I have a fantasy that one day we’ll pick up and live in Costa Rica. Kids will play on the beach. Parents will surf all day. One can always dream. In the meantime, I’m happy to pretend to catch a wave in Toronto. Indoors. At Yonge and Eg. (PS, your kids can too – more details below.)
A group of motivated mamas jumped on board(s) at SURFSET Toronto, a 2nd floor studio in Midtown offering surf-inspired work outs designed to build balance, core strength, stability, agility, coordination and endurance.
Posing post-class.
And that we did. Or tried to do.
Alexandra, our fit and enthusiastic instructor, took us on an-hour long ride that went well beyond the bending and balancing motions you imagine of surfers in action. She had us lunge-ing, squatting, jumping into planks and doing push ups off The RipSurfer X® — an 11-inch high, 70-inch long and 22-inch wide surf board set on an inflatable instability system made of three air bubbles. (You might remember seeing it take off on ABC’s Shark Tank.)
By the way, you don’t have to be a surfer to give it go. While the session won’t teach you to surf per se, you will be feeling the waves as the exercises mimic surfing motions without the water. The best part really (other than a super workout) is getting a sweat (and laugh) on with a bunch girlfriends. It’s not really about the bikini body. Although one can always dream.
TRIP TIPS:
Getting there: There are now two locations in the GTA. The main location is on Yonge just north of Eglinton. The second location is at Taub Fitness in North York. Directions here.
Low-down: The classes are broken down more or less to Blend (more inspired by surfing), Balance (focus on core strength, flexibility and stability), Build (circuit training) and Burn (high intensity intervals.) Cost is drop in $25 (first class is $20) or multi-pass and unlimited monthly passes. Reservations are required as classes tend to fill up. You can also book a private class (like we did) with a minimum of six people and rates of $20+HST when there are 10 or more participants.
Open Daily (check hours online.) More of what it looks like.
For kids! Surfset JUNIOR: There are 45-minute classes for kids at Taub Fitness in North York three times a week. My six-year-old had a blast. The instructor had the kids dodging rocks, chasing sharks, playing musical surfboards and jumping from board to board sneaking through “jelly fish.” For him, it was fun. For me, I saw him learning how to use his body to balance, burning some major energy and building confidence as he played.
DETAILS:
www.surfsettoronto.com
Main studio: 2481A Yonge Street (second floor)
North York location: Taub Fitness inside Chesswood Arenas
4000 Chesswood Drive (second floor)
416.787.3738
hello@surfsettoronto.com
Twitter @surfsetto
Instagram @surfsetto
Facebook @surfsetto
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