May 12, 2006

Let’s Get Physical

Physique 57 Opens

You never let your bed friend meet your real friends. You keep your sexy thongs away from grandma panties and separate your pay-now-or-die bills from eh-they-can-wait bills.

You’ve mastered the art of isolation.

Now put it to good use at Physique 57, a new exercise offshoot of the famed Lotte Berk Method. The classes incorporate 57 minutes (you’ll count ’em, too) of isometrics — from pulsating bends at the ballet bar (hello, thighs) to muscle-strengthening floor exercises using a strap and a ball. (Not S&M. But close.)

No coddling. No meditating. No chakra expanding. (This ain’t your mother’s rich lady workout.)

Instructors keep your energy high with help from The Beatles, Al Green, Janice Joplin, and Kanye. Playful taunts like “nobody wants to see your saggy bikini bottom” keep you going.

The truth? It hurts. But loyalists promise that it does get easier.

And won’t you be happy when you get to separate your fat jeans from your skinny ones?

Physique 57, 24 West 57th Street, between Fifth and Sixth Avenues, suite 805 (212-399-0570 or physique57.com).