Three indoor cycling studios in Maryland and Virginia have enjoyed success since opening last year, but the trend hasn’t stopped there. Three more boutique studios—all in DC—are hopping on the bandwagon this summer, including the already-open Biker Barre on Capitol Hill, Sculpt DC in Penn Quarter, and Off Road Indoor Cycling in Shaw.
Research shows that cycling can burn at least 450 calories an hour. Classes tend to be high energy, with pulsing music—perhaps one reason they’re so popular. Marc Caputo, founder of ZenGo in Bethesda, says his studio’s classes sell out within 30 minutes of the start of registration.
“It’s been really insane, the explosion in the past six weeks,” Caputo says. “We’re processing about 550 reservations whenever the classes go live on Mondays.”
But it’s not just the cycling that has people signing up. All these studios offer a different twist on the activity—their hybrid workouts mix biking with something else, such as strength training at Arlington’s Revolve or barre at ZenGo. Daffney Parsons Allwein of Cycle Studio in Alexandria (which is closed for the summer) says biking is a great cardio workout but is “just one leg of a three-legged stool. We pair classes with yoga and core dynamics for an all-inclusive program.”
Caputo has a theory about why hybrid cycling classes have such appeal: “I think it’s a sign of the times—we’re all so hectic and have limited time to get to the gym. We’re just trying to maximize our efficiency.”
While we’ve tried classes at Revolve, ZenGo, Cycle Studio, and Biker Barre, we’re excited to see what Sculpt DC (formerly Art of Spyn) and Off Road will have to offer. Here’s what we know so far:
Sculpt DC
950 F St., NW; info@sculptdc.com
DC’s first cycle and yoga studio will open in the heart of Penn Quarter this summer in a 4,000-square-foot space. Sculpt will feature two studios, a lounge, men’s and women’s locker rooms, and a retail boutique. The studio will offer separate indoor cycling and yoga classes, in addition to a one-hour class that mixes both workouts together. We’re excited for the bikes, which will feature a display system that lets you track your performance in real time.
Sculpt’s opening special includes one month of yoga for $40 or one month of cycle and yoga for $60.
Off Road Indoor Cycling
905 U St., NW; 202-681-1319
From the sounds of it, Shaw’s first indoor cycling studio will not be for the faint of heart. In addition to cycling classes, Off Road will offer TRX training, core strengthening, boxing, and boot-camp classes. The founders hope the studio will be a place for serious road and mountain cyclists to train during the offseason.
A modified version of this article appears in the June 2012 issue of The Washingtonian.
