Shake Up Your Workout: SpringTone and BodyPump

Springtone Pilates at Body Be Well Pilates, Catskill and Red Hook

Chelsea Streifeneder, the owner of Body Be Well Pilates in Red Hook and Catskill, first took a SpringTone Pilates class last summer. Her teacher? None other than Pilates trainer-to-the-stars Alycea Ungaro, the owner of the popular Real Pilates studio in Tribeca and the creator of this new Pilates style. Streifeneder, 29, was immediately hooked. “Even though it was a Pilates class, it really got my heart rate up; I was sweating in the first few minutes,” she says.

Today, Body Be Well is “the only studio in the Hudson Valley to offer SpringTone,” Streifeneder says.

Traditional Pilates focuses on balance, posture, breathing, and core-muscle strength; it usually includes floor exercises and/or the use of a large piece of equipment called the reformer. Streifeneder first discovered this exercise system when she was a member of a small, Manhattan-based modern-dance troupe that was touring overseas and performing in Prague. “One lady there offered a Pilates mat class. I had a tremendous amount of back pain and hip issues at the time, and I started to feel better after the class, so I kept with it,” she says. After graduating from Bard College in 2006, she headed to Los Angeles and became a certified Pilates instructor.

Streifeneder describes the SpringTone program as a whole-body workout that gets the heart rate up. Classes usually last 45 minutes; they are limited to about five participants per session, and the reformer is not used. In its place are mats and specialized springs. “We go through training circuits that cycle through all parts of the body. There’s resistance training, core, and circuit work. In SpringTone, they all come together,” says Streifeneder.

Another feature of SpringTone that Streifeneder loves: It stays true to the principles of Pilates. “A lot of smaller Pilates studios have had to bring in other programs — like yoga classes or barre work or TRX workouts — that aren’t Pilates, in order to make ends meet,” she says. “That wasn’t something I wanted to do.”

She adds: “SpringTone is for everybody, no matter if you’re new to exercise or have done yoga or spinning or running or dancing or triathlons. It’s an excellent toning and full-body program. And it’s fun.” 845-758-0790 (Red Hook), 518-943-0333 (Catskill), or bodybewellpilates.com

BodyPump, BodyCombat, and Sh’Bam at All Sport, Fishkill 

At Dutchess County’s All Sport, the times they are a-changin’. The popular health club has a new name: no longer All Sport Fishkill, it’s now called All Sport Health and Fitness. And the entire facility has been renovated, both inside and out; the up-to-date features include floor-to-ceiling windows in the upper level fitness center, and the installation of a waterfall wall in the grand lobby.

But the sleek new look is just the beginning. Five intensive exercise programs from Les Mills International are now being offered at the gym. The renowned New Zealand-based company develops group fitness classes that provide a high-energy team workout: BodyCombat, for instance, incorporates karate, boxing, taekwondo, tai chi, and muay thai; the barbell workout BodyPump requires multiple lifts of light weights; and the dance class Sh’bam works muscles in a lively and fun way. “These classes are more of a total body workout,” says Katrina Cook, fitness director at All Sport. “They’re choreographed to current music, and every three months there’s a new release so your muscles don’t get used to the routine.” All classes are included in a club membership; nonmembers can participate in classes by purchasing a special pass. 845-896-5678 or allsportfishkill.com