Equinox Core Values Class in Chicago -- My Daily Find Chicago

A Healthier You: Equinox Core Values Class

BY VIVIAN DOAN

You’ve seen the ads for workout routines and classes that promise rock hard abs and this sexier version of you. Well, let’s get real. We know there’s more to a six-pack than a twice-weekly workout, but it’s also about other ways we are taking care of our bodies with food, sleep, etc. Sure, Tracy Anderson gets all the Hollywood stars looking fabulous, but I definitely eat more in a day than she allows in a week (and who wouldn’t when you live in a city like Chicago with so many amazing food options?).

Even if a body like Penelope Cruz isn’t quite in the cards, that won’t stop me from taking the newest fitness class at Equinox called Core Values, which approaches fitness with the idea that “if you eat poorly and are sedentary outside the gym, any momentum you gain in class will be lost before you return.”

Core Values ensures that you work up a good sweat as you build strength and addresses the importance of courage, challenge, concentration, commitment, consistency and community. Instructors emphasize the importance of healthy habits like a positive mindset, adequate hydration and balanced nutrition — all practices helpful toward creating a healthier lifestyle instead of just an external image of a fit body.

The Core Values class begins with a signature warm-up and then the class is split into three groups. Each group rotates through three 10-minute workout circuits designed to help you build a strong core. The three stations include are floor and wall (think: lots of planks), drills and conditioning (stability balls, Dynamax balls and Bosu balls) and parallette bar, a gymnastics training tool designed to mimic professional parallel bars.

Equinox, 200 West Monroe Street, 312.252.3100 and 900 N. Michigan, 312.254.2500. For more information visit www.equinox.com.