Any workout you do at home can technically be classified as “housework.” But well before the pandemic normalized home workouts, SoulCycle instructor Sydney Miller began teaching HOUSEWORK, a Pilates-inspired, high-intensity fitness class held at SoulCycle Annex, a short-lived New York City studio tasked with bringing new fitness modalities to die-hard cycling fans. A certified Pilates instructor, Miller leveraged her background in dance and affinity for house music to design the core-centric, rhythm-based workout, which is now offered via Zoom, HOUSEWORK app, and in-person at the Sagamore Hotel in Miami. “It’s my take on Pilates, but higher energy and more challenging,” she says of the workouts, which will definitively make you sweat. “There’s also strength training and cardio. It’s the way I put them together that makes HOUSEWORK unique.” While shorter bouts of HOUSEWORK are available on the app, a typical 50-minute class is broken down into song-long “flows” including a warmup, plank challenge, abs on the mat, booty on the mat, upper body cardio, a slider lunge series, slider abs, and a cardio finisher. “It’s designed to keep the mind and body connected—you have to stay present or you’re going to mess up,” she warns. So what kind of results should you expect from such sweat sessions? “The main goal is to make people feel really confident and have so much fun working out that everything else is a perk,” Miller says, referencing clients who have lost weight, gotten stronger, and improved their balance. “It tones your body every which way.” Ready for a taste of what HOUSEWORK has to offer? Turn up “That’s What I Want” by Lil Nas and buckle up for the following plank challenge, a version of which shows up during every full-length HOUSEWORK workout.
HOUSEWORK plank challenge
Pre-chorus flow: Move 1: Start in a high plank position with hands under shoulders and feet hip-width apart. Step the left leg up to the left hand and tap your left shin to the right calve before stepping back to a high plank. Move 2: Perform a “commando”: Keeping your core tight and hips square to the floor, lower one forearm at a time to the floor into a forearm plank. Next, press one palm at a time into the floor beneath your shoulders to return to a high-plank. Continue alternating between Move 1 and Move 2 until the chorus, alternating sides each round. Chorus flow: Move 1: Beginning in high plank position keeping the hips still, raise one hand to tap the opposite shoulder, then return to starting position. Repeat on the opposite side. Then raise one hand to tap the opposite shoulder, and return to starting position. Repeat on the opposite side. Move 2: From plank position, jump both feet from hips-width apart to shoulders-width apart, then back starting position. Drive one knee into the chest, then return to starting position. Jump feet apart and back together, then repeat the knee drive on the opposite side. Continue alternating between Move 1 and Move 2 until the chorus ends. Return to the pre-chorus flow at the end of the chorus and continue to alternate flows until the song ends. Next up: 15 Best Hamstring Exercises
Sources
Sydney Miller, founder ofHOUSEWORK
