Fit and Fun

5 Dallas fitness instructors to motivate you in 2017

Has all that motivation to get healthy in 2017 already waned? Then let us introduce your new saviors. We found the most upbeat and inspiring fitness instructors (who also have the best dance moves) to get you surpassing those health goals.

Studio: Crowbar Cardio
Favorite instructor: Darius Yancy
Signature class: Tsunami
The studio is set up in four stations for this 30- or 60-minute class: one each for core, upper body, and lower body, and the last station is always on a rowing machine. Yancy keeps his classes cheery and light, even at 6am. You compete against the clock, rotating stations every two minutes or so. If you can’t get enough of Yancy’s bad jokes and karaoke, catch him at Fortis MMA, Burn Dallas Gym, Brook Hollow Golf Club, or in a personal training session. Bonus: It's only $25 for your first week of classes at Crowbar Cardio.

Studio: Grit Fitness
Favorite instructor: Brit Rettig
Signature class: Grit HIIT
Since founding Grit in 2015, Brit Rettig has opened two locations: Design District and East Dallas. Because Grit’s HIIT sessions last only 30 minutes, they’re a good option for those who have trouble mustering up the energy (or carving out the time for) for longer workouts. Attendees typically run through five groups of high-intensity exercises, such as jumping jacks or Russian twists, lasting about 20 seconds each. Rettig also teaches cycling, resistance, and cardio classes, if HIIT isn’t your style.

Several other class formats range from choreographed kickboxing called Turbo Kick (take Annabel Williams’ class) to Flexin’ Flow Yoga. New members can get their first week of Grit classes for $10.

Studio: Zyn22
Favorite instructor: Denis Morton
Signature class: Zyn22
Since opening on Park Lane in 2015, Zyn22 has had sweat addicts cycling to the beat of the music in The Dome. All Zyn’s instructors keep you moving, but Denis adds in some crazy bike moves such as body rolls (which is exactly what it sounds like) and peppers his classes with words of wisdom, leaving you laughing and feeling inspired by the end of the 45-minute class. Now Zyn’s Uptown location also offers Barre22 classes for those looking to tone as much as they sweat. New riders can take their first class at Zyn22 for free.

Studio: Beyond Studios
Favorite instructor: Ally Price
Signature class: Beyond500
Each of Beyond’s three Dallas studios offers a different class format, but all use Pilates Hybrid Intense Training (PHIT). At the Henderson Avenue location, a curved manual treadmill allows runners to set their own speed. You’ll run (literally) though a couple cardio sets on the treadmill and a couple strength sets on the floor to burn 500 calories in 50 minutes (aka about 12 Thin Mint Girl Scout cookies, if you’re counting). Price guides you through walking, running, squatting, lifting, and lunging all while cracking jokes and keeping a smile.

Beyond’s Preston Hollow and Lovers Lane studios use reformers and miniature trampolines in place of treadmills. New clients can get their first two classes at Beyond for $25.

Studio: The Ride House
Favorite instructor: Allen Pursley
Signature class: House Ride
This spin studio on Lovers Lane offers a variety of cycling and mat classes. The 45-minute House Ride centers on low-intensity cardio moves, and there are fun themes such as Beyonce versus Rihanna or Broadway. Pursley dances on and off the bike and blasts house music, making you feel like you’re in a club rather than a stuffy gym. Pursley also teaches other formats, including a 60-minute total body class and a 30-minute express ride. New riders get two free rides when they make an account on The Ride House’s website.

And if you love cycling, check out our guide of the best spin studios in Dallas.

Brit Rettig founded Grit Fitness in 2015.

Photo by Thomas Garza Photography

Brit Rettig founded Grit Fitness in 2015.

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Documentary News

Dallas native directs new Netflix series Waco: American Apocalypse

Waco: American Apocalypse

ATF agents at Waco compound in 1993.

Netflix has a new series on the tragedy that took place in Waco three decades ago: Called Waco: American Apocalypse, it's a three-part series documenting the standoff between cult leader David Koresh and the federal government that ended in a fiery inferno, televised live, with 76 people dead.

The series debuts on March 22, to coincide with the 30-year anniversary of the event which took place from February 28 to April 19, 1993. There's a trailer here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=scZ2x7R_XXc.

It's an oft-told tale and not the only new release to try and exploit the 30-year anniversary: Jeff Guinn, former books editor at the Fort Worth Star Telegram, just came out with a book also described as definitive, called Waco: David Korsh, the Branch Davidians, and a Legacy of Rage.

Waco: American Apocalypse is directed by another "local": Dallas native Tiller Russell (Night Stalker: The Hunt for a Serial Killer), who obtained never-before-seen videotapes of FBI negotiations, as well as raw news footage and interviews with insiders.

Those insiders include one of David Koresh’s spiritual wives; the last child released from the compound alive; a sniper from the FBI Hostage Rescue Team; the FBI Crisis Negotiation Unit Chief; journalists; and members of the ATF tactical team who watched colleagues die in the shootout against the heavily armed members of the religious sect.

The FBI videotaped inside the hostage negation room, thinking they'd be there maybe 24 hours, not 51 days.

"These are video cassettes that were sitting in somebody’s closet for 30 years, that show the mechanics of hostage negotiations in an intimate setting - not the hostage negotiation scenarios you see in films, but a team of people grinding, day in and day out, for 51 days," Russell says.

He also procured footage from Waco TV station KWTX, who had a reporter embedded in the initial gunfight.

While the standoff was broadcast live on TV at the time, much of it was out of camera range. The film uses 3D graphics to recreate the details of the compound.

Russell acknowledges that the tale of the cult leader who was also a pedophile, the debate over the right to bear arms, the constitutional limits of religious freedom, dredge up painful conversations that continue today.

"It cast a long shadow, pre-saging the Timothy McVeigh bombing in Oklahoma, the shooting at Colombine, and a growing distrust of government, but I think it's important to reckon with our past so we don't repeat mistakes," he says.

"So much of what’s roiling in culture today can be traced to Waco, a story about God and guns in America with all these children at the center whose lives were determined by the adults around them," he says. "There was no playbook for what happened, everyone was out on a limb, and people made mistakes. But almost everybody was trying to do their very best."

"I think this is a story that's often recalled in politicized terms, with finger-pointing on who screwed up and how did we get here, but there's a profound humanity to it all," he says.

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