BEACHWOOD, Ohio - How fitting that Corus Fitness makes me think of choirs and music. After my first workout at the just-opened facility last week, every muscle in my body was singing.
No reason I should be surprised. Even though I work out almost every day, I don't generally do anything like what I did there. Namely, push myself to the max on a high-end Pilates machine.
That's not all that sets Corus apart. Unlike those of its competitors (I'm looking at you, JetSet Miami), the workout at Corus was one I was actually able to keep pace with, and therefore to enjoy. I may have gone home a sweaty mess, but at least I went home happy.
I credit Hillary Zashin, owner of Corus Fitness. A former representative of Beachbody home exercise videos, she's been around the fitness block a few times and has a sense of what works and what doesn't. What people want and what they definitely don't.
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Her first wise choice was solid equipment. No gimmicky, faddish devices or regimens here. The entire workout at Corus (corusfitness.com) takes places on the "Megaformer," the luxury version of the tried-and-true Pilates Reformer machine. It's a tank, a giant surfboard of a thing with a stable flat base, handles and straps galore, and a sliding platform connected to adjustable resistance springs.
On this we performed just about every variety of exercise you can imagine, following a protocol developed by Sebastien Lagree. The class was only 45 minutes long, but in that time, under Zashin's supervision, we managed to completely roast my quadriceps, hamstrings, and shoulders.
To get that kind of burn elsewhere, I have to log some serious time doing squats, lifts, and pull-ups. Elsewhere, however, I don't get to wear fancy socks with grip pads (the kind you wear at SkyZone) or enter the studio via the coolest bead curtain you'll ever see.
Two of my favorite exercises: In a one-legged lunge on either side of the machine, we placed the other leg on the sliding platform and pushed back, scorching the inactive leg. Then, crouched on top of the machine with one foot in a stirrup-pulley system, we frog-kicked, using our hamstrings to drive the platform with our bodies forward and back. Just thinking about that is enough to make my legs tremble.
Zashin's other wise choice: music. At many gyms, the soundtrack is hit or miss. At Corus, on the other hand, you can make requests, and even if you simply go with the flow, you can rest (or rather, bust your hump) assured the lineup will be upbeat and energizing. On the day I visited, we were all about rock from the 80s and 90s.
Beachwood, it seems, is becoming something of a fitness hot-spot. In the same plaza with Corus, at least three other studios are thriving, and several more are located within a mile radius.
But I'd say Corus stands out from the crowd. In fact, I'd say that for the time being, Corus has the melody.