What's The Hype On VersaClimber Workouts??
Have you all noticed VersaClimbers popping up in workouts lately? I’ve been seeing some of my favorite studios hop on the VersaClimber bandwagon and wanted to see what the hype was all about.
First, What Is A VersaClimber?
A VersaClimber is a cardio machine that mimics a climbing motion — think of it like a StairMaster but you’re also using your hands. To use a VersaClimber, you slip your feet in the “pedals” and grab on to handles above you. Once you’re on the machine, the climbing motion to get you going is super intuitive. Like other cardio machines, it tracks how high you’ve climbed and allows you to increase the resistance if you’re looking to kick it up a notch.
What Makes It Different?
VersaClimbers have made a comeback because they can burn twice the amount of calories as treadmill but with zero impact. This makes the machine great for folks who are short on time and/or those who may not be able to use traditional cardio machines because of prior injuries.
Plus, because you’re moving your arms and legs AND engaging your core, its a total body workout. This definitely sets it apart from similar machines like a StairMaster or spin bike.
How Can You Use It To Workout?
You can use VersaClimbers in a number of different ways. You can opt to stay on it for a 15-30 minute period of time to get an intense cardio workout or you can incorporate shorter sprints on the machine in between other circuit-training exercises.
Where Can You Try It?
New DC studio PULSE House of Fitness has VersaClimbers as the star of their service offering. They offer a VersaClimber-only class that is 30 minutes on the machine. Think of these classes like SoulCycle but on a VersaClimber. You’ll get the motivation and dark lighting of a spin class and back in the same calorie burn in a shorter amount of time. In addition, they also feature VersaClimbers as machine of focus during their interval training LAB classes.
Next Phase Studio has VersaClimbers as part of their Signature Circuit workouts in both their Arlington and Bethesda locations. This means that you hop on and do a quick cardio burst of 30-60 seconds on the machine before hopping over to a different exercise. AND! If you haven’t tried Next Phase yet, your first class is free!
Do I Like It?
To be perfectly honest with you guys, VersaClimbers are not my favorite machine. I’m not sure what it is — I don’t like indoor rock climbing so maybe it’s that the “climbing” motion just isn’t my jam or it could simply be that the VersaClimber is not easy and really pushes me outside of my comfort zone. That said, I don’t mind hopping on them for a quick cardio burst but, for long stretches of time, they’re not my favorite. With that in mind, given the benefits of the machine, I think everyone should definitely try it out and see if it might be something that does work them because you never know when you’ll find your new favorite workout.
