Three Wheeler Double-Header – Madabolic and Zengo

While I’ve been languishing at the beach, lifting at a black-iron gym, Saturday mornings have become the time for the DC based Wheelers pay for the sins of their week. Lisa, to her credit, has been spearheading this effort using ClassPass and her accumulated knowledge of every free class in town. For this rare Saturday when we were all in town she mixed the old and the new.

There were 3 original Wheelers on this attempted murder and one special guest. Lisa’s roommate Dave joined us for the first round in spite of running late and running to catch John’s car as we pulled away. He’s a good sport and really, who hasn’t gotten lost in an elevator to the lobby?

Madabolic is a new (to us) program in Clarendon. You can use ClassPass there or you can do as I did and purchase a single class for $30. Another rather unique option is the ten for $10. This gets you ten days in a row of unlimited classes for $10. The idea is that once you get into the workout you will want to continue. It’s a fair gamble. I’d take that gamble except you can only do it once and if I’m ever there for 10 days in a row again I’d rather use it then.

Once we found the gym we had to check in and rent bag gloves, since part of the workout was on the heavy bag. You can bring your own and John had a variety of hand protection items but the gym wanted us to have more padding than what we had available. Three dollars for the rentals and I knew, based on how many pairs of gloves I’ve worn out over the years, I’d get my money’s worth.

The facility in Arlington is a clean and simple basement setup. The cramped lobby has cubbies for gear and we were assured everything would be safe there and it was. They have men’s and women’s rooms with showers but each is one per customer regardless of your intended activity. The largest area was where the workout took place. The shape of the area was irregular but they used the space to its full advantage. Seriously, if I had walked in there thinking about how to make it a gym I would have shaken my head. Someone had vision to put this place together.

Now that we were inside we could see the similarities to a Crossfit gym. Much of the equipment was similar and it was set up in stations. The other victims were also quite friendly, like in a Crossfit gym. I talked at length to Cody, a nice guy who said he had come from a Crossfit life. He was doing the ten for $10 with his girlfriend and seemed like he was hooked. I asked how this compared to Crossfit and he said he liked these workouts for strength better. Soon into the workout it was easy to see why this was so appealing to Crossfitters.

They had stations set up and each station had four weight categories divided by color. Each category, in turn, had two weight options. For instance, the black (heaviest) category might have a pair each of 45 and 50 pound dumbbells.

After a brief but effective warmup we all had a minute to test out the weights and decide where we wanted to be. Once you choose your category that is where you will be at each station. The majority of the class had done this before which saved time and let us figure out where to be. I did not go to the heaviest, by the way. Someone suggested not to go too macho since, even though we weren’t going for speed it was still a lot of reps.

Once we lined up at our stations Vicky, our Meg for that class, did some math and made sure every station was filled and no one was without a spot.

A moment to talk about our Meg, Vicky this time. My grandmother would have described her a “Just a slip of a girl” but seeing her form in the warmup we could tell she was fit, in spite of her slight build. Her energy level and her help with form was invaluable and she had no trouble correcting even the biggest and oldest guys, in spite of being just a shade bigger than Tinkerbell.

My workout began at the sumo deadlifts with kettlebells. The weight variety was impressive and it was clear this class was meant to lift heavy. I choose 45 pound bells and they were the third from the heaviest available.

Visible to almost every station was a round-clock. By round I mean it tracked intervals on a timer. The class was twelve sets of fifteen second rounds. So fifteen on and fifteen rest for twelve rounds. It sounds easy but the effect is cumulative.

Focusing on form and taking my time I did, at most, five sets at a time and didn’t feel the least bit embarrassed. In fact, the class as a whole seemed to be less competitive than some we’ve taken. Everyone worked on their form and getting the most out of the exercise and we all supported each other between sets. I imagine that’s how it would be to work out with the Amish.

My next station was the medicine ball squat. I again took the third from the heaviest ball which was sixty pounds. A young and very fit woman took the seventy and didn’t make me feel any less like a man. We were to hoist the ball up to one shoulder, squat, shift the ball to the other shoulder and repeat. It wasn’t hard to maintain decent form with this one but hoisting the ball twelve times was a little tough.

Next station was pure cardio. The air bike, or fan bike. The goal for men was to get between 75 and 80 RPMs as quick as possible in the fifteen seconds. Women were to be between 70 and 75. It wasn’t that hard the first couple of times. By the time we got to round eight or so we were all groaning and barely getting to our respective goals. Everyone I talked to said it was their least favorite activity. More evidence this is a strength program rather than pure cardio.

About halfway through the workout a second Meg came in. Young man with a louder voice who was pushing folks like a spotter would. He seemed like a good motivator and, even though slight Meg had a commanding presence, guy Meg’s voice could be heard through the gym.

The next station was the heavy bag. Meg had showed us how to do “pepper-punches”, essentially jab cross flurries but with proper form. Since I was more focused on form than speed I threw combinations off my back foot. The bags, for some reason, had an outlined image of a tired looking but fit woman printed on them. Cody and I both said we felt bad punching the thing. I did get a little satisfaction seeing the stuffing that blew out of the top of the bag wafting to the ground. It has been a while since I did real bag work.

