Greenburgh Gyms and Fitness

Wendy Traskos's career as a pole-dancing icon began with one fateful spin. Impressed by the strength of self-expression she glimpsed in accomplished pole-dancers, she tried the art for herself and was hooked immediately, so much so she has been honing her spinning skills for 16 years. Now a self-taught professional, she channels her background as a certified personal trainer and gymnast to enhance her routines. Wendy’s fitness knowledge landed her celebrity clients, including Montel Williams and Mary J. Blige, and her proficiency on the pole led Germany's version of America's Next Top Model to feature her as a dancing expert.

At NY Pole studios, Wendy passes on her spiraling prowess through her original Climb and Spin method. She believes that students should build a foundation of muscle and a repertoire of techniques as they progress to more advanced pole tricks, which require them to shed all rock-climbing gear. Her classes accommodate varying skill levels with choreographed routines, motivating participants to practice recently learned grips, climbs, and transitions. The studios also offer fitness classes, private parties, and workshops led by guest instructors such as Cleo “The Hurricane,” also known as Miss Pole Dance Australia.

While Pilates is corrective, The Bar Method is transformative—much like those cars that transform into miniature weasels. You’ll burn fat, sculpt muscles, refine your figure, and improve your strength and endurance. After a brief warm-up, you’ll tackle the upper body with weights and bar exercises. The workout continues with challenging lower-body positions and floor exercises designed to firm up abs and glutes. This diverse and challenging workout gives you the long, lean muscles and elegant posture of a ballet dancer without the discomfort and inconvenience of being heckled by ballet hooligans.

Winner of more than 100 mixed-martial-arts competitions, Tiger Schulmann shares his pride and love for fighting and self-defense with both adults and children in gyms across five states. From first-time grapplers to expert muay thai fighters, students of all fitness and experience levels are welcome to dive into a class at Schulmann’s. At more than 47 locations, adults can take classes in kickboxing, MMA, and jujitsu—the last of which instills students with the skill and confidence to take down opponents of any size, strength, or telekinetic ability. Kids, meanwhile, can learn martial arts for fun, or gain useful experience in bully prevention; the kids’ classes help victims immediately identify and safely diffuse situations when pitted against an aggressor.

As they enter the training circle at Curves, female guests come face-to-face with the smiles of other women. And just as points on a circle share a common distance from the circle's center, workout participants share the experiences of those nearby by trading stations throughout the 30-minute training session. One minute is spent on a piece of strength-training equipment built for feminine frames and designed to work two opposing muscle groups with a single movement. Exercisers then move on to a recovery station, where they run, jog, or dance to maintain heart rates and keep platforms in place during momentary losses of gravity.

Helmed by a team of passionate climbing coaches, both of The Gravity Vault's locations surround climbers with more than 13,000 square feet of climbing space. Walls tower past 35 feet, mimicking such natural rock formations as overhangs, keyhole arches, and slabs, and bouldering areas challenge climbers with a latticework of problems that—unlike most of life's—can't simply be solved with dynamite and a pair of roller skates. Visitors can choose from up to 60 top-rope stations, trusting either the trained staff or a certified fellow climber to man the ropes while they scramble to the summit. When not dangling from a hold or saving lost kittens from a rappel ledge, members can bulk up in the cardiovascular-training area.

Since 1973, Susan Marlowe Fitness has been passionate about promoting wellness and sustainability for women through cutting-edge fitness programs and nutrition guidance. Designed for women by women, the fitness club's classes include yoga, Zumba, boot camp, and the Iso-Towel, which uses isometrics to engage muscle groups and burn fat in sacrificial sweat rituals. In addition to trimming and toning bodies in fitness classes, Susan Marlowe Fitness's experienced instructors are available for nutrition guidance, which ranges from helping clients develop custom meal plans to doling out juice cleanses and healthful supplements. The eco-chic fitness center is outfitted with state-of-the-art equipment, a full locker room, childcare services, and a Swedish sauna that is sworn to neutrality during towel-snapping battles.