As a lifting girly, I grew tired of my old gym regimen and decided it was time for something new. I had always wanted to try pilates, and so I found myself at SOLIDCORE with my best friend at the Old Town, VA location. I. Fell. In. Love. It was by far the hardest workout I have ever done, but it was seriously soooo rewarding.
What exactly is SOLIDCORE?
It is a high-intensity workout, pilates-ish, strength training workout. It’s only 50 minutes, and is done on a reformer machine. The classes are taught by an instructor in a group format. The music and the vibes are a 10/10, and it is very up-beat and super fun.
Why is it designed for you to fail?
SOLIDCORE focuses on that second-stage muscle failure and time under tension. We see the first stage of muscle failure when we get fatigued and tired, which you are encouraged to push through. Soon after you reach the second stage of muscle failure, you get ‘the shakes’ where your muscles are LITERALLY shaking, which is exactly where you want to be. SOLIDCORE emphasizes time under tension to build up to the shakes, which leads to the micro-tears in your muscles, which allows for muscle growth.
I say SOLIDCORE is a pilates-ish workout, because it’s designed for you to build muscle/strength train, but on a reformer. I feel as though normal pilates is slow, very relaxing, and still involves a ton of mind muscle connection and whatnot, but SOLIDCORE simply feels different.
I started in July and it is now early September and the results have been insane. I consistently have abs (if that’s something you care about hop on SOLIDCORE RN), and I feel SOOO much better after a workout. Like yes I’m def sore, however, I don’t feel like I’m going to collapse.