I don’t like hot yoga. I’m too much of a baby—as soon as I’m uncomfortable, I give up. And while working out, heat makes me miserable. So when I heard about Brrrn, a cool temperature fitness concept, I was immediately intrigued.
The first of its kind, Brrrn offers yoga, core & cardio, and HIT workout classes in a chilly room, ranging from 45°F-60°F, depending on the class. “We’re cool because the thermostat says so,” the studio’s co-founder, Jimmy T. Martin says.
Martin and his co-founder Johnny Adamic researched their cold concept for quite a while before launching their NYC studio. The pair learned that cool temperature exposure during exercise can actually optimize the fitness experience—as well as provide other health benefits, like burning more calories compared to more comfortable environments.
When I walked into the rustic lodge-themed exercise studio in Flatiron, I didn’t know what to expect. I opted for yoga leggings and a short sleeve tee, despite having been advised to bring along a pullover and hat. The room was chilled to 55° for my core & cardio class, but I warmed up really quickly.
I started out on a slide board; I had to put little booties over my sneakers so I could more easily slip around on the plastic board the size of the yoga mat. The exercises on the slide board were mainly centered around lunges and planks, but I was concerned my biggest challenge would be not slipping off and falling into the person behind me. But to my surprise, that wasn’t a challenge. My body seemed much sturdier and capable than I gave myself credit for.
Even throughout the circuit workout, I didn’t feel myself getting fatigued as easily as I expected myself to. It barely felt like I was working out, for the entire hour-long class.
“I must have gotten stronger,” I thought to myself.
But I was wrong, as I learned the next morning when my entire lower half was stiff with pain and it took me a full two minutes to lift myself out of bed. There really is something to the cool temperature fitness concept.
My body ached for two days after that first class at Brrrn. But the amazing thing is it really didn’t feel like I was exercising during the class—I got all the benefits of a workout without the misery.
Brrrn is now open at 107 West 20th Street, TheBrrrn.com