Review: New York Health and Racquet Club Cooper Square

Posted on February 25, 2010 by kymarie13

So my overall goal is to visit most of the gyms in New York City so you have a good idea of what to expect before you decide which gym would be the best fit for you. Two days ago I visited the Cooper Square location of the New York Health and Racquet Club (NYHRC) and I loved it. NYHRC is by far my favorite health club I have visited thus far, I know I still have a 9 locations to visit after this but they have not disappointed me yet. The Cooper Square location is located right off the 6 train at Astor Place on Cooper Square in between 6th and 7th Streets.

NYHRC is located in the Carl Fischer Building building, that was erected in 1926. It is a beautiful historic building. NYHRC occupies three floors. The first floor holds: free weights, weight machines, the rock climbing wall (which is two stories, it’s  a little small but it gets the job done), the spin studio and their juice bar. The second floor which is more like half a floor holds all of their cardio equipment (all of their cardio equipment is brand new with individual TVS and iPod hook ups) and a few punching bags. The bottom floor has their dance studio, locker rooms and whirl pool with a waterfall.

One of the best things about this club is their staff, everyone was extremely helpful and made sure I was taken care of. I am not even a member and I felt right at home at this club. I went around 6pm and it was not too crowded which was great. The clientele at this location is mixed not too old and not super young but I am sure there are many Cooper Union Students that go here, it’s so close to their school. I think they said this location was 7 years old and it looks great! It was extremely clean and all the machines were up to date. The only thing I would improve is the showers and locker rooms, they were not bad but not the best. They have a great variety of classes at this location which I love and they are the only location with a rock wall and juice bar.

If you are interested in joining NYHRC (and if you don’t have a gym yet, I highly recommend you check it out) go see Joe Oginski, membership consultant, at Cooper Square. He has been the most helpful and nicest membership consultant I have dealt with. He did not jump down my throat about joining, he answered every question and concern I had, and was up front about everything. It was one of the most pleasant experiences I have had with a membership consultant. He even gave me a smoothie at their juice bar!

As for prices until Sunday, February 28th, you can join with no commitment for $99 a month with an initiation fee of $49. If you sign a year contract it will be $99 a month with an initiation fee of $9. All 11 locations are included in this price (most locations have a pool and two of them have sun decks) and that also includes their beach club, yacht, and discounts at their partner Tennis and Golf locations. I heard the price will be going up after February 28th so this is a great time to join. I didn’t want to join another health club but I think I may have to reconsider now.

Images from NYHRC.

Filed under: Gyms | Tagged: , , , , , | 1 Comment »

Review: New York Health and Racquet Club

Posted on February 3, 2010 by kymarie13

I originally went to New York Health and Racquet Club to take their Cuerpaso class but what an amazing opportunity to review two things at once! New York Health and Racquet Club has 11 locations around the city, I went to their 21st and Park location which just opened in November 2009. The club was extremely easy to get to off the 6 Train, take it to 23rd and then walk down two blocks. It is a three-story building with large beautiful windows.

I walked in and the front desk staff could not be more friendly or helpful. They showed me to the women’s locker room which is one floor down from the main floor. The locker rooms were beautiful and spacious. They provided towels, shampoo, conditioner, and soap. The products were not a certain brand but at least they provided them. The showers were large and beautiful. The cleaning lady came around when I first got to the gym and was back as I was getting ready to leave. So you know they clean a lot. The women’s locker rooms is two levels, the lower level has a door to out to their lap pool! The pool has two lanes and is about 20 yards, it is a good size for New York.

I had gotten to class 30 minutes early so I decided to take a look around. The top-level is where all the cardio equipment is. Most of the cardio equipment looks out onto the street from the large windows which is really nice. Each treadmill is equipped with its own TV and you can hook up your iPod to it where it will not only allow you to choose your music from the screen but will also charge your iPod. All of the stair machines and ellipticals also have their own personal TVs. They have many weight machines and a wide variety. Since it just opened in November everything is very new. One of their trainers asked if  I would like him to warm me up before my class. Since I had 15 minutes to kill I did not decline. He was so helpful and gave me a pretty good warm up on the treadmill. The gym was crowded but it wasn’t bad, it did not make me feel overwhelmed or that there was not a machine available.

They have two studios located on the lower level with their pool. The dance studio and the spin studio. The spin studio is like any other and the dance studio is rather small but not too bad. It could fit about 20 people to a class and has all the equipment you would need. They offer 600 weekly classes throughout all of their locations, including, Cuerpaso, which I suggest you try.

Each location offers different amenities which include: classes, lap pools, basketball courts, racquet ball and squash courts, and rock climbing. Right now you can join NYHRC for $99 a month with a $99 initiation fee but the prices are always changing and depending on what you are looking for they can probably give you a better deal. The $99 includes all of their 11 locations around the city and includes their Beach Club in Westchester, NY. Not a bad way to get out of the city in the summer. The clientele is a little older from Crunch but not by much. For the price and what they offer I think NYHRC is a better deal! I am even thinking of joining myself. I had an amazing experience and would love to check out their other locations.

Images from NYHRC.

Filed under: Gyms | Tagged: , , | 1 Comment »

Review: Cuerpaso!

Posted on February 3, 2010 by kymarie13

What would you get if you mixed soccer with dance? Cuerpaso! I know that doesn’t mean much now but after 35 minutes of non stop movement, it means a lot. The founder of Cuerpaso, Tadeo decided that if you mixed soccer and dance you would have the ultimate body workout, not a bad idea, think David Beckham and Julianne Hough. Who wouldn’t want to look like the two of them!

“Cuerpaso®, Spanish for ‘The Ultimate Body’, is a high-paced 50 minute boot camp escape to Latin America created by international fitness and health sensation, Tadeo. Lose fat and sculpt lean muscle with this high-paced intense workout. Shatter your plateau! Tadeo’s positive and exciting approach to exercise will inspire you to stick with this program that’s as fun as it is effective.”

I found out that Tadeo teaches classes at the New York Health and Racquet Club every Wednesday at 7:15pm. So I went to their 21st street location to try it out. I walked into the dance room and immediately recognized Tadeo from his website, he is a very energetic and sweet guy until he said these words… “This will last either 35-45 minutes depending on if I give you a break or not”. My first reaction was “Am I really going to get a good workout from this in 35 minutes?” My second reaction came 10 minutes later while I was out of breath and sweat was pouring down my face ” Okay, yup I am going to get a workout from this.”

The class is just how he explains it a high energy, fast paced, non-stop cardio mix of soccer drills and dance. The only equipment you use is a soccer ball which after 5 drills you may want to pick up and throw across the room (just kidding!) Tae Bo has quite a contender with Cuerpaso! It was such a fun class, I was sweating like crazy, having a blast, and my legs burned like crazy. It is the perfect mix of soccer and dance so you do not have to be an all-star dancer or soccer player. The music is so much fun, it will make you want to keep going even when you think you can’t. There were two brave men in the class who were even sweating harder than me so I knew this was not an easy task! I would have liked the class to be longer even though, I know I would be dying by the end but Tadeo did say it’s not how long you workout, it is if you are doing it correctly.

If you think it sounds like fun (which it is) but you don’t live in New York, he sells the DVD on his website. Also if you do want to try it you can e-mail a membership consultant at NYHRC and they can set you up with a guest pass to try the class or leave a comment here and I will give you the e-mail address of who you should contact!

Check out a short video of the class from Daily Candy! He says that after 6 weeks of his class you will be able to walk the beach with pride, I may buy the DVD and take him up on that challenge, as long as the beach is included in the end ;)

Filed under: Workouts | Tagged: , , , , , | 5 Comments »

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