We Tried It: A Video Game-inspired Fitness Class that Burns Up to 1,000 Calories

What Is It: AG6, a fitness class that is said to resemble a video game

Who Tried It: Grace Gavilanes, PEOPLE writer-reporter

Level of Difficulty: 7/10

Confession: I’m one of those weird people who wakes up at 5:30 a.m. every morning to exercise before work. It’s gross, I know. But it makes me feel good, and I’ve gotten to the point where I feel off if I miss my morning class — even though that would mean an additional hour of sleep and dreaming (mostly about Drake and freshly baked chocolate chip cookies).

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Since recently adopting a penchant for fitness that would have scared my milkshake-loving 12-year-old self silly, I’ve found myself feeling enthusiastic about taking on new workouts that go beyond Pilates, yoga and spin.

Enter AG6, a class exclusively offered in N.Y.C. that is said to resemble a video game and may burn up to 1,000 calories in one 45-minute session. I first learned about this class, which is offered at Asphalt Green’s Manhattan location on the Upper East Side, through Facebook. People seemed to be fascinated with this new fitness class that’s the first of its kind in the United States due to its cutting-edge technology.

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AG6 boasts pressure sensitive walls and floors throughout its seven workout stations that light up as guides to improve muscle memory as well as help target all major muscle groups. The workout is deemed high intensity, meaning there are a lot of fast-paced squats, lunges and burpees involved.

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Each of the seven stations feature its own niche exercise that ranges from throwing a ball onto ever-changing lit-up targets to using gliders for nonstop mountain climbers. It kind of felt like I was in the training scene from The Hunger Games, minus the daggers and arrows.

Despite having only launched a little over a month ago, AG6 has formed its own group of class devotees, with participants having already taken one or two classes by the time I even booked my first class.

The Verdict: While I really enjoyed AG6, I’d have to say that it only loosely resembled a video game, which I guess a part of me was already expecting. When I first learned about the class, I was anticipating each station to have its own scoreboard à la Flywheel and Equinox’s The Pursuit. But that honestly was a minor detail compared to the rest of my experience, which consisted of a lot of sweating, panting and grunting a.k.a. the real indicator of a killer workout.

—Grace Gavilanes