By Writing this with a total high after my first Rumble class. My hands are like also shaking and my legs super sore – but so worth it.
I saw tons of Rumble posts left and right (or should I say up and down) on my Instagram feed when I lived in New York but never was like “Oh yeah, I wanna try boxing…?” I felt like I didn’t know any of the moves and had the heuristic in my head that boxing was only for guys. Specifically Jake Gyllenhaal….
So somehow I went from that state of mind to right now, after my first class, and am already so excited to go back. If you have had any of the same thoughts, I’m here to tell you that this class exceeded my expectations in so many ways. It is SUCH nice switch up from cycling, running, the normal cardio work. The most beautiful thing about the experience? Nothing felt intimidating and there were no surprises that hurt my experience or made me feel like I didn’t know what I was doing…
However there are a couple of small things to note before you sign up and in regard to the class itself.
SIGNING UP
I kind of thought you would just be punching the bag the entire class but it’s actually a bit more broken up. When you sign up online, you’ll see two sections location wise to select your spot. One side of the room is bags and one side of the room is benches. This determines which side you start the class on. During the class, I want to say there are 6ish (I didn’t keep track) rounds and you rotate between the sides each couple of rounds. It’s not as complicated as I just made it sound though…
I don’t think you have to worry about picking one side or the other to start with because you spend an equal amount of time on each. I started on the bag side and loved it. I ended with the weight training which was also totally fine.
THE INTRO DEALS
Philly: $34 dollars for 2 classes. You’ll also want to rent gloves when you get there ($3) and they require you to purchase your hand wrap ($8) which you can use every single time, you take home, etc. The wrap kind of looks badass…
New York: $36 for 2 classes. I’m not sure about the wrap and glove rental prices but I would assume the same.
You can sign up here.
No need to get there too early your first time. I thought there was like an intro before the class for first timers but there isn’t. Which is really nice. They bring everyone into the room for “pre-class” where they walk everyone through the moves, the punches, etc. If you’re in Philly you can just wait near the lobby area and they will call everyone up to the room – energy starts THERE.
Tip: Don’t put your gloves on to go upstairs. The instructor will tell you when to put them on during the class.
Another Tip: Drink tons of water before you go. When your boxing, I mean you have these huge clunky gloves on – not the easiest to just casually screw off the lid of your water bottle. And I mean you work hard, fast. Your body will need it!
INSTRUCTORS
Philly: I took Beth. She was amazing. They definitely sent her from NYC to open the Philly location up because she’s THAT good. She had my energy up the second she got on the mic to welcome everyone upstairs.
New York: I asked my friend who is a regular at the NYC Rumble studios – he suggested taking Erika, JD, Jaws (sounds like a boxing name) or Jeremiah.
PREP FOR CLASS (OPTIONAL)
Take a boxing workout class beforehand if you can… It really helped me today.
So before I went to Rumble, my friends and I tried another boxing workout class called CKO Boxing a few weeks ago. The first class was free but you did have to buy gloves for $20. At least you got to keep them! I would highly recommend kind of doing a low key (by low key I mean not that well known) boxing workout class to learn all of the basic moves (jab, hook, duck)– we didn’t really care if we were messing up and came out a little more skilled than having never boxed before.
Stretch your back before you go…your whole back. Similarly to golf, you’ll be twisting your back faster than it’s used to and it will hurt. The more flexibility will allow for better form and quick movement – what boxing is about.
THE RUMBLE CLASS
They will explain everything to you. I mean the fact that there were NO surprises (flashback to my first soul cycle class when I was wondering how everyone suddenly had magical weights in their hand), which is an indicator that they really are running a good workout class for first timers.
If you’re on the bag: Your instructor will show you the moves beforehand and you can reference the punches that will be displayed and animated on the wall in front of you. You don’t worry too, too much about remembering anything!
If you’re on the bench: Your instructor will show you the moves before the round begins and all of your weights are inside of the bench. The knuckle weights are in front of your bench. No need to grab anything elsewhere. The only thing you need to remember is how many reps you are doing as you are doing them (8x for some, 12x for others, etc). I always zone out and forget. For all I know, I could be doing my 5th squat or my 30th who knows.
Some other random positive takeaways from Rumble:
- The class feels long even though it’s 45 minutes
- All of the rounds are different which means you will not get bored
- Nothing felt intimidating, only fun and the music beforehand made me feel hyyypeeee
- Class was about half girls half guys
- You feel powerful AF when you get the hang of it
- It’s so easy to smile and have a great time!!!
Enjoy this one guys! Let me know your thoughts and whether or not this helped with your first time.
XO
The Sustennial
