Fit-Pic: Rooftop Yoga

How's this for a morning workout? 

A view of Lake Michigan, overlooking Lincoln Park, the sun beaming down and 20-something (my best guess) yoga mats spread across J. Parker's rooftop. That's how you do yoga, thanks to a partnership between Equinox and Hotel Lincoln (1816 N. Clark). 

Fit-Pic: The Bar to Barre Transformation

How's this for a Saturday morning workout? Temperatures edging on the side of cold (but perfect for minimizing the sweat) plus the Park Hyatt's garden bar area turned fitness floor equals a rooftop workout. Add in Equinox 900 N. Michigan's group fitness manager Jenn Hogg and you get a dose of Barre Burn, a 45-minute sculpting workout that made our body parts burn with and without weights. Or maybe it was just my body, especially my legs, that screamed in pain? It started with the first round of Pilates hundreds and didn't ease up until our final push-up.

No complaints from this Barre Burner. I'm never up early on a Saturday morning (and the few times it does happen, I either crawl back in bed or I nap in the car), but this was exactly what I needed to start off the day. Who can complain when the sun is shining and the breakfast buffeters from The Peninsula across the street are totally watching in wonderment? Yeah, I worked out and you didn't--and my glutes are going to hurt tomorrow. As if they don't already.

A One-of-a-Kind Rooftop Workout

That move would hurt! Credit: quinn.anya

It’s hot. It’s humid. It’s drought season, and we’re practically begging for rain just to get some relief from the heat. But if I had to beg Mother Nature and the Rain Gods to hold off on letting the skies open up to downpour, drizzle or thunderstorm, I’d want it to happen on Tuesday, July 24, because I’m not about to miss a rooftop workout on account of bad weather. Even if I can’t do a plié to save my life.

Forget sweating on the gym floor or feeling like you’re stuck in the studio rooms for hours on end. Equinox is offering an outdoor workout that’ll wake you up and work you out. And it’s on the rooftop garden of one of Chicago’s most craveable restaurants and most spectacular hotels. The fitness club is taking its Barre Burn class outdoors at the NoMI Garden on the seventh floor of the Park Hyatt Hotel on Michigan Avenue on July 24, from 9 a.m. to 10 a.m. Space is limited but if you RSVP to Sarah.Roberts@Equinox.com, you could still score a spot for this rooftop rendezvous for dancers, fitness fanatics and anyone looking for a good total body workout.