Row House Granada Hills is a boutique fitness studio that opened in December 2019. Their official Grand Opening party was on Saturday, February 8th and I happily attended it. During the event, I met with Trevor, the General Manager. He gave me the rundown of the fitness studio and I was very intrigued.
I’m familiar with rowing as an exercise, having worked out at another studio that uses a water rowing machine as a small part of their fitness routine. So, I was really pumped to try out Row House, as this is a 45-minute workout dedicated to rowing!
For my first class, I arrived at the fitness studio about 15 minutes early so that I could fill out some paperwork. Then it was time to get my locker and fill up my water bottle with their super high-tech, filtered water dispenser. What’s also a nice perk is that they provide towels for everyone at their individual row stations.
After I got situated at my appointed row machine, a Row House instructor came by to demo the electronic monitor, explain how the foot straps work and how to use the handlebars. The instructor also warned me that this rower is not like a water rower, so I mentally prepared myself for having to really dig in and power my legs!
The instructor is on a slightly raised platform (it kinda reminded me of SoulCycle) and there is cool mood lighting that fits with the music. My first class was a Launch class, but I also took other types of classes at Row House.
So…what did I think? Read on to find out!
Launch Class
This class is 60-minutes long (as opposed to all of the other ones that are 45-minutes long). Why is it 1-hour? The Launch Class allows you to sample all of Row House’s classes in one 60-minute workout. I’m glad that I took this class first because it allowed me to get a taste of the other classes to come. Trevor was the instructor and he had a lot of good energy. What also helped was sitting in the back row next to two women who were so pumped to take the class and their enthusiasm helped me stay committed to the class.
Restore Class
Want to improve your mobility and core? This class is for you! This class was taught by Adria, who oddly enough I used to work for when I did social media/event planning for a different fitness studio. Small world! Any hoo…I really liked this class because the rowing was mixed in-between dynamic stretches. Another reason why I liked this class is because we didn’t do a lot of “Power” rowing. It’s just what I needed on Day 2 since I was still getting acclimated to exercising on this machine.
House Class
This class was held on Valentine’s Day (February 14), so the theme was “Bad Row-mance.” Hahaha…I love a good pun!
This rowing class did a lot of Power strokes and other rowing movements. We also did some functional floor-based movements like lunges, planks, mountain climbers, etc.
Like any fitness studio, the trainers all have different personalities and training methods. What really helped me with powering the rower is when Adria told me to visualize a kettlebell exercise and engaging your core/squeezing your glutes with a quick movement. Once I got that down, it helped increase my “power numbers” on the monitor.
Body Class
This was probably my favorite class because it combined rowing with using weight resistance/body sculpting. We used a set of dumbells for arm exercises and to add weight while doing lunges. Edward was the instructor for the class and he was just the coolest!
I think another reason why I liked this class the most is because I’m still new to rowing, the fact that we got to alternate rowing intervals with weight exercises helped break things up. Like any new program, it takes time to get used to the exercises and machine.
Full Row
My final class at Row House was a Full Row class. In this class, the goal is to build stamina with endurance-based interval rowing. You’ll do a lot of power moves (strokes?) while at the same time packing on your meters, burning calories, and strengthening your body.
Since this was my 5th class in 5 days, I was getting a little burnt out. Some may say that this is one of the hardest classes and I’d have to agree.
Remember…I was using a 1-week free pass. I imagine if I had spread the classes out, I would have been able to go “full out” during the Full Row class. Thank goodness I had Adria again as my instructor. I think she realized I was tiring half-way through the session, but her encouragement really helped me see things through!
All in all, I found Row House to be a cool fitness studio! I like the concept, the instructors are great, and the workout is challenging. I spoke with at least 1 or 2 rowers in each class who joined the studio back when it opened in December. Everyone had positive things to say. A few mentioned that it took a good month to improve their stamina and power strokes.
I’d highly recommend this studio. Also, one thing to note – the first class is FREE! For more info, check out the Row House Granada Hills website here and don’t forget to follow their Facebook page for the latest updates.
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