Since most of us want to make healthy lifestyle choices, I rounded up five fitness activities in New York City that are anything other than boring!
Hip Hop Yoga
I’m a huge yoga fan, and while I certainly agree that restorative and calming classes have their place, I love the idea of a vinyasa flow carefully choreographed to today’s hip hop tunes…kinda like a really great dance class, but with the benefits of stretching and getting all the kinks out.
The yoga is also heated (not Bikram hot, mind you, but a solid 80 to 90 degrees so you can make the most of your detox session.) Y7 Yoga Studio offers these classes in Brooklyn, Flatiron, Soho, Union Square, and the Upper East Side, and a single class goes for $25, or you can try out 2 weeks of unlimited classes for $45.
Ice Skating in Central Park
There are several ice skating opportunities around NYC, but Central Park’s Wollman Rink appeals most to me because 1. it’s the largest and seemingly has the least wait time, 2. it’s centrally located, thus easy to get to, and 3. honestly, what’s better than ice skating under the magic of Central Park?!
The rink is open from late October to early April, and for adults the price to skate is $12 Monday through Thursday, $19 Friday through Sunday, and an additional $9 for skate rental. Cash only.
Central Park’s Snow Day
Once a year, Central Park hosts a snow day–regardless if there’s any natural snow on the ground or not! This year the festivities take place on Saturday, January 28th from 11am to 3pm, and fresh snow is blown courtesy of Gore Mountain! Fun fitness activities will include snow shoeing, skiing and snow boarding, sledding, and a snow field perfect for snowball fights. Rental equipment is available at no cost (yes!), or feel free to bring your own gear, too.
Photo Credit: https://www.nycgovparks.org
Lightsaber Fighting
Any Star War’s fans out there? Anyone? …Anyone?;-) This lightsaber fighting class may be a bit more of a novelty than a workout, but it’s a pretty fantastic motivation for anyone who fancies themselves a Jedi or who did it for the Instagram. The New York Jedi has been going strong for 10 years now, and offers classes by trained martial artists. .
Hula Hooping
If you were the hula hooping champion in school, I’m sure you don’t need any convincing as to why this is an amazing (and seriously fun!) workout. But if hula hooping was never your thing, you’ll probably benefit from this workout even more! With the motto: “We don’t stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing” by George Bernard Shaw, can be sure that this workout promises to deliver a big dose of fun to your workout routine. One class is $20, and a 6 class series is $95.
Photo Credit: https://www.bostonglobe.com/
I’m hoping to get to all of these classes/events this winter (and already have a surprise date planned for my hubby for the Jedi class, shh;-) I’ll post updates on the experiences on our Instagram, so make sure you’re following along!
In the meantime, I’d love to know about any classes or fitness activities you plan to try in 2017? Share below!
Jessica Tiare Bowen lives in the juicy Big Apple with her adorable pink-nosed chihuahua, Gillman. He’s the inspiration for her first published children’s book, “Park Avenue Pound Puppy.” The book is the combined result of her two greatest passions: pooches and penning stories.
Her passions include art, urban hikes through Manhattan, drinking coffee with 3 creams and 6 sugars, making extremely detailed itineraries and traveling to far away places, singing along to Broadway shows, Netflix movie nights, discovering incredible treasures at Goodwill and thrift stores, and listening to stories from little people under 7 and big people over 70.
She started her career as New York City Teaching Fellow, teaching elementary school and theater arts at a special education school in the South Bronx for 6 years. She is now a Special Education School Improvement Specialist working in public schools throughout New York City. She is the Editor-In-Chief of the online New York City travel magazine, Used York City. The magazine focuses on finding the best of New York…as used by New Yorkers. She is a member of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators, and an ASPCA Ambassador.