That was the extent of the cardio for the workout. The last station for me was the dumbbell push-press. Hoist the weights of your choice to your shoulder, do a very shallow squat, and blast the dumbbells into the air. On this one Meg had to correct my form. The goal is to keep the elbows in, close to the ribs, so your path up a clock face would be closer to 11 and 1 than 9 and 3. This form reduces the chance of impingement. The proper form was a lot more difficult than my way and I had to lower my weights. My left shoulder simply had no interest in doing its job. I’ve noticed my left side is less developed than my right, so I’m starting to work on that.

Just like that it was over. We did some stretching and then lined up for Meg to give out baby wipes to wipe down whatever we touched last. The class as a whole was polite and helpful at the end as well. We dropped our gloves in the decon pile, grabbed our stuff and went off to the next adventure.

We dropped off Dave, not because he couldn’t hang after such a workout but because he needed to smell good for a date. Wheelers don’t judge. We tease and cajole but never judge.

John took us to Merrifield and one of the DC Wheeler’s favorite haunts. Zengo is a spin studio, not unlike Soul Cycle, which is the only other spin cycle I’ve been in.

Zengo is in the Mosaic district and easy enough to get to. The advantage for me is that the first class is free. Not just the class but the shoes were free and I got the feeling I could have gotten a bottle of water out of them if I tried. There is a water filling station in the locker room, so I used that to fill my own bottle. The other nice thing that I don’t remember at Soul Cycle is complimentary disposable ear plugs. Perfect for those of us who’s clubbing days are in the past.

The setup is similar to most spin joints but there are a few more nice touches, such as towels on each bike. The staff was helpful in setting up the bike for me and I can say, based on my experience, they treat the newbies extremely well.

The class wasn’t crowded but it was a good showing for a Saturday morning. Our Meg called us the brunch crowd, and after class we set out to prove her right, but first we had to earn it.

The class itself was challenging but not overwhelming, and in spite of the general admonition against doing cardio until at least five hours after strength training, this felt pretty good. The moves were similar to most spin classes and Lisa knew the routine well enough to hold up fingers indicating how many songs were left.

The most memorable thing about the class may be the rules Meg read off at the start of class. “Have fun”, of course, was in there, and “obey your body”, was high up. Lest you try to soldier through the workout after one of your legs falls off. But the one that stood out this go around was, “No cell phones.” The class, like any spin class, is active and requires active listening. Certainly no room for distractions. Rather a no-brainer, when you think about it, which one girl did not. On bike number one, in full view of the class, this girl texted and giggled the entire time. When I say entire I mean she didn’t stop. Near as I could tell she didn’t do any of the exercises but just pedaled passively as though on a leisurely springtime bike ride in the park while in a skirt and bonnet, circa 1895. Meg called her out a few times but may have been too subtle to break through the hypnotic effect of kittens chasing bubbles or whatever people are watching these days. Well, we learned the toll for such behavior is banishment from Zengo. They have her name and vitals and she will not be allowed to return. Odds are she won’t even get peppered with the emails looking for new members. The moral of the story is, if you can’t be away from your phone for 45 minutes you likely will not find a fitness program that will work for you. Plus, everyone will make fun of you. I am fully, and vocally against body-shaming in the gym, but when it comes to behavior-shaming I have more than enough words in my arsenal to get the job done.

After the class John and I changed into dry shirts. Mine had been soaked to the point that it was becoming unstable at a molecular level. The locker room is open and coed, and even though I’ve changed clothes in public ski lodges and many a parking lot, I ducked in to the men’s room. The rest room at Zengo reflects their dedication to customer service. Abundant towels and toiletries were available for the sweaty traveler. They even had a rather upscale spray deodorant, of which I took full advantage. If I were homeless and couldn’t afford rent I would find a way to get a Zengo membership. At the very least I’d be clean.

After our big day we went to brunch at Pallet in Shirlington, near Busboys and Poets. The food is primarily tapa sized and priced and delicious. There is a weekend brunch special where you can order any and all items on the menu for as long as you want (and reduced priced drinks) for $25. The catch is everyone at the table has to do it and we weren’t all that hungry. Our Brazilian joined us by then so the band was officially back together. She was a bit worse for wear between being sick, working, studying and maintaining an active (active like an uncontrolled nuclear reaction) social life. It was wonderful to have the crew at the same table and to catch up. The service wasn’t great at Pallet and some things we asked for were not available but we all left satisfied and meandered our way home in the gentle rain.

Speaking of weather, while we were out without jackets or umbrellas in the gentle rain, Hurricane Matthew was lashing and flooding just South of us, where I had just been. Matthew was expected to turn out to sea about 200 miles South of my beach but it came up 200 miles and sat on the town for a while. I tell people it was scared to get too close to me and, my being 200 miles further North is what doomed the town. It was a lot of rain and wind in a place already saturated but all in all everyone I know fared well.

Thanks very much to Lisa and her depth of knowledge of methods of torture in the DC area I had the best cardio day I’ve had in a long time. I was proud to have done as well as I did considering how little cardio I’ve done in the last year. It makes me miss the gang and that positive peer pressure that motivates me to do two cardio classes in a row even though my last attempted cardio was an epic fail. No price can be put on a good posse. I said posse.

All that is to say, if you want a great strength and form based HIIT workout Madabolic is a great choice. If you like spinning and want a place that goes a step above to take care of its customers, then go Zengo. If you want to feel amazing and earn your brunch and that nap you will need, do both. Don’t be scared.