through that. I actually thought heading to this sweat session there would be more males partaking but once again the ratio was 8 females : 2 males. I’m going to write up a thesis one day on why there are so many more females partaking in boutique fitness vs. males. Guess the HEs just like sweating at the big box gym?

George is one cool cat. He walked us through everything we would be doing at As One. It was a basic all body-weight workout where we split up into four teams to rotate from one exercise to the next. Whether it was bear crawls, pushups, sit-ups, squats forward, sandbag pullbacks, lunges to the left and right, burpees or riding the airdyne bike, George had us going nonstop with a full body strength workout which rivaled some of the best I have ever done. My thoughts during class were that this was what a Spartan event or Mudder must be like except indoors. But on a more serious note, there were two extremely value add takeaways from this class which I wanted to pass along. It probably relates to runners and indoor cyclers alike. Strength training is an extremely important compliment to many of our cardio exercises and I couldn’t think of any better non cardio add to your fitness diet than As One. No tread, no weights, just body weight workouts. And second and of equal if not greater importance, there are five minutes of foam rolling at the end. I mean I would personally pay someone millions to come over to my apartment every night and make sure I foam roll properly. This was done at the end of class and I probably don’t have to convince many of you the importance of foam rollers especially to the running community. Some of you even know how eager I was to learn how to properly foam roll these past couple weeks due to the uptick in my running routine. Perfect timing! Not to mention there was a perfect stretch to start class to get the body warmed up. It was like the A B C instruction book on how to actually work out properly. Bravo George, bravo. Now HE just has to figure out a way to motivate himself to get to the Upper West Side more. For you UWS habituates, between Central Park bootcamps and runs, AS1, Refine Method, Flywheel and SoulCycle, there are plenty to choose from to come up with a proper regimen without doing the same sweat over and over and over and over these days. Congratulations! 

She Sweats: June was a tough month for HE Sweats SHE Sweats. HE had a few vacations, and I was chained to my desk for the month. June is the busiest month of the year for me at work and I have been working until all hours of the night every day, unable to work out. I would write HE emails daily about how much it was KILLING me. So, what better way to jump right back into things than to head straight to AS ONE! Well actually, the day before, I participated in a Nike event that was by far one of the coolest things I’ve ever done in the city. However, I was EXTREMELY sore from the workout so I wasn’t too sure if going to As1 the very next day was the smartest idea….after not working out for 3 weeks!  I have to be a little honest, I was really nervous. I went to As One about a year ago to a class with Mark Merchant and it was hands down the hardest thing I’ve ever done. It was probably the only time where I truly felt like I wasn’t going to make it through the entire class! I mean, the class was awesome, I just don’t think I realized what I was walking into to. “We’re not at Barry’s Bootcamp anymore” is was I kept thinking…”this must be what Crossfit is like.” That particular class was mostly men. I was one of two women that day so I was definitely a little intimidated to say the least.  All I could remember from that last class was the countless numbers of burpees, froggers, and sand bag lifts…over and over and over again. It was a class that if I continued to go to, would bring me to being in the best shape of my life for sure. So, fast forward to 3 days ago, I was sitting at As One, waiting for the class to start, shaking with fear, hoping that maybe by now I’m a little bit stronger and can handle this class a little better?! George came over immediately and introduced himself. I instantly started to feel a little better and I knew this was going to be a good class. HE walked in all excited (and making fun of me for being so nervous) and we were both ready to get started! We started with a really good warm up of different stretches and then sets of 10 jumping jacks and 10 burpees (I think we did that 5 times). Then, as HE mentioned, we broke up into four groups and alternated through 50 seconds of different exercises, doing three sets of each exercise.  One group would always be on the stationary bike while the other three groups did stuff like burpees, pushups, planks, sand bag lifts, squats, lunges, dips, etc.  Each rotation of exercises was harder than the next, and the last, of course, was the hardest. I was actually very surprised at how fast the whole class went by. I think I was so prepared for pure torture, I had geared myself up more than I needed to! At the very end of class we did some foam rolling which I love as much as HE does. I love fitness studios that incorporate foam rolling! Refine Method does it as well. All in all, I had a really good experience at As One. I think I might start going more than once a year and I want to eventually challenge myself to go back to the same class I went to last year… maybe I’m in better shape now than I was then

http://as1effect.com/

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