Cyclepathic Fitness, Cycling Isn’t the Half

The 411

Adam Kessel, owner of the 2.5-year-old Cyclepathic Fitness, offers a truly dynamic way to get strong, get fit and get humbled. Cyclepathic is an indoor cycling studio and a circuit training space. The schedule offers both options throughout the day and no matter what you do, you will sweat and you will get a welcome departure from your daily grind.

Cyclepathic is a unique blend of elemental, old school fitness and new and different exercises that are hard to come by. Using everything from ropes to sand bags to free weights to Bosu balls to your own shaking limbs, Cyclepathic aims to get you working every muscle in your body. Many of the moves are fundamental, yet complex. What does this mean? An example: After whimpering my way through numerous forward and backward bear crawls to “warm up”, I was handed a printout on the benefits of crawling. It explained that crawling builds “a foundation of reflexive strength, the original strength you were born to develop” and results in “having a body that is strong and mobile – a body without limits”. If that’s too much to wrap your head around, just wrap your head around screaming muscles and a feeling of total accomplishment afterward.

Between the primitive, organic movements (many of which ironically require total focus and attention) and athletic drills that remind you of varsity soccer practice, the classes are not for the faint of heart, but 100% for the driven, enthusiastic student looking for a creative, bold and butt kicking workout. Or those of you simply looking for a solid, no-frills spin class.

The other thing that sets Cyclepathic apart is that Adam has a special passion for working with “adaptive athletes”, as he calls them, or those with spinal cord injuries.  One of his instructors is a paraplegic and teaches a dance class and the studio offers all types of fitness options for wheelchair bound students. For this reason alone, Cyclepathic is a studio worth getting to know.

Class(es)

The spinning classes take it back to the (proven and effective) basics. You won’t find tap backs or free weights as you ride, but you will find serious hill climbs, full-on sprints, and an overall invigorating, leg-burning, heart-pumping experience.   

For the circuit training class I took, almost all exercises involved compound movements, which meant more burn, more cardio and more sweat. Each interval was 60 seconds and often done twice before moving on. Drills included, but were not limited to, bicep curl variations, lateral jumps, toe-taps on the Bosu ball (while switching from clockwise to counter-clockwise every few seconds), battle ropes, Russian twists and on and on. And did I mention bear crawls? Holy howling quads!

Also, if you need extra revving, the beats are pumping in both classrooms. 

Vibe

Adam is of the skate and surf world and the studio reflects that. The vibe is California-street, if you will. “Ride as if you stole it” and similar phrases are graffiti’d on various walls. It’s a friendly, laid-back atmosphere and you feel a little cooler just by stepping inside.

Space

It’s a small-ish space but has everything you need.  Towels and cycling shoes are available, along with filtered water, a clean updated bathroom and a variety of gear for sale. And despite the close quarters, both workout rooms have good ventilation and appropriate temps for saturated-in-sweat conditions.

Instructor(s)

Adam is a high energy, good-as-gold guy, with a personal-trainer/coach sensibility. His spirit is contagious and he provides the kind of unbridled enthusiasm required to get through his killer classes.

Tracy Conley taught my spin class and has a down to earth, lil’ bit gritty, edgy motivational speaker type presence.  She provided lots of guidance throughout the class and pumped everyone up from beginning to end.

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Prices are divided into 3 categories. 1) Memberships/auto-renew: $85 for 4 classes/month, $155 for 8 classes/month & $159 for 1 month unlimited (3 month commitment). 2) Single class rates: First class is $15, subsequent drop-ins are $25 and student drop-in is $10. 3) No commitment rates/class-packs: $99 intro offer for 1 month unlimited,  $175 for 1 month unlimited (no commitment) and $195 for 10 classes, no expiration date.