CrossFit in the Park

The following post is sponsored by FitFluential LLC on behalf of Reebok.

Last week I had the awesome opportunity to check out Summer in the Square, which offers a series of outdoor fitness classes and other free events held in NYC’s beautiful Union Square park.  The park, best known for NYC’s oldest Greenmarket,  is amazing with its many statues and greenery.  With all the hustle and bustle going on around the park, it was the perfect setting for an equally energizing, sweat session.

Make no mistake, just because we weren’t in a gym, the WOD was still super challenging using just our body weight.  The class was led by two impressive CrossFit coaches, Jay Adams and Christina Gryte, providing great cueing, demonstrations and kept the motivation on high throughout the class.  Much of the class had no CrossFit experience, myself included, but you would never know it and that is thanks in part to the two of them.

Coaches Jay & Christina

The hour-long class started off with a warm-up WOD which consisted of 10 minute toe-tap/push up intervals.  By the time it was over, we were all good and sweaty and ready to get down to business.

The WOD alternated sprints with two additional exercises- squat jumps (performed in a descending ladder) and, everyone’s favorite, burpees (performed in an ascending ladder).  As you can imagine, by the last round, doing the last set of 10 burpees was brutal!

If we are connected on Myfitnesspal you may have heard me complain about my knees in the past and have all but sworn off any type of high-impact exercise.  Because this was my first official CrossFit class, I wanted to give it my all and get the full experience which meant making the fewest modifications possible.  I even had my right knee taped by my physical therapist the day before.

Well, I must say that I actually impressed myself with how well I performed on the squats jumps, completing all rounds without any modification.  Even afterward, there was no delayed aches and pains which I was totally anticipating.  Although I’d like to take the credit, I have to give credit where credit is due – the Nano 4.0.

Admittedly, this was my first time wearing any Nano so can’t compare them to previous versions, however, I can compare them with my current trainers and the Nano surpassed them in the areas most critical to me – stability, cushioning and shock absorption.  And all of this on cement no less!!  Additionally, it was a very humid day and while the rest of my body was drenched in sweat, my feet stayed pretty dry – another plus!

If you have the opportunity, get out of the gym and get into the park for this great CrossFit class.  The classes are free, don’t require any existing CrossFit experience and are going on throughout the summer.  While you’re at it, check out the Nano  4.0!  Locally you can grab them from Paragon Sports or visit reebok.com.

Trish Adams (43 Posts)

Mom, wife, technologist, certified fitness trainer and nutritional coach. Encouraging women to put their health first. Change starts with self love and acceptance. Once mastered, there's no limit as to where you can go. Treat your body well with sound nutrition combined with an effective training plan to achieve a healthy body composition. We all want to look good in our jeans, but not at the sacrifice of our health. Precision Nutrition Certified Coach