For Fitness Fanatics, Old-Style Gyms Don’t Cut It Anymore

For Fitness Fanatics, Old-Style Gyms Don’t Cut It Anymore

Weights. Treadmills. Spin classes. Let’s face it, workout innovations just haven’t kept pace with advances in TV, iPad, and snack-food technology. (Did you know there are onion-ring-and-ketchup-flavored Doritos now?) That said, a few forward-looking gyms offer activities that might actually compete with our Twitter/Netflix/PizzaRanch fixations. Activities like bouncing up to 10 feet in the air while playing dodgeball. Crunch Fitnesses of the world, take note.

House of Air, San Francisco
The professional-size trampolines in this former airplane hangar are set so you can triple-flip from one to the next—a far cry from that round thing you hopped on as a kid. The gym is also home to a bouncy form of dodgeball, whose “field” is 45 x 45 feet. Tired of ducking and weaving? Strap on a foam snowboard or wakeboard and bone up on your extreme sport air-time skills.

Tempest Freerunning Academy, Los Angeles
We know, we know—like adults on kick scooters, the idea of adults jumping and flipping over obstacles sparks a desire to ridicule. But after you watch the Tempest Freerunning team in action—leaping and flipping agilely from ledge to wall—the impulse to point and chortle will quickly morph into a strong desire to be more like Spider-Man.

Ray’s Indoor Mountain Bike Park, Cleveland and Milwaukee
These are the country’s only indoor parks built specifically for mountain bikes. There are separate areas for beginners and experts, with wood ramps and assorted obstacles (like rocks and logs, for example) connected by looping trails. The buildings are closed during the summer months, when Ray’s can’t compete with Mother Nature’s gym.

The Green Micro Gym, Portland, Oregon
As they sweat, exercisers are converting calories into watts at this gym. Their energy is captured and fed back into the facility, which boasts a 60 percent reduction in carbon emissions over a regular gym. The goal is to hit 100 percent soon. OK, yes, you’re still doing the same old boring activities, but because you’re helping the lights stay on, they feel ever-so-slightly less pointless.


http://www.wired.com/magazine/2011/06/st_weirdgyms/