Rebounding at Club H
Photograph: Jodie Love
Energy Fitness
Home of Manhattan’s first fighting cage (that’s right,
UFC-style), this independently owned gym hosts a reality-show-ready session called “Camp Undefeated.” Take a shot at Muay Thai, the ancient martial art dubbed “the science of eight limbs.” Gym owner Laszlo Huve says the class “is a must if you’re out of shape: It has lots of core-conditioning, jump-roping and pad-kicking.” CU also includes mixed martial-arts classes and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.
Rates: Gym membership is $60 per month (no initiation fee and no commitment). Your first class is free, subsequent classes $30. Unlimited classes $180 per month, for members $140.
15 W 39th St between Fifth and Sixth Aves, fourth floor (212-354-7946)
Chelsea Piers
As of this month there’s a taste of the upper crust at this West Side sports haven: The eight-person Basic Fencing class is a cardio workout with an emphasis on coordination, alignment and looking like you went to some fancy prep school.
Rates: Per month $167, initiation fee $200; or $1,890 for the year in full plus $200 initiation. This month, get $450-worth of services (including an hour-long personal training session and two consultations in swimming, boxing, Pilates, rock climbing or nutrition) free with your membership.
Pier 60, 23rd St at the Hudson River (212-336-6000)Club H
Rebounding is a fun, easy-to-follow workout on minitrampolines. (It’s like fourth-grade recess except no one’s pulling down your pants.) Blake Mays, group fitness manager, instructs attendees to bounce, kick and sprint in the nonimpact (those tramps absorb 80 percent of the shock) workout. He invites vocal participation, but keeps the tone of the class—if not the heart-racing intensity—light.
Rates: Membership is $110 per month, plus a $100 fee to join.
423 W 55th St between Ninth and Tenth Aves (212-245-5802). Equinox
So you’ve been watching
American Gladiators and feeling a little like, “This is stupid” but also “I want in.” Test yourself at this eight-month-old midtown center, which features the already-a-big-hit Chaos. The class throws everything at you—helium balloons, straws, ladders, traffic cones. The point is to keep you guessing—and out of breath.
Rates: $139–$170 per month; initiation fee $270–$645.
1 Park Ave at 33rd St (212-779-1727)
