Old City’s New “Immersive” Indoor Cycling Studio Offers a Cinematic Experience

Inside the immersive cycling studio at BFit4Life. Photograph by Brandon C. Ballard

Remember that feeling of losing yourself in a dark fitness studio — music pounding, sweat dripping, and not really thinking about anything but trying to keep up with the instructor? BFit4Life, Old City’s new fitness studio, is counting on you wanting to return to that feeling — and then some — with their new, even more immersive experience.

While traditional studios will use dramatic lighting and high-end speakers and equipment to craft a unique class experience, BFit4Life is ramping things up a notch with their 30-by-nine-foot curved screen at the front of their indoor cycling studio. The screen can stream more than 10 million “journeys,” which means your class may take you pedaling the streets of Sydney, Australia or soaring along the Great Divide out west or swimming past sharks under the ocean. There’s an interactive element to the adventures as well, thanks to a blend of virtual reality and gaming software incorporated into the programming, designed to help riders stay engaged in the workout.

“We’re trying to give people an opportunity to have an entertainment experience because a lot of people don’t like to work out. Our screens tell you your RPM’s, resistance level, and they give you a visual of how hard you’ll need to work and for how long,” says Mo Orlando, who will be heading up the new studio.

BFit4Life’s curved screen can display more than 10 million different adventures during class. Photograph by Brandon C. Ballard

While the screen is huge, the class sizes (for now) will be small, to meet COVID-19 requirements and allow for a more intimate ride. The studio will also offer mommy and me yoga and barre classes, Zumba classes, as well a kids’ program. “There’s a big education piece to the kids’ class,” explains Orlando. “We’re going to teach them sportsmanship and nutrition, and it’ll cater to kids that are crawling to five years old.” For adults, the studio will have customized nutrition counseling, personal training, and physical therapy.

The yoga studio at BFit4Life. Photograph by Brandon C. Ballard

After your class, you grab a smoothie at the juice bar or check out the massage room featuring an aqua bed (post-COVID, the studio plans to add more amenities). All of this comes together to create what Orlando calls “the ultimate experience.”

“The ultimate experience is giving people the opportunity to never have the same ride and to receive valuable information based on their lifestyle since everyone’s different. The ultimate experience is all-encompassing of your nutrition, your workout, your family, your lifestyle. The cycle studio obviously helps you to stay motivated with the entertainment element,” says Orlando. “All of that is the ultimate experience.”

BFit4Life is slated to open in mid-April at 400 Walnut Street in Old City. In the meantime, take a virtual tour in the video below and follow their Instagram for updates and specials.