The Best New Fitness Classes In 3 of Our Favorite Cities
It’s been a rough one. 2016, out!
We are officially neck-deep in holiday everything, friends. Which means that towering trays of sugary confections, after-5 PM candle-lit dinners, and office cocktail parties are at peak willpower-weakening status. Here’s hoping this new crop of workout and wellness classes in all the international destinations we might find ourselves this festive season can keep us on course to being our healthiest, merriest selves through January.
LONDON
WARNING: This class is crazy. But desperate, gluttonous times call for desperate measures. Right? Gymbox packed all sorts of evil into 45 minutes of kettlebell thrusts, atlas stone throws (what?), weighted rope climbs and box jump burpees to create “the hardest and most dangerous gym class in the world,” which promises to take you to your max. Oh, but don’t worry, there are paramedics on standby and a mandatory oxygen station for the cool-down. Awesome.
Let’s ease things up a bit for this one (it’s all about balance). It was inevitable. You are finally going to live out your teenage dreams of being in a girl band. You probably imagined it would go a little differently—quitting your 9-5 to make it big (or something like that)—but a close second, minus the eye rolls, will be this hilariously fun drumming workout.
TORONTO
You may have gotten by with huddling in the back corner of a HIIT class with your friends, but Equinox’s newest group fitness class doesn’t leave any hiding spots. We guess that’s a good thing? That means you’re in for 45 minutes of lifting weights (think slow and heavy, unlike crossfit) to tone, not bulk.
NEW YORK
Last year it was spin classes and charcoal drinks; this year it’s meditation and sound therapy. Khajak Keledjian, the founder and former CEO of Intermix, and Lew Frankfort, executive chairman and former CEO of Coach, have had their fingers on the pulse of this space for a while, but are taking it to another level with their 5,000-square-foot meditation destination.
Chances are we’ll look back at 2016 and thank god that ish is over. It’s been a rough one. But before we rush to counting down from 10 and popping the champagne, we still have a few more weeks to make it through. That’s where Woom Center comes in with their menu of mental healing sessions by way of chanting, singing, meditation, sound healing, and mind-stimulating visuals projected on the walls.