your weekly nyc fitness and wellness guide: may 18 - 24
A new fitness dating app, a free community workout from the Yard, and even more bathing club news.
Well everyone, it’s almost the unofficial, ~official~ start of summer. Memorial Day Weekend is coming up this weekend, so Saturday and Sunday are jam-packed, but that means the weekdays are pretty quiet! Also, we’ll push next week’s newsletter off until Tuesday because we hope you won’t be checking your email next Monday.
Since this is only our third edition, a quick rundown (hehe) of the format: events first, then we have news, trends, or anything else we think is fun and worth knowing in fitness and wellness. There’s a lot of that this week!
This week: A new fitness dating app, a free community workout from the Yard, plenty of Memorial weekend events, and Hannah reported from yet another bathing club.
on the radar: this week’s fitness and wellness events
Monday May 18: Medal Monday with Brooks (Park Slope), 12PM - 4PM, free
Runners: If you ran a race this spring, bring you medal down to the Brooklyn Running Co in Park Slope to celebrate your achievement with Brooks. A photographer will be on-site so you can snag a portrait with your medal.
Tuesday May 19: We Mend Summit Powered by Shopify (Williamsburg), 11AM - 830PM, free
After Hours Club is hosting a wellness summit that is free and open to the public as a day of healing in honor of Mental Health Awareness Month, they told us. Brand activations like a matcha bar, mini facials, breathwork, and recovery stations like red lights and compression boots. You can also attend ticketed movement sessions, including the $25 morning session: A 5k, yoga, and ice baths in collaboration with Ice Cold Club. You just might see us there throughout the day, and if you do, say hi!
Tuesday May 19: The Warm Up LGBTQ+ Tennis Social (Fort Greene), 6PM, free with RSVP
The Brooklyn Community Pride Center is hosting a social event with snacks and rinks for folks to learn about their tennis programming. There will be no tennis at this event, but it’s a chance to connect with the community and learn more about their beginner clinics and all levels playdates. We love to see this as tennis can be a pretty intimidating sport to get started.
Saturday May 23: The Yard Community Payday Sessions (Williamsburg), 850AM, free
If you’ve ever wanted to try out the Yard’s strength and conditioning “team” workouts, now’s the time. Their community day is free and open to the public. It will be a good mix of their weekly “RIG” (strength) and “TURF” (conditioning) programs. Usually 3-6 people per team hitting a group goal. High energy workouts and great way to meet people, the Yard team tells us. There will be a DJ and some community food and drink vendors.
Saturday May 23: Peak and Pace’s Run of Nations (Central Park), 10AM, free
Peak and Pace’s Run of Nations—a 5k run or shorter walk where you rep your home country—is sure to be a massive turnout. I attended last year and it was somewhat emotional (and very joyful) watching everyone cheer as the run leader called our each country represented at the end of the run.
Saturday May 23: Memorial Day Hike with The Rec NYC (Grand Central), 730AM, $40
Looking to escape the city and hit the trail this holiday weekend? The Rec, a recreation and adventure club that celebrates the Black experience, is heading to New Jersey for a four-mile hike with a lake, waterfall, and views of the NYC skyline.
Saturday May 23: Outsiders Pinelands Kayaking and BBQ (West Village), 10AM - 7PM, $144
Meet the Outsiders team at the Standard Biergarten in the West Village for a ride over to the New Jersey Pinelands. (Is this a Pine Barrens rebrand because of the haunted stories around them?) Either way, this two-hour paddle is sure to be peaceful and you can spot beaver lodges and maybe a turtle or two. After, the group will stop by a BBQ spot en route back to the city.
Sunday May 24: Fruitstand SS26 Soccer Tournament (LES), 12PM - 7PM,
World Cup is coming to NYC soon and New York streetwear brand Fruitstand is celebrating by hosting a collection/zine launch alongside a soccer tournament. It’ll be 5v5 tournament and teams are picked randomly. But you don’t need to play footie to enjoy the day—they’ll have DJs and drink tickets for everyone on the list.
we think you should know…
There’s a hot new fitness-related, application-based dating app on the scene…. ATEAM, “the official dating app of wellness” officially launched this week. The brand has been teasing it in incognito mode and have been hosting iykyk “Date Nights” at some of the most social gyms in NYC, like Gotham Gym, Fuze House, and The Yard. With already 8,000 people on the waitlist and a stacked roster of “founding committee” members, it’s sure to be the talk of your group chat.
Alex Silver-Fagan, a trainer on Centr and one of the investors, told me that after COVID, New York’s fitness scene lost much of its community-gathering soul, and the app is changing that. “It’s not just dating. It’s community, it’s friendship,” she says on a phone call. “If you end up making a romantic connection, that’s amazing. But it’s honestly just recreating this fitness community that we lost during the pandemic.”
On the app, there’s a limit to how long you can stay on and how many messages you can send, so it encourages people to meet (and probably workout) in person.
And as for the IRL events: At this stage, events are open to both existing members and those who aren’t yet part of ATEAM, though attendance is managed through a request-to-join process via Luma. We don’t know how they’ll judge you for acceptance. Good luck!
happenings around town
Another bathing club just officially hard launched: Lore Bathing Club in NoHo has been in their soft opening for a few months, but now it’s the real deal. We visited this past Friday and it has a much more light, welcoming—although less immersive—feel than Othership or The Altar. They really hone in on the basics: Dry sauna, infrared sauna, and large cold plunge pool, with a cafe-style setup when you walk in. The team told me that eventually, it will be completely membership based ($225/month), but right now, they have day passes. But the whole goal is to make it part of your weekly routine.
Speaking of bathing, Bathhouse just opened a third (very large) property at 540 Atlantic Ave in Downtown Brooklyn. This week, they’re hosting the Aufguss USA Nationals (the traditional towel twirling ritual) in their event-sized sauna.
If you’ve tried to register for any of New York Road Running’s shorter events (like the Bronx 10 mile race), you know how much of a hassle it can be. The competition is fierce among races that are part of the 9+1 series, which runners can check off to get bib access to the NYC marathon. This past week, they announced a pilot program to make it easier for non-marathoners to get into these races, reported Runner’s World.
Daniel Varghese, who runs the NYC cycling Substack Leg Day put us onto the new outdoors gear + coffee shop, Contrasto, in Greenpoint that opened in March.
Ya girls love snacks, so we’re excited to hear about the opening of the Goods Mart, an NYC-based curated convenience store with more “health-focused” snacks, in Williamsburg Wharf. Definitely will be worth a stop to fuel up for workouts or recovery.
That’s all for this week. If you make it to any of these events, we want to hear about it—sound off in the comments. And if you come across something worth featuring, send it our way or drop it in the community chat! PR and brands, our inboxes are always open for news and events we need to know.
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See you next Monday.