It's 1am and all I can think about is going to Hotworx. This is not normal. I am not a fan of exercise. But here I am, addicted to infrared sauna workouts. I threw out my back on Sunday, and by Tuesday I was back at Hotworx, first doing Hot Stretch, then progressing from there. By Thursday the pain is almost gone. This is sorcery!
I think they got the big things right: the combination of hot isometrics and hot HIIT that leaves the body with no soreness that I can go everyday and be consistent. I've done martial arts, regular gym, classes, and none was able to help me be consistent, partly due to being repetitive like a treadmill, partly due to no structure, partly due to injury (martial arts). The flexibility of being in a smaller room, (I have yet to encounter sharing the sauna with another member) where I don't see TVs everywhere or noise all around I think hit the bullseye for me. But I wouldn't mind being in the room with another member either since it's just a couple people vs the entire overstimulating environment of a gym or large class. What Hotworx offers is something easy to like/love with a great value!
The staff is super nice and welcoming, Kaliegh & Matt, Lynn, just everyone. They make you feel welcome and are always smiling and pleasant. There hasn't been a time where I had a question and there was no one to answer.
I think it can get even better if:
- They can include non-isometric weight training inside the saunas for those wanting to up the ante in building muscle. There must be some heat resistant dumbbells out there. Doesn't have to be the whole arsenal of weights. Just a couple simple ones.
- The instructional TVs are high and small, not ideal when you're flat on the floor. I either get out of the position I'm supposed to do, or have to lift my head way up to see.
- Some saunas instructional TV volumes are too low even when I turn to Max volume, or maybe I'm going deaf
My dislikes:
- The merch prices! $46 for one towel? I get it - heat resistant and anti-slip. But come on. I need like 12 towels before the laundry in my household can cycle through 😄. No, we cannot use mats, towels, and accessories outside of the Hotworx brand due to the temperature in the saunas.
- The app can be improved. I cannot see calories I've burned past the day or so, so I don't know which workout is working the best for me. Only the workouts I did that day. I then cross reference my fitness tracker and calendar data to see what exercise I did when and what I burned. I have an Android phone and the layout/formatting is a bit off with some text overlapping preventing me from using the manual calories in out fur example. The app seems to be one of two major things setting the higher membership price, with the ability to go to other hotworx locations as the other. I don't find the app all that useful since 99% of the time, I'll be using my local studio. I haven't downgraded because I actually want to incorporate the non-sauna non-isometric exercises in the free weights zone and I think their virtual instructor library is pretty solid. That virtual instructor feature is only available in the higher membership. But overall the app experience is meh. Guest privileges are part of the membership, but there's no way for me to book my husband as a guest in a session through the app.
- Please put some benches in the saunas facing the bathrooms since gym bags don't fit in the cubbies. Cubbies are small, only my purse or jacket fits.
- The Hotworx mat, with some fibers on top (I think of coconut husk or jute feeling) is hard on my knees. My knees started peeling from being scraped/scratched by it despite having a towel over it. Love their towel, but really dislike the mat. There's no softness or plushness.
Overall though, this is one place that has a solution to the number one thing in my way - consistency due to no pain, relaxing, and structured sessions that is available 24/7. They hit the right balance of flexible but guided sessions so I can keep progressing and that alone is worth...
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