House Rules
FitHouse is set to become Manhattan’s new power-gym-about-town.
Over the next few months, FitHouse gyms will be muscling their way across New York City, expanding to more than 10 locations, from the Soho flagship to the Flatiron District, Tribeca and the Upper East Side. For $99 a month, members get access to all studios and unlimited classes, including yoga, bootcamp, Pilates, barre and dance. “We have come up with a solution that makes great classes affordable to everyone,” says Chase Rifkin, FitHouse branding director and co-founder. “When you’re bouncing around from one class to another, the costs rack up. People want a one-stop shop.” Strength-train, get your cardio or active recovery in—whatever is needed to attain that perfect body balance. Classes such as Cardio Burn (interval training), Power Speed (high-speed cardio) and Barre Fusion (a barre-Pilates mash-up) can be booked via the FitHouse app. fit-house.com
TAKE CHARGE
Interest is surging in Shock Therapy, New York’s first fitness studio to use electrical muscle stimulation technology.
Electrical muscle stimulation (EMS) is a treatment frequently used in physical therapy for pain relief and muscle reeducation after a trauma or disease. Heidi Klum, Elizabeth Hurley and Madonna have all tried the practice, which is gaining in popularity outside the rehabilitation setting. Though studies have thus far not shown EMS to produce a dramatic increase in strength or muscle mass, there is evidence that more fibers in a muscle are activated with EMS than by simply flexing it at the gym.
Participants at Shock Therapy on the Upper East Side don a power suit—equipped with EMS technology—that will activate 300 critical muscle groups while they complete basic fitness moves demonstrated by an avatar on a large-scale computer screen. The continuous electrical impulses, which produce a tingling feeling, will cause muscles to contract and release, so the stretch felt in a standard workout is amplified. While you’re focused on legs, the EMS is simultaneously sending pulses to abs, back and arms for full-body coverage. 153 E. 70th St.; shocktherapyfitness.com —Charlotte DeFazio
FLEX APPEAL
Protect hard-working muscles with extended stretch sessions.
With frequent exercise comes muscle fatigue and injury, so fitness buffs are adding longer stretch sessions to their regimens to help control that downside. Crunch has introduced Motus, a class that uses a RAD Roller to help release muscles, while Lymbr, a studio dedicated to stretching—featuring 30-minute classes of continuous movement—has opened in Tribeca and is readying an outpost in LA. Private trainers who focus on stretch are also gaining in popularity. John McQueen (johnmcqueenstretch@gmail.com), a coach who runs his clients through a range of elongating movements meant to increase mobility, incorporates trigger-point therapy, which helps clients become even more flexible, into his sessions. The philanthropist Jean Shafiroff trains with McQueen and says: “People who work out with weights build up bulk, and the only way to have a sleek look is to stretch. A trainer like John can push you farther than you can push yourself.”—Beth Landman
