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Axle 1

I’m always up for a challenge. From travailing through the mud during a Mudderella race to pumping iron during a CrossFit session, I like to push myself and my body. At this point, it’s fun. My most recent test? The AXLE workout.

You may not have heard about it, but it’s a new workout that helps you sculpt your body through a test of your flexibility, your power, and a variety of dynamic movements. Not to mention, you acquire some additional aid in getting your sculpt on through the help of the AXLE. It’s a lightweight barbell that has two wheels affixed to the ends. Why wheels? After speaking with co-founder and instructor Andrew Page, he, along with Anuj Patel wanted to create a training bar that could roll and offer a full-body workout.

Axle 2

At first sight, I didn’t know what to think about the contraption. But once class got going and we were instructed to do jumping jacks, core and leg work and more with it, I understood why it was such a great creation.

When I walked into the class, which was on the rooftop of the luxurious Clay Health Club + Spa, a group of AXLE bars were placed in front of mats. When the session began, Page had us use it to stretch, to balance, to prep our bodies for the burn that was coming. Once we got going, that burn was quite real.

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We rolled the bars out to do planks before rolling them back up, held them above our heads to churn out side lunges, squatted low before coming up, bringing our feet together (with a jump) with the bar up high, rocked forward for a Romanian deadlift before coming up on one leg, and did bent-over barbell rows and more. As light as the AXLE felt, once it was used to help you lift, burn and move, it may as well have been 50 pounds. And that’s what’s awesome about it. While most fitness equipment is either meant to do one thing or too many things due to complexity in construction, the AXLE is different. It looks like a very simple piece of equipment, but does more than you could imagine to optimize your session and leave you with the full-body workout you usually have to jump from machine to machine to obtain.

In the end, I thoroughly enjoyed my AXLE workout session. Sure, being on a rooftop with the breeze going is always nice, but it’s even nicer to be on that rooftop, grinding it out with a dumbell, and finishing feeling like an absolute sweaty and sexy beast. My legs, arms, and my core especially were all worked out, and yet, I had the boost of energy I didn’t have when I walked in to take part in the class. If you’re in NYC, this workout, with its one-of-a-kind bar, motivating instructors, “thumping music,” and great results, will help you get and keep your body right and tight — like, all of it, and in just 50 minutes. Score!

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