Time For a "Switch"

Lobby View Pt. 1

Lobby View Pt. 2

First stop, Switch Playground ("Switch"). Most people have not heard of Switch, just yet. It is a new boutique fitness playground created by Steve Uria, a South African celebrity trainer who's experiences span across three decades. Our class was at 10:30AM EST, right from the beginning we knew this was going to be different; enters the 8 trainers for our class... Yep, that's right, all 8 of them. If volumenous trainers weren't different enough, cue the smoke machine and live DJ, who also happen to be one of the trainers and yoga warmup specialist.

To be honest, our initial reaction was "What have we gotten ourselves into?" Our view changed quickly once the class started. The class was very upbeat and fast tempo. There were roughly 20 stations, each station designed for a particular exercise, from your burpees to polymeric box jumps. Each station lasted precisely 2 minutes, then you "switch" to the next one.

Perhaps, now you can imagine why the place requires 8 trainers. All trainers were spread loosely around the facility to ensure the participants are performing the exercise correctly. Most of all, they keep the energy level up, way up. There were a loooot of dancing on the instructors part, but they were all very professional and the dancing was not intrusive or disruptive.

Now that we told you a bit about our experience and Switch itsef, let's talk about the ratings:

Motivation (5) - We thought this rating was appropriate and well deserved, the high energy and motivating chants were great.

Amenities (4) - The training facility itself may first seem bit cramped, but it was very well organized and was not chaotic despite 20 station-layout. The locker rooms were clean and well equipped with all things needed.

Intensity (4) - The class could be challenging given the range of exercises. If you have a weakness in your game, which most of us definitely do, the different stations will explore it. That said, due to the briefness of station (2 minutes per station), the pain was short lived (in a good way).

Overall (4) -  We enjoyed the workout, instructors were great, even Steve (the founder) himself jumped in at one point to give us pointers and warning us about the wet floor (due to our sweats). The variety of workouts will surely keep things interesting and give you that weekend workout you craved. The only thing we thought Switch could've done better was to perhaps spend couple minutes prior to the actual workout starts to briefly walkthrough the different stations and the workouts associated with them. Some of the workouts were not as intuitive and if you're confused or unsure about what to do, half of your workout for that station could be over.

Class Location:
130 East 12th St.
New York, NY 10003

- L&L