Spring Training
Bathing suit season is coming! Bathing suit season is coming! Here, three new local programs that will get you ready
- Body IQ's serene studio. / Photo by Susan Beard
Knockout Boxing and Fitness
At Knockout—billed as “a unique boxing club for women”—each intimate 75-minute Thai kickboxing session combines cardio and strength training; you’re always moving, from the warm-up that includes weights and squats, to throwing your weight around at the punching bags, and on into the
boxing ring.
The first time: Pay, sign your release, and start throwing punches.
The follow-up: Go as often as you like. (If we lived closer, we’d be there a few times a week.)
Pros: Trainer Josh Amaro is patient and motivating … and, sigh, looks like Gael García Bernal. The workout was actually fun—and our sore muscles the next day confirmed that it worked.
Cons: Nada.
Best for: Women who are bored with their workout, and those who like a cool but attitude-free NYC/L.A. loft vibe.
The verdict: An ass-and-abs-shaping bonanza.
658 Lancaster Avenue, Berwyn, 610-644-6880; knock-outfitness.com.
Optimal Wellness’s Polar BodyAge Fitness Assessment
It’s the sort of thing you expect the folks at NASA to go through. Using something called the Polar BodyAge System (um, a computer), the evaluation produces an insanely detailed fitness profile that’s used to help you meet specific goals: losing weight, gaining muscle, etc.
The first time: An Optimal trainer takes you through a series of questions and has you perform tests to gauge strength, body fat, flexibility and cardiovascular fitness—then prints out a personalized 20-page dossier explaining how to meet your goals.
The follow-up: Sign up to work with an Optimal Wellness personal trainer, or take their suggestions to your own gym.
Pros: Idiot-proof. The question isn’t whether the plan works—it’s if you’ll get your butt off the couch to follow it.
Cons: No more blaming your trainer, your boss, the dog, the weather, cheesesteaks …
Best for: Anybody who could stand to get more fit—i.e., everybody besides, say, Lance Armstrong.
The verdict: Hasselhoff who?
201 South Camac Street, 215-639-9960; optimalwellnessonline.com.
Body IQ Lifestyle Center
Think of it as a personalized training smorgasbord, mixing cardio, Pilates, stretching and body rolling, a woo-wooy-sounding deep massage that mysteriously re-energerizes you.
The first time: You’ll fill out a health history, then meet with specialists who evaluate your strength, flexibility, conditioning and body fat.
The follow-up: With that info, Body IQ produces a custom-tailored program of 90-minute sessions.
Pros: The one-on-one workouts with Body IQ specialists force you to push harder; the variety keeps you from getting bored.
Cons: The focus on yoga-like exercises and breathing may turn off those who think a workout means Rocky-like runs.
Best for: Athletes and anyone with a history of injuries … or workout ADD.
The verdict: Go four to five times a week for four weeks, and you’ll have more toned muscles, super-strong abs, and the guts to face the three-way dressing-room mirror.
Medical Tower Building, 255 South 17th Street, 4th floor, 215-567-4969; bodyiq.net.
At Knockout—billed as “a unique boxing club for women”—each intimate 75-minute Thai kickboxing session combines cardio and strength training; you’re always moving, from the warm-up that includes weights and squats, to throwing your weight around at the punching bags, and on into the
boxing ring.
The first time: Pay, sign your release, and start throwing punches.
The follow-up: Go as often as you like. (If we lived closer, we’d be there a few times a week.)
Pros: Trainer Josh Amaro is patient and motivating … and, sigh, looks like Gael García Bernal. The workout was actually fun—and our sore muscles the next day confirmed that it worked.
Cons: Nada.
Best for: Women who are bored with their workout, and those who like a cool but attitude-free NYC/L.A. loft vibe.
The verdict: An ass-and-abs-shaping bonanza.
658 Lancaster Avenue, Berwyn, 610-644-6880; knock-outfitness.com.
Optimal Wellness’s Polar BodyAge Fitness Assessment
It’s the sort of thing you expect the folks at NASA to go through. Using something called the Polar BodyAge System (um, a computer), the evaluation produces an insanely detailed fitness profile that’s used to help you meet specific goals: losing weight, gaining muscle, etc.
The first time: An Optimal trainer takes you through a series of questions and has you perform tests to gauge strength, body fat, flexibility and cardiovascular fitness—then prints out a personalized 20-page dossier explaining how to meet your goals.
The follow-up: Sign up to work with an Optimal Wellness personal trainer, or take their suggestions to your own gym.
Pros: Idiot-proof. The question isn’t whether the plan works—it’s if you’ll get your butt off the couch to follow it.
Cons: No more blaming your trainer, your boss, the dog, the weather, cheesesteaks …
Best for: Anybody who could stand to get more fit—i.e., everybody besides, say, Lance Armstrong.
The verdict: Hasselhoff who?
201 South Camac Street, 215-639-9960; optimalwellnessonline.com.
Body IQ Lifestyle Center
Think of it as a personalized training smorgasbord, mixing cardio, Pilates, stretching and body rolling, a woo-wooy-sounding deep massage that mysteriously re-energerizes you.
The first time: You’ll fill out a health history, then meet with specialists who evaluate your strength, flexibility, conditioning and body fat.
The follow-up: With that info, Body IQ produces a custom-tailored program of 90-minute sessions.
Pros: The one-on-one workouts with Body IQ specialists force you to push harder; the variety keeps you from getting bored.
Cons: The focus on yoga-like exercises and breathing may turn off those who think a workout means Rocky-like runs.
Best for: Athletes and anyone with a history of injuries … or workout ADD.
The verdict: Go four to five times a week for four weeks, and you’ll have more toned muscles, super-strong abs, and the guts to face the three-way dressing-room mirror.
Medical Tower Building, 255 South 17th Street, 4th floor, 215-567-4969; bodyiq.net.
Originally published in Philadelphia magazine, May 2006
