NYC Gym Tour!

First of all, I want to apologize for not having a post in quite some time. It has been an interesting/busy couple of months… but I am back!

For my first post back in action, I wanted to share our recent NYC trip! It is hard to believe, but we have already been married a year! Crazy, I know! It literally feels like just yesterday I was walking down the aisle. With all the insaneness this past year, I sometimes feel like we didn’t “enjoy” our first year of marriage quite like we should have. Don’t get me wrong… we had an amazing year together! And Frank makes a point to call me his “wife” in the sweetest ways, but I just feel like we had to deal with A LOT that most newly weds do not deal with- we lost a little of our marriage “honeymoon” phase.

With that being said… we decided to take a somewhat last-minute anniversary trip to one of our favorite places, New York City! With so much going on, I didn’t have time to make my usual crazy itinerary for this trip, so we were somewhat winging it. Naturally, being us, we decided to put a strong focus of this trip on trying out different gyms. Yes, it was vacation… and yes, we are somewhat crazy. But we genuinely enjoy working out with each other and we both typically feel better after a good workout. So, what better place to try new gyms than the boutique gym capital of the world, NYC?? 

To start out, if you have never tried ClassPass… DO IT! This saved us soooo much money and worked out perfectly!! I had no idea what it was until my  friend Shevy told me about it. It’s pretty much what it sounds like. ClassPass is an app that allows you to sign up for and try out different gym classes in your area. They have everything from yoga, barre, cycling, bootcamp and even CrossFit classes (and anything else you can think of). Admittedly NYC had a much larger selection than our home town Orlando, but that’s also because NYC has a TON of different gyms and styles of gyms. Since we planned to use this while in the city, we signed up under NYC- which gives you “2-weeks” free. From what I noticed, different cities have different length trial periods (Orlando gave you a free month for example) and different pricing after your trial is over. If you’re interested in this, you can check them out HERE for more info.

Our first stop in this journey was NEOU on 5^th Ave. This one was a little easier to select. Since I always try to get my friends to try out my gym when they’re in town, I thought I should give one of my friends’ gyms a try. My friend Carolina primarily does the CrossFit at this gym, but that’s not really our style… so we opted to try out one of the many classes that they offer. We ended up choosing Shred with Dani Irwin. This was a GREAT starter class for our little adventure. It was similar to what we are used to at home (just a little less intense) with more cardio. The class was an excellent combination of strength training and HIIT cardio, and definitely pushed us. Dani was amazing! She was super sweet, and very helpful! From the numerous workouts I have done in the past… the trainer really makes all the difference, and Dani definitely got my energy up! I would definitely recommend this class to anyone. No matter your fitness level, this class could definitely be modified to meet your needs. Now let’s talk about the facility itself… OMG! Probably one of the NICEST gyms I have ever seen! SO clean, amazing bathrooms with anything you could possibly need, towel service, and everything was so organized. I was beyond impressed and couldn’t help but take a TON of pictures.

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On to stop #2, The Training Lab on 37^th Street. This gym Frank selected and was more of what I was expecting from a NYC gym. It was located on the second floor, relatively smaller (but still not that small) and had a lot less going on. There were small locker rooms with basic necessities, separate bathrooms, a weight lifting area and a smaller strip of turf. Also should note that the founder of this gym was in the Marine Corps, and he makes sure the trainers incorporate what he learned in the marines into their workouts. To me this gym felt more like “home” and seemed to be a little more of what we were used to- until the trainer told Frank she enjoyed cardio (hehe). The class we booked was called “Training Day” which had a focus on deadlifts and our trainer was Gabi Dunkley. Frank was pretty excited for deadlifts and that happens to be a workout I have really been trying to perfect, so I was all for it. The class started with a little cardio on the turf, followed by 100 burpees…. You read that right, 100 BURPEES!! I don’t know ANYONE that would enjoy that, and if you do- you are sick! 😊 Then we finally got to some deadlifts! Gabi was super helpful and made sure to walk around and help everyone with form. After multiple reps of deadlifts, we went back to some more cardio to end the class. Frank quickly regretted his gym of choice. We learned that each day their classes are a full body strength training workout with a primary focus on one specific workout (i.e. deadlifts). All in all, I really enjoyed this class and would definitely return! If you’re into weight training, I would definitely recommend this gym. They also offer a few different types of classes. Make sure to check them out for a killer workout!  

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3^rd and most unique stop was Brrrn located on 20^th Street. I actually found this gym by doing a quick google search of “unique NYC gyms” and it definitely did NOT disappoint. Brrrn is a Cool Temp Fitness gym, and depending on which class you take, the temperature in the room ranges from 50-55 degrees (F). Yup, it was a “cold” gym! I was particularly intrigued by this feature because I sweat… A LOT, and was curious to see how my body would perform in these temps. There are all sorts of research that they have done on why they keep the rooms those temperatures and how it enhances your workout, feel free to check out their website to read more. Another special feature they have are their Slide boards. Each person in class gets little booties to put over their shoes and are assigned a specific board once inside the room. The best thing I could equate this board to is ice skating or skiing… I definitely felt the Brrrn! We took the Hit + Slide class (50 degrees) with Janeil Mason. This class was a combination of board work mixed with dumbbells meant to provide a total body workout. They also offer a full Slide class as well as a Slam + Slide class and they have an Infrared Sauna. Although I did enjoy this class and had a lot of fun! It is definitely a class that I would take on occasion, not something that I would do every day.  The facility itself was super cute, kind of gave me a ski lodge vibe. Nice little locker room with all your basic necessities, the sauna, adorable workout room that they designed to look like a fridge and a towel service (which I was quickly learning is pretty standard- step it up Orlando!). If you’re looking for something different, definitely check this place out!

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Our 4^th and final stop, which I secretly was most excited about, was Switch Playground USA- SODO on 6^th Ave. There was more than one location for this gym, so that’s a little added bonus. We took the Switch Playground Class with Fernando Contreras, which we learned was just the main trainer of a team of 5! The class was a 60-minute full-body HIIT circuit training. Our class was comprised of 20 different stations that were 2 minutes each. There are 2 people per station (you and your partner) and each area had a trainer showing you what exercise was next (rotated every 30 seconds) after the 2 minutes you moved to the next station. The most exciting part? There was a live DJ as well as fun lighting to really bring the energy! We started and ended with a nice little yoga/stretching exercise. I really enjoyed this class! It had everything from weights, cardio, abs and even some boxing. The trainers had a ton of energy and really made the class a lot of fun! Aside from the large workout room, they had an upstairs area where you checked-in and small locker rooms with all your basic necessities. They do also offer a few different types of classes, but from what I could tell, this one is their most popular and most offered. I would definitely go to Switch again and if you’re looking for a fun, exciting and slightly different workout… I would highly recommend you check this place out!

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So, if you’re headed to NYC, live there and are looking for a new gym, or plan on moving in the future- check these places out! Also, even if you’re not in NYC, but you’re looking for a new gym and don’t want to commit to anything right off the bat, check out ClassPass! I still cannot believe how nicely it worked out for us.

Of course, we did more than work out on our vacation 😊. We also ate… A LOT! And I finally got to see my first show! We saw Network with Bryan Cranston and all I can say is AH-MAZING! He truly is an incredible actor and the show was phenomenal! We also got to see some friends, and just enjoy the wonderful city. We really do love NYC and cannot wait until we go back. No matter how many times we go, there’s still SO MUCH MORE! If you want me to share any of the other details on what we did (or what we have done), let me know!!

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