home gyms
Home Gyms
A Deity To Go With Your Downward Dog
By no means does a home yoga space or a home meditation space require the installation of religious imagery of any sort. All you really have to do is clear some floor space and roll out a mat. But let's say you want a deity. Let's say you want a really big deity. San Francisco writer Mark Morford wanted to install a 95-pound statue of Nataraja, but it's not like you just slap up a deity like you would a Bruce Lee wall decal. "Basically, when you decide to fully invite something like this into your home, into you life, you do not want to f-- around," he writes. So, how exactly do you install a deity?
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Madonna Is Adding A Whole New Floor to Her Townhouse For Her Gym
What do you do if you're really into working out, really rich, and own a fancy townhouse on the UES with a little airspace to spare? Duh, you build another floor and turn it into a kickin' gym. Which is what Madonna is reportedly doing as part her New York townhouse renovation. (Other renovation features: A wine cellar, a hair salon, a luggage room, 10 bedrooms, 13 bathrooms...) Now that Madonna and Tracy Anderson are on the outs, she may need other accessories for her gym. For her consideration, I suggest the following fantasy home gym items:
More...Om at Home
How To Turn Your Closet Into a Meditation Room
Four years ago, insanity was about to hit for Gina Bradley, founder of Paddle Diva in East Hampton. She and her husband were about to have their second baby, and in the days before the arrival, meditation felt urgent. A bucket of paint and a trip to Pier 1 later, and a former closet off the bedroom became meditation headquarters. "It's a place where we can go, sit down, and quiet our minds — it's a kid-free zone. When I put myself in that room, I'm in the ocean," Gina says, explaining that she and her husband picked a blue that looked like the Cayman Islands. "We're water people, we're calmed by anything blue," she laughs. You say you live in the city and lack a small extra room? Right, but still, it doesn't take much. Check out Gina's mini-paradise and it may inspire you to create a calm-spot of your own.
Home Gyms
The Couch That's Also A Punching Bag
It looks all mild-mannered, like a regular, if somewhat galactic, sofa. But no. One swift shift, and instead of lounging, you're kicking ass, or at least kicking sofa cushion:
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The Beauty of Home Pilates
Can a home gym be pretty? Yes, or at least maybe. So long as you have the right model. And we think we've found it: the boutique Pilates studio. In-home Pilates studios have a noble tradition. Joseph Pilates himself taught out of his apartment in New York City, and some of the best Pilates studios are tiny operations — one room and a few pieces of artful equipment — a scale which makes them just right for cribbing from for your own home workout space. We've collected photos from a handful of small Pilates studios, including professional studio spaces carved out of instructors' homes, like Jessie Zalla's Brooklyn studio above. With big windows, long mirrors, and gentle colors, they're spaces dedicated to sweat that still pass the pretty test.
Snapshot
Rachel Doesn't Do Hip-Hop Booty Burn But She's All About Trapeze
Every day, we give you a snapshot of one fellow striver in fitness. We ask personal questions, he or she boldly answers. Today's snapshot: Rachel, aka berlinesque.
- What's your number one workout spot? I'm lucky to have a wonderful workout spot at home – a bright mezzanine space that I've equipped with basic Pilates gear, yoga mat, free weights, swiss ball, sliding discs, therabands, dvds, music, etc., so once I'm up there I have lots of options to choose from, and no excuses....
- What's the healthiest thing you eat? My morning shake: Almond milk, rice protein, chocolate sorbet, frozen banana, a splash of flax oil, and a dash of cinnamon – yum!
Home Gyms
Why Not a Home Climbing Wall?
Buried deep in our monkey DNA is an urge to climb. Urban living would seem unfriendly to that instinct: Small spaces, low ceilings, cheap drywall. Ah, but the home climbing exists, and must be considered! We submit as the ideal this particular wall at the Illoiha Fitness Club in Tokyo (photos by Daici Ano via Dezeen). Healthy and hella stylish. Yes, also a bit ambitious. Not to panic, we have rounded up some other, almost practical, climbing wall options....
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Shh...The Ottoman is a Weight Bench in Disguise
Let's not mince words. Gym equipment is fugly. Try as you might to upgrade your home gym with swanky designer dumbells or an artsy rowing machine, when all is said and done, camouflage may be the best recourse. Enter the hidden home gym....
More...Fantasy Home Gyms
Indo-Row: At Last, Pretty Home Cardio
For apartment dwellers, home cardio equipment usually falls in the "mistake" category. Hulking, underutilized injection-molded elliptical machine buried under old magazines in corner... Ug. Today, however, I tried out the Indo-Row, a new indoor rowing machine. It felt good. It also looked good: wooden, and pretty, and it tucks away easily. But I think it's so pretty you could actually leave it on display in your living room as a functional art object. It uses water for resistance, and it's sleek and swooshy in all the right ways. It induces river fantasies. I'm a little head over heels. In case you're tempted, as I am, here are the deets....
More...Fantasy Home Gyms
How To Hide a Pool Anywhere
Used to be that heavy gym floors that slowly, horizontally retracted to reveal a pool beneath, a la It's a Wonderful Life, were the state of the art in stealth pools. No more! Behold, the Hydrofloor. It looks like a regular floor, but then it slowly, vertically lowers, pushing the water beneath the floor up to the surface, until the desired depth is achieved and the formerly dry room is transformed into a watery paradise.
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