CorePower Yoga recently opened its second Washington location in Georgetown. It features two large studios, locker rooms, and a lobby with yoga mats, clothes, and other merchandise. Photographs by Jeesoo Park.
“I call it yoga on steroids,” said Ona Pappas, my instructor at CorePower Yoga in Georgetown.
She was talking about her class, CorePower Yoga Sculpt—Heated Power Yoga with Weights. I showed up for the 9:30 AM session feeling slightly anxious about what was in store. Sculpting? Weights? Heat? These were things I did not typically associate with my usual vinyasa flow practice, which always helped me to feel calm, relaxed, and self-aware.
But I kept an open mind as I walked through the studio, taking in its newness and the array of colorful yoga clothes and mats for sale in the lobby. CorePower was clean and sleek—and extremely spacious. The Georgetown branch may only have two rooms, but one fits as many as 70 students, while the other holds 60. The locker rooms are just as generously sized.
Big news, people: SoulCycle, the indoor cycling studio that started the craze of intense cycling and sweating in a dark studio to loud music, is coming to DC.
No, this is not an April Fool’s joke—at least according to posts today on SoulCycle’s Facebook page and Instagram account.
We reached out to the folks at SoulCycle, who confirmed the announcement, adding that there is no firm location at the moment.
While Washington is not short on indoor cycling studio options, plenty of cyclists have raved about SoulCycle and have been waiting for it to make a home in the nation’s capital. The first studio opened in New York City in 2006 and has since expanded to 11 more locations in the New York area, plus three more in California. Those hoping to get into an often-sold-out class are known to wish upon the “SoulFairy” to work her magic.
Currently, there’s no mention of DC on the website’s Coming Soon list, so we suspect the local SoulCycle won’t open until after this summer. The announcement has already led to the creation of a SoulCycle GIF and an uproar on social media.
We’ll be keeping close tabs on this, so stay tuned for more information.
What neighborhood of DC do you think SoulCycle should open its first location? Share your thoughts in the comments section.
Boutique fitness studios, such as Bar Method, charge more than $20 per class. Owner Kate Arnold says one reason prices are so expensive is that students receive more individual attention due to smaller class sizes. Photograph by Melissa Romero.
We love that Washington has no shortage of boutique fitness studios, and that the options to get our sweat on only continue to grow. But take just one class at your neighborhood studio and you’ll notice that while your waistline may be shrinking, so is your wallet.
It’s no secret that boutique studio classes cost a pretty penny—much more so than getting a gym membership that offers its own group classes. And the costs don’t stop there: On top of paying the drop-in fee, studios often charge extra for renting a yoga mat or cycling shoes—even towels.
It may not feel like spring in Washington yet, but local gyms and studios are offering new classes and discounts to help you get ready for bathing suit season. Photograph courtesy of Shutterstock.
Now that New Year’s resolution season is over, oh-crap-it’s-almost-bathing-suit-season season has begun—and plenty of gyms and studios are offering incentives to amp up your exercise program. Read on to find out where to snag free classes, what to expect from the newest boot camp to hit Northern Virginia, and which studio has yoga classes just for men.
Tranquil Space Spring Open House
When it comes to Washington yoga studios, Tranquil Space is an oldie but a goodie. On Thursday it hosts its first spring open house at the Dupont Circle and Arlington locations, with free classes all day and discounts on eco-friendly boutique clothes and products. Sweetgreen, Gouter, Vita Coco, and Lululemon will offer samplings and giveaways.
The secret to success at these boot camps: keep moving. Photograph by Mary Yarrison.
Race season is upon us, and to get local athletes ready for the first Nike Women’s Half Marathon in Washington next month, the company has started both a running club and a training club out of its Georgetown store. We stopped by the Nike Training Club—or NTC, to those in the know—on Monday night to give the workout a try. An hour later we were sweaty and thoroughly exhausted, as we’re told we were supposed to be. “When you leave, I want you to feel like you can’t do one more pushup or one more squat, like you can’t jump one more time,” the instructor told us afterward.
