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Toned muscles, a strong core; cardiovascular fitness for health, stress relief or endurance for sports and recreation: Whatever your reason for working out, it’s results you want. If you exercise regularly and maintain the habit, you’ll begin to see and feel results in weeks. Here’s how.

Strength Training, Including Pilates:

If you’re a beginner: For the most rapid change, beginners should do Pilates twice a week.  “Pilates is a new physical language that you have to learn,” says Susan Moran, senior vice president of Power Pilates, an APOGEE Wellness company. Beginners will get results if they practice twice a week for an hour. “Just two hours a week—it will change your life!” says Susan.

Beginners can also strength train—with weights or other types of resistance—twice a week, says Jane Nielsen, APOGEE’s Fitness Manager. “It just takes 20 minutes,” says Jane. “You don’t need hours and hours.”

If you’re already active: Schedule in three weekly Pilates sessions and increase the frequency of your strength training to three or four times a week, says Jane. To allow your muscles a day to recover, don’t do the same exercises two days in a row, she says. “You might do lunges one day and work on inner and outer thighs the next,” says Jane. Ask an APOGEE trainer to create a list of exercises that challenge different muscles, reducing your risk of injury while working all of your muscle groups.

The exception: “You can work your abs every day,” says Jane.

Cardiovascular Training

Running, walking, cycling, striding on the elliptical, and indoor rowing build cardiovascular fitness, ease stress, reduce risk of chronic disease and help you maintain or lose weight.

If you’re a beginner: Schedule 30 to 45 minutes of cardio three to five times a week, says Jane.  Start with a goal that you are sure to accomplish; it’s better to be conservative and meet your goal than be ambitious and set yourself up for failure. “People say they want to workout six or seven days a week but that’s almost impossible,” says Jane.  Both APOGEE White Plains and Bedford Hills have a wide selection of group cardio classes to motivate you.

If you’re already active: Maintain a habit of 45 minutes of cardio five times a week. Ask an APOGEE trainer about making one or two of your workouts longer or more intense. Try a Spinning or Indo-Row class; there are challenges built into every session!

“Do cardio, Pilates and strength training every week and eat a healthy diet and you’ll look great,” says Jane. “Why wouldn’t you?”

There’s something new in our White Plains studio—perhaps you’ve seen a cluster of exercise machines, each with a long rail, a sliding seat and a round water tank. They’re our new rowing machines for Indo-Row®, APOGEE’s unique take on indoor rowing.

Rowing is one of the best routes to total fitness—not only is it an extraordinary cardiovascular workout, but it is a true total-body workout, activating your legs, core, back, shoulders and arms. With so much muscle mass recruited for each stroke, rowing is a huge calorie burner—up to 700 calories an hour. But because you’re seated, there’s no pounding stress on joints. And you can row easily or all-out—you decide how much effort to put into each stroke.

Indo-Row is the perfect complement to Pilates. The stroke is easy to learn, but as with Pilates, the more you concentrate on flowing movement, the greater your results. Your core acts as a link between your upper and lower body as you row; the stronger your core, the more powerful your stroke. “Indo-Row allows our clients to complement their Pilates experience with an exhilarating aerobic workout,” says Dr. Howard Sichel, executive vice president of APOGEE Wellness and founder of Power Pilates. “Our instructors ensure each class is high-energy, fun and challenging.”

Three things make APOGEE’s Indo-Row class stand out.

It’s Motivating
First, Indo-Row is a group fitness class, and APOGEE instructors use group dynamics for motivation—that’s where the team competitions come in. Instructors create short relay races to up the intensity. You also get support from the group. Because everyone is rowing at the same pace, it’s easy to keep the rhythm—even the sound of the rowing machines acts as a cue. “The greatest part of Indo-Row is the sense of community in the class,” says Sichel.

There’s Constant Feedback
APOGEE Indo-Row classes utilize the newest innovation in indoor rowing equipment. Indo-Rowers have a sealed water flywheel that provides smooth, constant resistance during each stroke. The exact resistance varies depending on how intensely you row. “What’s great about the Indo-Row machine is that an elite athlete can row next to a beginner at the same pace, and they will both get a great workout,” says Sichel. The water also creates a wave-like sound that is soothing, realistic and almost meditative. Each machine has a simple electronic read-out that gives you instant feedback on your effort.

You’ll Incorporate Pilates Moves
Most importantly, APOGEE instructors break up the 45-minutes of rowing with three Pilates-based interludes of strength, stretch and recovery exercises that keep you connected to your core and ensure your back, legs and shoulders stay supple, strong and healthy.

Let the rowing begin!

Finding the time, energy and motivation to keep your body fit can be as challenging as completing the workouts themselves. That’s why APOGEE’s new Power Pilates OneShot class is quickly gaining a devoted following: In 55 minutes, you can raise your heart rate, burn off calories and work your core with Pilates moves. “It’s motivating because there’s so much variation,” says APOGEE OneShot instructor LucyAnn Doino.

The OneShot class alternates between Pilates mat work and ropeless jumping—think of a boxer’s workout, with foot shuffles, side-to-side footwork and hopping. The difference: You’re holding just the handles of a jump rope—there’s no actual rope to get tangled or miss. The Jump Snap handles make the noise of a rope so you know your pace. With feet, legs and arms moving, OneShot gives you an exhilarating total-body workout.

“In the 45-minute Intro class, we do a 25-minute Pilates mat warm-up, followed by 5-minute jump routines alternating with 5-minutes of Pilates mat work,” says LucyAnn. The Pilates moves are similar to those in a Beginning Mat class. The jumping routines are easy and anyone can revert to the basic side-to-side move if they need to lower their intensity. “We do 20-, 30- and 60-second jumping intervals,” says LucyAnn. “The choreography is simpler than a Zumba class.”

In the 55-minute Regular OneShot class, the Pilates mat warm-up is 10 minutes long, followed by 10-minute jumping intervals with mat breaks lasting 5 minutes.

“The music is really motivating,” says LucyAnn. “No one is bored!” With music, the snapping sound of the Jump Snaps and just enough footwork to keep you challenged, OneShot is 55-minutes of sweat you’ll look forward to.

OneShot is open to everyone. It is helpful to have taken Intro to Pilates Mat so you understand the instructions during the mat-work portions of the class. Find a  OneShot class in White Plains or Bedford Hills.