Celebrity Workouts  |  Fashion  |  Fitness

“Getting Ugly” with Jessie J at Propel Co:Labs

April 20, 2017  |  By: Whitney E. RD

Propel Co:Labs is hitting cities nationwide this summer with free fitness and music events and I got a preview of what’s to come!

Wow, what a whirlwind the past week has been.

Last Wednesday, I traveled to New York for the launch of Propel Co:Labs — a mashup of fitness, fashion, and music celebrating the launch of Propel’s new campaign, “Let’s Get Ugly.”

The Co:Labs are a series of multi-day activations happening this summer across the country in Los Angeles, New York, Miami, Denver, and Chicago featuring free workouts at the hottest fitness studios and gyms.

 Outfit details:
On Katie: Lorna Jane top and leggings // On me: Athleta top, Alo Yoga leggings

Co:Labs stand for “collaboration” and was created to bring together top industry experts, influential trainers, and fitness enthusiasts to celebrate what it means to “get ugly.” In other words, to give a workout your all — to get tough, get gritty, get raw, leave it all on the floor.

In other words, to give a workout your all — to get tough, get gritty, get raw, leave it all on the floor.

So often we see beautiful images of fitness influencers “exercising” with perfect makeup and hair, and relaxed smiles.

Not judging, I’m guilty here too.

In reality though, when you’re working hard, you’re huffing and puffing, you’re sweating, you’re gritting your teeth — and it’s not always pretty!

I was doing all of these things last week when I got to preview a few of the classes that will be part of Propel Co:Labs this summer along with nine other health and wellness bloggers from across the country.

The first was The Class by Tayrn Toomey. This sweaty workout kicked my butt. The format is HIIT meets cardio dance meets primal yelling therapy.

Yeah, you read that right. While performing plyometrics and calisthenics, you’re also encouraged to release cathartic screams, which actually come quite naturally as your limbs feel like they’re on fire. It was a totally unique experience, and surprisingly (after my glutes stopped burning), I decided I quite enjoyed it.

The class ended with a sound bath, which if you’ve never tried it, I highly recommend. Basically, it’s an extended savasana with mood-enhancing, rhythmic beats from sound machines, and in our case, an extremely talented live vocalist.

Outfit details: Alo Yoga top and leggings

The next workout of the day was with a favorite LA studio of mine, Prevail Boxing. Three of their top trainers, Milan Costich, Lolo Thomas, and Dillan Ostrom, lead the circuit-style class featuring cardio drills, punching exercises, and actual sparring.

I hadn’t boxed in a while, and it definitely took me a bit to get back in the groove, but by the end of the class I was jabbing, bobbing, and crossing like nobody’s business.

That’s the best thing about boxing, even when you don’t know what you’re doing, it’s still a blast and a great workout.

For more on Prevail’s full-body boxing workout, check out my post: Become a Knockout LA’s Lastest Fitness Trend >>

The last workout of the day was an invigorating vinyasa flow with Heather Lilleston and Katelin Sisson of Yoga For Bad People. This unconventional practice is all about showing that in yoga, rules were made to be broken. You’ll find no “oming” here.

The class is carefree in attitude, with humor and good music interspersed, yet the instructors are still attentive to proper alignment.

If you think the terms “yoga” and “fun” are not congruent, you need to give this class a try — or try one similar in your own city. Shout out to, Playlist Yoga in LA!

One pervasive theme throughout the workouts was the power music. Good tunes can make or break a class, which is why Propel recruited one of the top performers in the music biz to create an anthem for the campaign.

After a long, sweaty day, we got to meet the talented songstress Jessie J and preview her new jam, “Let’s Get Ugly.”

It was an incredible experience with an amazing group of inspiring women and I’m so excited for what’s to come this summer.

Left to right: Jeana of A Sweat Life, Christine of NYCPretty, Amber of Every Once in a Style, Taylor of Taylor Walker Fit, Rachel of The Dimple Life, Rachael of Sweat and Repeat, Torey of Torey’s Treasures, Katie of Love Sweat Fitness, and me!

SHOP THE FIT FASHION

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Stay tuned over the next few months for more info on the Propel Co:Labs events including details on how to sign up for free classes in your city!

Check out my workout with celebrity trainer Gunnar Peterson from last year’s Propel Co:Labs event >>

*This post was sponsored by Propel but all opinions are my own. Propel Water is the only water on the market with enough electrolytes to put back what you lose in sweat.