How an IG Live with Booty By Brabants Changed My View on a HIIT Workout and the Burpee
My at-home workout station. In the Booty by Brabants Pink Sand Croco Set
I have always been an active person. I danced all throughout my childhood, into high school and college and then found yoga after I wasn’t taking regular dance classes. Though I would do vinyasa yoga in a 100 degree room I definitely wasn't someone doing bootcamp classes and a million burpees at 5am. I would see postings on Instagram for Seaport Sweat (outdoor fitness classes in the Seaport district of Boston) and would always say I would go but never did. I really had no excuse, I lived across the street and it was free - but I was always intimidated by what looked like a LOT of cardio and pushups.
Enter March 2020. Being in lockdown during covid it was very difficult to clear my head or find joy in the midst of such an intense time of global hurting and injustice, to put it lightly. I didn’t know how much a workout could help until I saw that Kelly Brabants (founder of Booty by Brabants and all around amazing human) was going to do an at home workout on IG Live and figured this was my chance to join. I was too scared to take her class at Seaport Sweat so I could now try it out in the comfort of my living room. The class is a mixture of her signature workout, HIIT, dance, cardio and a positivity burst all into one. It was amazing. The music was on point, the class is HARD but you feel empowered and pushed to do more but at the same time accepted for where you are today. I am so grateful for these classes and I swear I joined every single one and got stronger in the process. I started to feel less like death when the beat would drop and we would fly into burpees. It's hard to explain the feeling in one of her classes but it's really the community that she has built that is the true gem. The BBB Fam, as we’re called, is the most positive, fun, welcoming community I have found online.
After doing these classes each week on Instagram it really felt like I was connecting with this community. It was a place I could go during the pandemic to release all the emotions that I didn't know were building up –– I know I wasn’t the only person who cried during some of those classes. It felt like for an hour of the day we were all together moving our bodies and getting out of our heads. I would see my friends and the same people over and over in the comments encouraging each other, it was like we were all there for each other. I started to know the playlists and the choreography. I remember Level Up being one of the songs we worked out to and in the beginning it was so hard - after some time I found myself loving it. Part of the reason I felt connected is because Kelly is just herself and relatable even though her abs are otherworldly. She would motivate us –– giving us a sense of empowerment and positivity and the encouragement to let yourself go. Kelly is not only authentic and motivating but she really cares and you can tell. I have only met her briefly in person before and yet I felt like she was speaking into my soul during class. I know that she has done this for so many other women - it's more than the workout. As the months went on and her following grew, she did classes for charity and the turn out was amazing. Her first in person class after the lockdown was one of the most incredible days - it was like a homecoming of all of the people from the IG comments section.
Don't even get me started on how much I love the actual product she sells! The leggings are made in Brazil and are somehow so flattering on everyone. My favorite styles are the chrome leggings and deep v top, and the croco tops, bike shorts, and leggings. I have the cropped version in the leggings and the full length and wear both (I’m 5’1’’). Chrome definitely has to be my most worn - they are super high waisted and so comfortable yet I can do an intense workout in them and feel supported. They make me feel good and they look amazing.
Shop her leggings here
Sign up for the workout app here
The app has been incredible. Every week she posts which classes she’s doing live -- those are the ones that I usually join and they’re saved if you miss it -- come say hi to me, I’m always in the comments!