We have a routine – we meet on Lauren’s corner to walk to class around 5:38am. We’ve always been close, but now that we live a block from each other we do a lot together, including Ripped, which we have been going to for almost a year now.

L: After I graduated college, I was living at home and going to the gym and taking some workout classes in the suburbs. When I moved into the city I was trying to find the best class to take and I knew Ryan had been going to Ripped on and off for a couple of years so I tried a class with Katie and loved it. The staff was so nice and Katie paid attention to each person in the class, which was a nice change from the studio I was going to.

I started my food instagram (@love_phillyfood) over three years ago after my friends encouraged me since I kept posting food pictures on my personal Instagram. I never thought it would become what it has today, but I am so grateful for all of the opportunities it has given me. I’ve met so many great people and am able to go to a ton of restaurants and events. I have even been able to co-found a company called City Chew to help restaurants with their own social media pages. It has been a difficult balance though because I try to eat pretty healthy, but also want to take advantage of things I am receiving. No one believes me when I say I eat what I post, but I do – especially if it’s cookies and/or ice cream (everything in moderation)! Having a desk job on top of all of this is also not ideal, but working out everyday has made it easier to justify certain things and I try to be as active as possible all other parts of the day.

I started attending classes after work at 6:45pm, but then I had a lot of food events come up so I started going to the 6am classes. Now, I go everyday at 6am regardless of what I have at night and love it! I’ve always been a morning person so this is a great way to start my day before work and I look forward to seeing the same faces at 6am. My main motivator in going to Ripped is staying active and starting my day off feeling good, but I have also wanted to get more toned and i have definitely seen results.

R: After getting adjusted to waking up at 5:20am everyday, I have really begun to enjoy getting my workout done so I can enjoy the rest of my day. I had no intention of consistently going at 6am with Lauren — I even mentioned to Katie one day how I don’t know how people do this, but she said I would get used to it and I have. I think the 7am people have the same thought when they see the 6am people. The main motivator for me to wake up and work out is to not make my sister mad. If I am not ready by 5:38, I get the dreaded “Hi” text, which means you better not make us late…. I need tread 2! It’s understandable, Lauren is very schedule oriented and I’m the complete opposite, so it is nice to have some sort of structure to begin my day. I work for a consulting company during the day and I am in charge of “lighting” for Lauren’s food insta at night. I take my lighting job extremely seriously. Next time you’re out to dinner in a dimly lit restaurant and you wonder how anyone could get a good pic in this place you need to talk to me. Ripped has been a great experience and the entire staff is fantastic. I could go on and on about how great everyone is, but if you go to Ripped consistently you understand what a great community it is.

We both love all of the instructors and how every class is challenging. Even though we come 4-5 times each week, it is never the same workout and never gets easy. The workout mixed with how nice the trainers/staff are keeps you coming back. It is a community that makes you want to go every morning and we can’t imagine starting our days off any other way. Thank you Sally for always hooking it up for us (we appreciate it:))