CLASS REVIEW: BFX- BURN

BFX

ADDRESS: 699 Boylston St, Boston, MA 02116

NEIGHBORHOOD: Back Bay

WAY TO SWEAT: HIIT

INSTRUCTOR: Dan Chung

CLASS: BFX Burn

PRICE: $32 per class

BFX is not the first boutique fitness studio in Boston and it surely won’t be the last. I use the term ‘boutique’ lightly because while BFX may be small and elite, it’s not highly specialized. BFX offers a wide variety of fitness classes ranging from a low intensity barre class to a high intensity boxing class. Whichever realm of the fitness world you fall into; there is a class to cater to your very needs.

WORKOUT

Much to our disappointment BFX Burn is just like every other HIIT fitness class we have experienced in the Boston area. There was no wow-factor, nothing special to set it apart from the other monotonous fitness classes we find ourselves in during the week. Did we sweat? Yes. Was it from the workout? Perhaps. The room happened to be incredibly warm that morning so any residual sweat was probably due to our body trying oh so hard to cool itself down.

In similar fashion to other high intensity classes, this one was broken down into 6 mini workouts each lasting 6 minutes. The first three workouts were done in a tabata style (8 rounds of 20 seconds work followed by 10 seconds of rest). Movements included Kettlebell jumping jacks, Mountain Climbers, Burpees and lunges. The second three workouts were done in an EMOM style (every minute on the minute). These movements included more core, think leg lifts, reverse crunches, bicycle crunches etc. You were able to choose your own weights for each movement though there were scaling options provided for those who had injuries or other constraints.

INSTRUCTOR

Our class was designed and led by Dan Chung. He began class a bit amped up on caffeine so we moved through the instructions pretty quickly. By the time we started to workout Dan had calmed down a bit, perhaps maybe too much, as his enthusiasm seemed forced. He used the typical motivational lines that you have probably heard in every other fitness class, “find it in yourself to push harder” and “this is your workout, do this for yourself.” Unfortunately Dan lacked any real enthusiasm or oomph so they all fell pretty flat. The only thing that motivated us to push harder was the $32 we invested to take this class in the first place.

SPACE

The gym is located in the heart of Back Bay in a pretty spacious piece of real estate. Upon entering you’ll see the main desk and a small retail area with cute BFX-branded workout gear. Just past that they were building a smoothie/juice bar and as you probably already know, we are suckers for a good over-priced smoothie so we were disappointed that it was not open yet. The fitness classes, spinning, personal training and locker rooms are all located downstairs. None of the rooms are huge but they all make great use of the space. There is even a “social bar” area with magazines and computers in case you need to catch up on your celebrity gossip before class. The locker rooms are spacious and include showers, toilets, lockers, free products and towel service just like many of the other newer gyms in the area.