How 30 Days Changed Our Life
What’s in a month? 30 individual days strewn together, often just lumped thoughtlessly as we tick away at our daily responsibilities. Life has a funny way of blurring lines, monotony turning individual days into foggy weeks which tumble us into the next month. And so on, and so on.
But what if each day could be special? What if you gave yourself something to look forward to, a different experience every day for one full month?
That’s what we did recently when we executed a 30-Classes-in-30-Days challenge on our @NYCfitfam Instagram. It was quite possibly the most fun month we’ve ever had! Why? Because each day, a new and unique experience awaited us. Documenting it on Instagram helped too, because in curating photos & videos to share with the world, we could reflect on the experience and relive it all over again.
The idea started simply: I have a wicked back injury (herniated disc) as well as a bum knee (tendonitis), a residual leftover from our 2016 marathon training. To put it bluntly, I’m a mess and my fitness activities were basically on hold. I couldn’t run or lift heavy weights, which meant no Barry’s Boot Camp or outdoor runs (my two favorites), so instead, I “gave up.” I sat home for a few weeks and felt sorry for myself. And ate. And gained about 6 pounds. And cried.
I finally realized this was no way to live, not to mention it was ridiculous. There had to be alternate fitness methods for me to explore that wouldn’t hurt my back as much while I healed. I realized that it might be time to explore classes I had previously disregarded as “not my type of workout” – things like barre, spinning, etc - in an effort to find what worked.
In late July, I started signing up for several different classes per week, with the self-directed criteria that I would enter each one with an open mind and an open heart. I know deep down that the reality is this: if I’m stuck in my head during class thinking “this class sucks,” something is wrong with ME, not the class.
I took a few classes and realized I was on to something. I decided to take this concept and build it out as we approached August. I’d take 30 different classes in 30 days, and share my experience on Instagram. Concurrently, I’d challenge our followers to workout every day throughout August, sharing their experience on social utilizing the hashtag #NYCfitfam30.
What happened was incredible. First of all, taking a new class every day was one of the coolest experiences of my life – I’ve never had so much fun! George couldn’t take all of the classes with me (since one of us had to be home with our two-year-old son!), so I took the opportunity to invite a slew of friends and business friendlies to sweat with me (we’re huge believers that “sweatworking” is the best way to network!). So in addition to the fit-fun, the month delivered a cornucopia of connections with some of my favorite people – and this benefit alone was worth the price of admission!
Now let’s talk about the classes – here’s what went down!
August 1 ConBody @ The Wellery (Saks 5th Avenue)
August 2 Eqx Barre (Equinox, NYC)
August 3 SLT (Upper West Side, NYC)
August 4 Tone House (Upper East Side, NYC)
August 5 AKT (Anna Kaiser’s studio, East Hampton, NY)
August 6 Elements Barre (East Hampton, NY)
August 7 Barry’s Boot Camp (class with Keoni Hudoba, who’s class we got engaged in in 2012!)
August 8 Vinyasa Yoga (Equinox, NYC)
August 9 Swerve (Spinning, Flatiron)
August 10 Akin’s Army, Legs & Abs (StudioB, the pop-up fitness space within Bandier, NYC)
August 11 Fhitting Room (Upper West Side, NYC)
August 12 Physique57 (Upper West Side, NYC)
August 13 SLT (Rye Brook, NY)
August 14 Y7 (Hip-hop candlelight Yoga, Upper East Side, NYC)
August 15 ModelFit (Soho, NYC)
August 16 Elements Pop-Up @ The Wellery (Saks 5th Avenue)
August 17 Flywheel (Flatiron, NYC)
August 18 Meditation @ Inscape (rest day! Flatiron)
August 19 SoulCycle (Upper West Side, NYC)
August 20 Vinyasa Yoga (Equinox, NYC)
August 21 Piloxing pop-up @ Athleta flagship store (Flatiron, NYC)
August 22 Chaise Fitness (Flatiron, NYC)
August 23 Bari Bounce (Tribeca, NYC)
August 24 Exhale Barre (Flatiron, NYC
August 25 CPX Pop-up w/ Courtney Paul at Lifetime Athletic (Midtown West, NYC)
August 26 Switch Playground (Soho, NYC)
August 27 Vinyasa Yoga (Equinox, NYC)
August 28 Flex TRX / Pilates (Noho, NYC)
August 29 CityRow (Upper East Side, NYC)
August 30 Yogamaya (Chelsea, NYC)
August 31 REST AND RECAP!!
Of course, the natural question has arisen about a hundred times on our social media: WHAT WAS MY FAVORITE CLASS?? It would be completely impossible to pick one, as they’re all so different, but I can report that my favorite thing overall was just getting outside my comfort zone and trying new things. From ConBody’s prison style workout (taught by an ex-convict) to tackling SLT’s “megaformers” with my sister (sister sweat-dates are the best!)… from bouncing on a trampoline at Bari (SO. MUCH. FREAKIN. FUN!!) to teeter-tottering on a SUPER COOL chair-style reformer at Chaise Fitness, which is a mix of Ballet, Pilates, and HIIT (!)… from taking my first ever rowing class at CityRow (I’m hooked!), to dancing around to a live DJ at Switch’s black-light lit, nightclub-style “playground” … from sweating our asses off during a hip-hop candlelight flow at Y7, to taking class at Barry’s Boot Camp with Keoni Hudoba, who was teaching the class the morning we got engaged on the treadmills (yes, that happened!)… it was all so much fun and so special, and I’d do it over 100 times if I could!
Our social audience was amazing, cheering me along the whole way and sharing their own 30/30 workouts every day. We had participants from around the world using the hashtag #NYCfitfam30! It was so cool to follow along as our insta-friends engaged in all various types of movement…. we had body builders in Sweden, Zumba fanatics in Florida, fit-moms doing ju-jitsu, and fit-friends in our own backyard here in NYC taking advantage of summer’s last month alongside of us. It was magical!
Each week, we gave out prizes to people who participated in the challenge, and we’d like to send a big thank you to our participating brand partners for offering these amazing prizes:
Drinks:
Nutrition Bars:
Wellness Experiences:
inscape Meditation studio
Cryofuel cryotherapy studio
Activewear:
Also, a big thank you to Daily Harvest, for providing our morning smoothies to fuel us along. It’s safe to say that you hooked our entire family, as Mason is now obsessed with your “smoooovies” too!
Hope you all enjoyed following along, and that it inspires you to explore ways to make each day special. I urge you put a framework against one month of your life, building out a daily plan for fitness, play, or general self-improvement. It’s been an unforgettable experience for us, and we’d love to hear how it works for you!