NTC has met Mondays at 8 PM since January, and each workout is run by a pair of local trainers. Throughout March, Deanna Jefferson and Chris Perrin administer the torture—they’ll be replaced come April but will be back later in the year, as each of Nike’s three pairs of trainers works for a month at a time. This means that the class varies week to week, but it’s always a mix of strength and cardio that works several muscle groups.
The federal government may be closed, but that's not stopping many gyms and studios from opening their doors. Read on for a list of current openings and closings, and visit the studio's website or Facebook page for updates.
OPEN
Tranquil Space: Studios in Dupont Circle and Arlington are open for noon classes. Evening classes are still on hold; the studio will make an announcement on its blog by mid-afternoon. UPDATE: the 4:30 PM $5 charity class is on at Dupont Circle.
District CrossFit: Open.
Mint Dupont: Open with normal hours.
Mint Downtown: Open with normal hours unless weather conditions worsen later today.
Owner Kate Arnold recently opened a second Bar Method studio in Bethesda. Bar Method consists of fat-burning interval training using weights and principles of dance conditioning. Photograph by Melissa Romero.
At Bar Method, owner and instructor Kate Arnold likes when your legs shake like jelly. In fact, she encourages it.
“Great shaking!” she says to students from her microphone as she scans the room of 20-some women ranging from their early 20s to 60s. “If your body is shaking, it’s a sign that your muscles are working hard.”
With the amount of shaking my legs were doing in Wednesday’s morning class, they were working hard enough to power a small village. Though not unfamiliar to the bar craze that has taken over Washington, it was my first Bar Method class at its newest location in Bethesda on Woodmont Avenue.
Peloton Cycling on 14th Street recently opened and has already drawn crowds from the U Street neighborhood. Photograph courtesy of Misook Issa.
You can’t hide your sweaty self from the passersby at Peloton Cycling on 14th Street; its wall of floor-to-ceiling windows facing the sidewalk offers the public a quick glimpse of cyclists huffing and puffing away on Schwinn bikes at DC’s newest indoor cycling studio.
But don’t worry—the view doesn’t last long. At a recent class with instructor Misook Issa, the windows were completely fogged up within minutes, as we cycled and sweated along to tunes by Mega Mania and DJ Speedo.
Peloton Cycling opened this year with the hopes of bringing a health and fitness community to an area desperately in need of one, says Yvette Freeman, who co-owns the studio with her brother Joe Freeman of next door's Praxis CrossFit, Pablo Brown, and Issa. With that goal in mind, the team settled on the name Peloton, which means “pack of riders” in French.
Plenty of gyms and studios in Washington are offering Valentine's Day-themed fitness classes, including couples yoga and massage. Photograph courtesy of Shutterstock.
Valentine’s Day is mostly associated with romantic dinners over candlelight, but there are also plenty of opportunities for fitness-loving couples, too. Tons of gyms and studios are hosting Valentine’s Day classes for couples to get their sweat on and for singles who are in the market for a fellow workout buff. Check out our roundup below.
“Tough Love” à la 50 Shades of Grey Class at Washington Sports Club
WSC always has a new themed class up its sleeve. For the entire month of February, the North Bethesda location will host a free class called “Tough Love: Bars, Bands & Blindfolds Bootcamp,” complete with partner exercises, blindfolded plyometrics, and high-intensity interval training to get your heart pumping.
Cupid Classes at Barre3
From February 11 through 15, Barre3 in Georgetown will host Cupid Classes, with drinks and treats offered after class. There’s also an online couples workout for those looking for more privacy.
Off Road DC on U Street offers one-of-a-kind cycling, boxing, TRX, and circuit-training classes. Photograph by Melissa Romero.
What happened to me at Off Road DC one recent morning may sound like the average gym-goer’s nightmare.
Allow me to explain. Ever since I visited the indoor cycling studio on U Street back in November, it had been a goal of mine to try out the one-of-a-kind classes, from boxing to TRX training to the two-hour cycling Sunday Sufferfest. In an attempt to stick with my New Year’s resolutions, earlier this month I finally made it to a cycle circuit class, which involved half cycling and half conditioning.
Or so the description on the website read.
