The New Group Fitness Studio That Uses Heart-Rate Monitors in Every Class

Sure, you feel the burn. But do you really know how effective your workouts are?

At The Studio by Remorca Fitness, which opens today, you will.

In every class—from TRX and kickboxing to barre and dance—you'll be wearing a heart-rate monitor that meticulously tracks what's happening to your body while you sweat (or slack off).

The Studio is a sibling of Remorca Fitness, a boutique gym on the Upper East Side. And, according to founder Dennis Remorca, it's the first facility on the East Coast to utilize the Polar Team 2 Software Technology (a system used for training professional athletes like the Atlanta Falcons) for group fitness.

The founder says wearing the loaner heart-rate monitors helps take the workouts to the next level. Not unlike spinning. "SoulCycle was conceptual—it was about how good you feel after class. Flywheel took that experience and quantified it," says Remorca. "We're doing that with group training."

Like at Flywheel, the Remorca Studio allows you to view your output on a screen that's visible to the class and allows you to compete against your workout buddies. But instead of reporting your RPMs, the Studio displays your heart rate (with color coding so you can easily tell if you're in your target zone), along with your calories burned, and your total training load. (It's calculated with an algorithm.)

In my Next Level TRX class, which was expertly cued, I watched my heart rate hover beneath the red zone after an intense burpee sequence, and I patted myself on the back at the end when I learned I'd burned 426 calories in just under 50 minutes. The instructor also used the numbers during class to push us harder and pull back when it was too much. Since classes max out at eight students, she could easily adjust.

The next day I felt the same workout burn that I'm used to from any tough class, but it was great to know what it really meant. —Lisa Elaine Held

The Studio by Remorca Fitness, 171 E. 74th St. (between Third and Lexington Aves.), $20 for 30-minute classes, $38 for 60-minute (with discounts for packages), www.remorcafitness.com