Time Out New York / Issue 641 : Jan 10–16, 2008
Get fit
New ways to work out
Where to lift weights—and compete in a cage match, cheerlead or train like Randy Moss. Your localized guide to the freshest gyms and techniques, with programs low-key, intense, hard-core or your choice of all three.
JCC in Manhattan
“We have pregnant women, senior citizens and Secret Service agents all doing it,” says Aarom Feigenbaum, an anthropologist who helped develop this ancient Andean “movement improvement” technique into a modern-day exercise method called Inka. In the JCC’s class, you’ll use a suspended bar (it looks kind of like a trapeze) for stretching, strengthening and cardio, without putting strain on your back or joints.
Rates: For members, $15 per class, nonmembers $20.
334 Amsterdam Ave at 76th St (646-505-4445)
Bridge for Dance
An instructor by the name of Jennifer Lopez teaches the new Afro-Groove Workshop at this neighborhood dance studio. “We don’t call her J. Lo!” laughs director Amiti Perry, adding that while the fusion of African, jazz and modern dance gives you some serious booty-shaking techniques, “people often take the classes for fitness purposes—and we definitely encourage that.”
Rates: Per class $15.
2726 Broadway between 104th and 105th Sts, No. 3 (212-749-1165)New York Sports Club
Yeah, it’s another new NYSC. But hey, they’re trying: This new location, like select others, offers a new program called Activ Trax Pro, which is the first step toward exchanging human trainers for robot ones. An animated gym bunny gives you a customized workout for every time you hit the machines.
Rates: per month $69–$95 plus $20.08 initiation fee (instead of $120) through January 31.
303 W 145th at Frederick Douglass Blvd at Eighth Ave (212-234-0016)
