A unique neighborhood deserves unique fitness options. In the Meatpacking District, these include yoga with a hip-hop soundtrack, a gym with luxe spa services, a proprietary weights-based training method, and a workout described as “reps with rhythm.”
100 10th Avenue (at 17th Street)
Equinox Highline. Image: Shinya Suzuki/Flickr
Pilates, yoga, and cycling studios are among the features of this gym, as is the Kids Club, where children as young as three months old can play, run around, or just hang out while you work out. In addition to lifting weights and hitting the machines solo, you can sign up for a personal trainer or join one of the numerous classes. Among the more fancifully named are Tread and Shred, a treadmill workout; Firestarter, an intensive half-hour high-intensity interval training (HIIT) session; the seemingly paradoxical Power Yoga; and the self-explanatory Best Butt Ever. The facility’s steam rooms will help you relax after your workout—and speaking of relaxation, the gym offers meditation classes as well.
18 Ninth Avenue (at 13th Street)
Located in Hotel Gansevoort, Exhale is both a gym and a spa. Its classes include Basic Barre, which is anything but, as it incorporates light weights and core exercises along with barre work; HIIT sessions that encompass TRX, weights, core balls, and other stations; cycling; and restorative Chill Yoga, practiced to a soothing soundtrack. Complement your workout with one (or several) spa treatments—or skip the workout altogether (your secret is safe with us). Among the facial options are Cool Beam, in which an antibacterial light is applied to the skin to reduce inflammation and encourage the production of collagen, and Z Peel, which includes a Japanese mushroom enzyme mask. The Glow Body Scrub uses dry brushing and other techniques to exfoliate and increase circulation; massage options include reflexology, craniosacral, shiatsu, and deep tissue. Practitioners with a master’s of science degree in acupuncture and Oriental medicine offer traditional acupuncture and cupping. Waxing, manicures, and pedicures are on the spa menu too.
336 West 13th Street (between Eighth Avenue and Hudson Street)
Kore dubs its workout Reps on Rhythm. The pulsing playlist and the choreographed lighting are key to each 50-minute full-body HIIT session (though you can request ear plugs). You will begin with stretches and core exercises, working up to high-intensity training using TRX, resistance bands, and kettle balls before cooling down with additional stretches. Chilled towels infused with eucalyptus oil are the ideal finishing touch.
13 Gansevoort Street (between 13th and Hudson Streets)
Image: Liftonic.com
Liftonic is a proprietary weights-based training method designed to both build and tone muscle. Some classes focus on the entire body, while others home in on specific body areas such as arms and abs or back and legs, all to a curated playlist. The specially built studio includes TV screens on the ceiling displaying a live feed of the instructor, so you can correct your technique without craning your neck; instructors also provide personalized guidance and correction during each 50-minute session.
410 West 14th Street, Third Floor (between Ninth Avenue and Washington Street)
Image: Y7-Studio.com/meatpacking
If New Age trappings have made you wary of most yoga studios, Y7 is for you. Classes are held in heated, mirrorless studios lit only by candles and accompanied by hip-hop, rap, and other percussive tunes. Along with the flagship WeFlowHard Vinyasa sessions, there is the slower, more mindful but no less intense Slow Burn, as well as Vinyasa and Restore, which begins intensely, then eases into more soothing sequences.