Good morning! As I mentioned on Monday, over the weekend I had a chance to check out a new-to-me class: Booty by Brabants, by the founder herself, Kelly Brabants.

“Booty by Brabants is a fitness and lifestyle brand inspired by the Brazilian booty.” (from the Booty by Brabants site)

I have to say, the name of the class kind of turned me off initially, only because I’m not really into the whole “booty/bikini/sexy” workout phenomenon. But, I’m happy to say that even though the class screamed a certain type of sex appeal, it was still a really good, challenging, sweaty class! And, the encouragement to throw a little sex appeal into the workout ended up being fun, even though totally awkward feeling at first.

As I was checking out Kelly’s website, I couldn’t help but fully agree with the explanation of the class: Booty by Brabants classes are designed to provide a high-intensity, cardio-based, booty-shaping workout within a 60 minute time-frame. Now a weekly routine for women in the Boston area, the distinctive heart pumping and high energy movements are designed to ignite the core, booty, legs and arms. Infused by Brazilian and classical dance moves, the class strikes a perfect blend of fitness and fun.

I loved that we didn’t do only squats and lunges for the whole class. Don’t get me wrong, we did plenty of squats, but we also used bands, did jumping jacks/mountain climbers/burpees, arms using a towel and lots of dancing. Kelly’s choreography and dance songs were great because they were simple enough to catch on to and to execute the moves, not to mention the music selection was on point (most definitely some Biebs!) so besides the fact I was in my workout clothes and sweating like a pig, I felt like I was at the club 😉

This class opportunity couldn’t have come at a more perfect time for me, especially after I had just talked about “getting comfortable being uncomfortable”. While I like to think of myself as a decent dancer, meaning I have rhythm, prior dance experience and I genuinely love doing it, when it comes to dancing as a workout, I always feel a little awkward. This wasn’t always the case, but as I’ve gotten more into other forms of fitness outside of Zumba, I have a hard time letting go of my traditional sense of exercise and movement and tend to focus more on executing the moves “just right” instead of letting my body move with the beat of the music. Since I hadn’t done any sort of class involving dance in so long, I felt extra awkward and uncomfortable at the beginning of class!

But, I reminded myself that no one was looking at me except for me. Everyone was probably feeling the same way I was (well, except for the girls who clearly followed Kelly around from studio to studio, event to event!), so I just needed to embrace the discomfort. And you know what? As soon as I did that, I was able to relax into the moves a bit and just have fun. I love choreography and moving to the beat (my kickboxing class, for example) so I had a blast getting a chance to relive my old dance days!

Kelly’s energy was incredible and she did a great job engaging the class, making us laugh by being silly and giving us a sense of female empowerment. It was clear how comfortable she was in her body and how much she wanted us to be comfortable in our bodies, which is something I’ve become really passionate about. Girls were there in all shapes, ages and physical abilities and it was awesome to all be encouraged to bring out the sexy goddess within all of us. I had a blast shaking my booty and throwing a little club-like sexy flare into the moves thanks to the confidence that was radiating from Kelly around the room. It’s clear she’s got a really fantastic thing going on and her positive energy was a great thing to be around. If you’re looking for a new type of workout that doesn’t actually feel like a workout because you’re having fun jumping and dancing around, you definitely need to check out one of Kelly’s classes at the BFX Studio or The Club by George Foreman III. Also, her “Booty by Brabants” leggings seem to be quite the hit because ¾ of the class was wearing them! I loved that some of them had mesh down the sides and the colors were so fun. I wish I would’ve bought a pair!

Thanks for a great class, Kelly!

Questions for you: When’s the last time you tried a class that was different than your normal workout? How do you deal with feeling uncomfortable in a class? Have you ever been to a Booty by Brabants class?