17 NYC fitness startups helping us stay healthy

The sun is shining and the weather seems to be (finally) changing to spring. By our count, there are just 89 days left until the official start of summer. Luckily, that should give you just enough time to transform your body from the beer-chugging, television watching machine you've trained it to be into something a bit more beach friendly. Here are 17 fitness startups in NYC that are happy to help you along: 

Peloton allows you to bring a high-end spinning studio into your home. They make state-of-the-art indoor cycling machines that include a screen that can live-stream spinning classes. If you can't make a live spinning class, you can also chose from one of their over 3,000 on-demand, prerecorded classes. We're personally looking forward to virtual reality spinning.

 

With expert advice, monitoring and personalized plans to ensure motivation and real results, Noom's apps help users maintain a healthy lifestyle. The app also gathers data from a variety of health devices to track everything from steps to blood sugar, helping keep users involved in their health every step of the way.

 

By now, you probably know all about ClassPass. They're huge. But, just in case you don't, ClassPass is a subscription service that lets users attend fitness classes at participating fitness locations. Instead of having a membership to one studio, a membership to ClassPass lets you attend all sorts of different classes. If you suffer from fitness ADD, ClassPass is for you. 

 

SoulCycle isn’t really a tech company at all, but its roots are all New York. Born in the Upper West Side, SoulCycle is odd, in that its spinning classes are only offered on a pay-as-you go model, with no membership option. At $34 a class, they’re not cheap either. It must work though, because over 20,000 people ride at SoulCycle every week.

 

Hammerhead is a turn-by-turn navigation service for cyclists. Their system makes it easy to navigate fun, and safe cycling routes. Riders simply place a dongle (pictured above) on the front of their handlebars and choose a route on Hammerhead's app. Then, a series of lights will safely guide you through your ride. Just make sure to take the thing off your bike before you park it, or your friendly, NYC neighborhood bike thief is pretty much guaranteed to run off with it.

 

Qinetic is a social media platform designed for health and wellness professionals and hobbyists. On the platform people share all sorts of fitness related content. If you were looking for a place to share your favorite recipe for a new protein shake, or were just curious how to successfully complete a margarita-themed cleanse, this is your new Facebook.

 

Motion Traxx is like a having a DJ that moonlights as a personal trainer living on your phone. Load up the app, tell it what sort of workout you want to do, and they’ll serve up some motivational beats to coach you through your workout. According to the company, just over 105,000 subscribers have burned over 2 trillion calories using the service. If you have to burn 3,500 calories to burn one pound of fat, that means they've burned a combined 571 million of pounds of fat. 

 

FitReserve is like ClassPass' younger sibling. Like ClassPass, they give subscribers access to classes at participating gyms. Their big selling point, however, is that participating studios are required to offer their entire class schedule to users, while ClassPass users can find that some classes are blacked out. Which one is better? That’s for you to decide.

 

Smartum Polku makes it easy to find, try and buy passes to fitness activities near you. Through their site you can find gyms, studios, dojos, etc., that are located near you. Many of the places they work with offer exclusive free trials through the service. If you don't know what you're looking for, this might be a good place to start.

 

Find Your Trainer, refreshingly, does exactly what their name says they do. They’ll connect you with a vetted and certified personal trainer that can train you wherever you want. If you want to work out in your house, no problem. In your office? Some beefcake will show up at reception. If you happen to book with a trainer at a gym, you can train there too — and you don’t even need a membership.

 

Have you ever dreamed of working out like a Bollywood star? Yup, you read that right. Doonya offers Bollywood-inspired dance classes. The company promises to keep you smiling as you burn up to 800 calories per class, while teaching you fitness and dance fundamentals. I watched their 'What Is Doonya' video, and it certainly had me smiling.

 

Body Labs uses advanced technology to analyze the human body and its motion. Their goal is to provide a digital human body platform that companies can use to design goods and services. This can be used for a wide variety of things, including to track the way a body’s muscle definition and shape changes during a workout, or to identify health risks associated with a certain body shape.

 

FitCause uses charity to motivate you to move more. Connect your activity tracker to their service, join a team that’s supporting a cause that inspires you, and watch as your fitness goals translate into real donations. You're probably more likely to run that extra mile if you know that quitting early means that little Timmy is going hungry. 

 

Aaptiv offers on-demand yoga, running and spinning classes. For runners, you can find a class that’s outside, or inside on a treadmill or elliptical. Download their app, pick the exercise you’re into, and they’ll set you up with a trainer.

 

IncentFit aims to make companies' employees healthier and happier by incentivizing them to exercise. A company sets up tangible rewards for employees that complete a fitness activity. For example, a company could offer employees a dollar for every mile they run. The employees end up healthier, wealthier and, hopefully, more productive.

 

Budstraps makes headphone clips you can exercise in. Their clips wrap around the back of your neck, kind of like sunglass straps. Once you’ve drenched them in your rancid sweat one too many times, you can simply wash them in warm water.

 

Power 20 makes apps that guide people through intense 20 minute workouts. They have workouts tailored to all sorts of fitness levels, from couch potatoes to the super-fit. They have niche workouts that work on certain parts of the body (think a 'Better Butt' workout or a 'Chiseled Chest' workout), and they even have workouts designed for pregnant women or women who recently gave birth. And, since it's just 20 minutes long, you really don't have an excuse not to do it... 

 

Have a news tip for us or know of a company that deserves coverage? Let us know or tweet us @builtinnewyork.