Chicks Get Fit: We Got Addicted To Sweat With Madonna at Hard Candy Fitness

Posted by Rachel | Thursday March 13, 2014

If you read my fitness profile, you know that I have strayed from my formerly beloved high-intensity aerobic workouts and moved on over to the callused-hands-burpee-filled CrossFit world (insert villainous laugh here). Joking aside, I must admit that I really miss a good ‘ol cardio blast. That’s why I was absolutely thrilled when I was so graciously invited to attend the grand opening of Hard Candy Fitness Toronto. You may already be familiar with ‘Hard Candy,’ it being the title of one of Madonna’s albums featuring the droolworthy JT collab, 4 Minutes. This time, we’re talking ‘Hard Candy Fitness’—Material Girl’s retro-meets-vogue line of luxury fitness studios.

Sure, you can look at Hard Candy Fitness as any ordinary gym. But you can also look at Madonna's impeccably sculpted arms too (they will convince you otherwise in seconds). What makes Hard Candy Fitness unique are their wide variety of classes and the omnipresent vibrant energy in the air. Ever dreamed of downward dogging to your favourite house beats? Consider your dream a reality with Hard Candy's ‘Electric Yoga’ (but prepare yourself to swim in a pool of your own sweat). Thinking of dodging your Friday night fitness to fist pump away at the club? Nice try. HCFT offers cycling classes with a live DJ to get you amped for your workout AND your night out with your girlfriends.

I had the opportunity to try out Powerball Pilates and the most anticipated class, Addicted to Sweat. I have done a handful of pilates classes in my time, but one thing that stood out from this class was the unique combination of exercises using the weighted exercise ball. Highly acclaimed and skilled Craig Smith gave us one solid low impact body workout that was do-able but challenging, while still leaving me with an achy tight core the next morning.

Transitioning into Addicted To Sweat right after this class was quite the change of speed, but the vibrant energy in the room full of participants was enough to pick me up. Trainer Nicole Winhoffer threw on some seductive loud tunes as we warmed up together, gradually incorporating the dance steps that we would attempt later in the class.

The next thirty minutes of the class were spent learning the signature dance, the "hustle." This was definitely my favourite part of the class, aside from the fact that I quickly learned how heavy-footed and uncoordinated I have became over the years (so much for those toddler ballet classes). The great thing about it though was that no matter how far away you were from becoming the next contestant on So You Think You Can Dance, the moves were super fun, easy to pick up and provided a good sweat!

Are you in need of a good excuse to show off your most crisp, non-pilly workout gear and get your sweat on? What's your take on dance aerobics?

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8 Comments

	on May 05, 2016 jmca 9,275 said: This is too bad a$$ for me. I'll stick to walking.
	on March 24, 2014 ikandi 1,355 said: Dance is my choice of exercise. It's so easy and cheap to do!
	on March 23, 2014 starobsolete 2,275 said: The gym looks so nice. Very interesting space to work out in. To tell you the truth dance cardio isn't my favourite workout. I'm just so bad at dancing in general, it isn't fun for me!
	on March 21, 2014 Racenhawk 2,704 said: dancing is the best exercise and fun too!
	on March 17, 2014 christinabezerra 50 said: I love dance aerobic classes, that looked like soo much fun but the gym looks kind of intense.
	on March 16, 2014 mysticaleyez 6,820 said: This gym look nice. Too bad it's so far from where I live.
	on March 15, 2014 KatelynRose1984 20,704 said: This looks like an amazing space!
	on March 13, 2014 flower 4,433 said: I will just be walking