Sports in New York City

Clad in fatigues and soaking in sweat, the denizens of Pure Power Boot Camp lift logs, climb walls, and navigate obstacle courses. If it sounds like military boot camp, that's no accident; each of the drill instructors are current or former military members. Presided over by Lauren Brenner—who became a personal trainer at 16 before playing Division I tennis and working as a trainer for the Syracuse men's basketball team—each instructor leads a platoon that trains together multiple times per week. Pure Power Boot Camp's boot-camp training is ideal for adventure races like Tough Mudder, Spartan Race, or Warrior Dash as it incorporates real obstacles and situations. After their initial training, members can enroll in maintenance courses that help them keep their new bodies in shape and offer an excuse to see the climbing wall with which they fell in love.

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After fist-punching his way through the U.S. Army's basic training program, bobbing and weaving through an amateur boxing career, and drop-kicking every last test that stood between him as his law degree, the poet-warrior Edward Rush opened a commercial gym in Washington, DC. He soon grew tired of folding towels for patrons who only wanted to use his gym as a place to read magazines or watch TV while they jogged, so he closed up shop, moved to NYC, and opened a personal-training gym and fitness laboratory. There, he earned the nickname "The Mad Scientist" for his grueling, inventive, and rewarding training method, called IFS.

For a quick, intense workout, students can turn to the gym's CrossFit classes. CrossFit incorporates a fusion of strength and cardiovascular conditioning exercises that grant bodies with sculpting, toning, and endurance-boosting benefits in less than an hour. In fact, many members hustle through the retinue of handstand pushups and Olympic-style power cleans on their lunch hours via the gym's power lunch program, which includes a paleo-diet meal delivery when the workout is completed. Whether over lunch, early in the morning, or at the end of an office day, students can attend classes up to six days a week and retire to well appointed locker rooms equipped with showers, towel service, and complimentary grooming products.

Argentina–born soccer enthusiast Gustavo Szulansky opened Super Soccer Stars to provide the boroughs with a program that championed the personal development of youngsters rather than solely a skill-based focus. Since its debut in 2000, it's grown throughout the city, helping countless youngsters learn teamwork, boost confidence, and decrease arguments during home games played on the dining-room table. This rapid growth is due in part to the positive values Gustavo instilled from the first class. His coaches are carefully selected for their ability to cultivate a noncompetitive, sensitive approach to learning the game, and they dole out their knowledge in both classes and camps.

Super Soccer Star's Kick & Play program features family-friendly classes that help tots 12–24 months old develop pre-soccer skills and physical skill sets simultaneously. During classes, a team of talented and enthusiastic instructors and an athletic duo of puppet friends named Mimi and Pepe buoy budding soccer players with positive reinforcement, individual attention, and the merry clickety-clack of cleated tap dances. Designed with the help of early-childhood specialists, each age-specific class helps players build skills at their own pace with positive reinforcement, individual attention, and engaging original music.

There are six essential ingredients that compose each of Complete Body's fitness programs: strength, cardio, flexibility, meditation, nutrition, and rest. Founder Alex Reznik is the mind behind this philosophy. In 1995, he founded the company believing that, if given the opportunity, most people would seek to better their health. Soon thereafter, he was proven right by both rising membership numbers and favorable media attention, including articles in Time Out New York and the New York Times.

Complete Body has now expanded to three locations. At each club, experts adhere to Mr. Reznik's principles, blending Eastern and Western techniques during classes such as yoga, boot camps, and kickboxing. Complete Body also hosts cross-training classes, which are designed to burn fat, build strength, and improve flexibility by focusing on six elements: strength, cardio, flexibility, meditation, nutrition, and rest. Among the state-of-the-art equipment and fitness technologies that help members reach their fitness goals, independent trainers utilize the facility with their clients. At onsite spas, massage therapists work tense muscles and aestheticians refresh skin with facials. Physical therapists can help to rehabilitate clients following injuries, calling upon various training methods in their arsenal.

Climbers of all ages and skill levels scamper across roughly 22,000 square feet of climbable space inside Brooklyn Boulders's rock-climbing gym. A dedicated route-setting staff organizes color-coded problems on craggy, angled top-rope walls as well as bouldering walls that reach up to 15 feet. To help visitors master these walls, seasoned instructors train them in three basic types of climbing: bouldering, top-rope climbing, or lead climbing. They teach these skills through classes such as the peak-performance program, which combines seven classes in lead climbing, bouldering, and cross-training to accelerate students' learning. To ease stressed muscles and promote calm reflection, staffers also lead all-ages yoga lessons and monthly yoga workshops.

Brooklyn Boulders also injects creativity into its special events, which encourage visitors to climb in costume around Halloween and take part in competitions during which they pretend the floor has turned to lava. Staffers also invite local graffiti artists to display their murals inside, work to preserve regional climbing areas by partnering with Access Fund, and coordinate programs through its BKB Foundation—a nonprofit that provides greater access to rock climbing for kids and adults.

Featured on ABC, Fox, and various channels, Dance With Me doesn't just teach students the mechanics of fun, fit, and healthy dancing—they transform them into dancers. And the process goes beyond learning fancy footwork. Participants are welcomed into a setting that cultivates confidence, nurtures self-expression, and bolsters social interaction skills, since it really does take more than one person to tango.

The joy of ballroom dancing becomes contagious at each of Dance With Me's modernized studios, which host classes specifically tailored toward each visitor's goals. And those classes are taught by a uniquely qualified team of professionals, some of whom may have familiar faces. Co-founder Maksim Chmerkovskiy is a renowned Latin Ballroom dance champion, choreographer, and instructor, but he's perhaps best known for keeping celebrities on their toes in his 14 appearances on Dancing with the Stars. Along with National and World Champions and Dancing with the Stars: All-Stars choreographers Val Chmerkovskiy and Tony Dovolani, he has instilled Dance With Me's staff with their professional chops and ability to stay composed when cha-cha-cha-ing with a boom mic.