Pilates ProWorks 30/30 Is the Remedy for Workout ADD

Racked is no longer publishing. Thank you to everyone who read our work over the years. The archives will remain available here; for new stories, head over to Vox.com, where our staff is covering consumer culture for The Goods by Vox. You can also see what we’re up to by signing up here.

"This is what I did to get into my wedding shape," Pilates ProWorks co-founder Taylor Carter says when asked about their 30/30 class, a 55-minute whirlwind hybrid of Pilates, barre, and butt-kicking. After taking a session, her assertion seems impossible to disbelieve— even days after, you'll be reminded of muscles you rarely (ever?) use, especially when attempting normal tasks, like reaching for something off a high shelf, or climbing stairs. So what's this 30/30 class all about?

"Maybe it's just an ADD thing" Carter says, "but people seem to really connect with" the 30/30 class, which contains all the high notes you're looking for in a reformer class: a cardio workout (oh, you will be panting), a strength training session, and a barre class.

Most of the fast-moving class takes place on their FitFormer, Pilates ProWorks' proprietary Pilates reformer machine that Carter's co-founder, her husband Oscar Sanin, created for their studios. Over the course of a single session, you'll work glutes, quads, and calves as you struggle to balance on the machine; hit seemingly every muscle in your arms with dumbbells and the FitFormer straps; and take your pecs and core places they've never been with a punishing series of push-up and plank movements.

One of the joys of the class is that it avoids the sometimes-crushing monotony of a traditional Pilates or barre class (see, there's that ADD thing), making it perfect for those days when you just don't feel like you have the patience to commit to an hour of one thing or another. Every movement is endurable when you know you'll be moving on to something new in just a few moments, right?

Lest you think this is a class for movement dilettantes, Carter points out that it uses "the hardest parts of both" disciplines, making the 30/30 class a multi-tasker's dream. However, she says, it's also manageable for those just starting a fitness program, as it's intended to be a accessible. "Nothing's too complicated that you can't learn it on your first try," she says, and that's accurate -- none of the movements are ones that will leave a first-timer struggling to follow, or looking frantically around the class to find someone who knows what they're doing. Instructors give adaptations when asked, making this class a good fit for newbies.

Consistently entertaining, 30/30's a great class for the indecisive (can't pick between Pilates or barre? Here's both!), the easily bored, or the super busy (need to get to Pilates and barre? Here's both!). After a session, you'll feel worked out, not ground down. As one student said in a recent Friday afternoon class in the Financial District, "that class made me totally ready to really have a weekend."

Pilates ProWorks has four Bay Area locations: 563 Commercial Street in San Francisco's Financial District, 2238 Union Street in the Marina, 3303 Lakeshore Avenue in Oakland, and 360 Miller Avenue in Mill Valley. (Check each individual studio's schedule to see when the 30/30 class is offered.) New students can take their first class for $20, with class packages and monthly memberships ranging from $140-$500.

· Pilates ProWorks [Official Site]
· Feel the Burn [Racked]