Fitness Finds on Nantucket
Traveling is a great way to explore the “beyond” of Fitness Finds on the Main Line and Beyond. Bet you didn’t know there was a “beyond” piece to the blog! Well, there is and there always has been, but unfortunately, traveling hasn’t been quite so easy in recent years.
I am so grateful for our annual trips to Nantucket to visit dear friends who live there in the summer. Last year, I went on some scenic runs on the island, but I didn’t get to visit any studios, what I really love to do. When we passed a yoga studio last summer, I had major FOMO. So this year, I wanted to make a few fitness stops while I was vacationing on Nantucket. This required a bit of planning because the island is busier than ever. It wouldn’t be polite to our hosts to spend a large part of the time studio hoping (which you know I’d be perfectly content to do), so I had three mornings on the island which meant three opportunities to workout. I better make it good!
My host on Nantucket is a former dancer, professional NFL cheerleader and barre instructor so when I asked what she wanted to do, it wasn't surprising that she picked Forme Barre. Forme Barre used to have two mainland locations in Greenwich and New Canaan, Connecticut, up until very recently when the owner sold them to focus on Nantucket. What was surprising, and super exciting to me, was that we were going to do our barre class in the middle of the beach!
And this wasn’t just any beach workout. Forme Barre offeres a traveling barre class from its Barre Bus. I was expecting the Barre Bus to be a retro Volkswagen van or something like that, which I guess is too predictable. Like all things Nantucket, the fact that the Barre Bus is a 1979, former military, all-terrain vehicle (a Pinzgauer) makes it so much cooler! If you have been to Nantucket, you are aware that the island is home to the largest selection of old trucks and SUV’s (which is kind of ironic because it’s impossible to get these old cars serviced on the island but that’s a story for another day). You cannot miss this “bus”, even without the spare tire cover that says “Barre Bus” in bubble gum pink letters.
When we approached Nobadeer beach (past the ACK Surf School kids and amidst the planes from ACK airport taking off overhead), the massive beach Barre Bus was positioned down below among a few other vehicles that had already made their way onto the beach. On Nantucket, a bunch of beaches allow vehicles to drive right onto them so that could be the reason for all of the really cool, rugged, all-terrain vehicles on the island. By the time our class ended, the shore was lined with a few dozen vehicles posting up for the beach day.
We were greeted by the instructor, Michelle, who had a headset and microphone to help carry her sweet voice (which proved to be helpful as the planes took off above us). She told us to grab equipment out of the back of the bus, so I took a mat and two 2-pound weights for floor work, what I thought was the bulk of class. I neglected to notice that lining both sides of the Barre Bus, were two ballet bars nailed into the exterior of the bus. As soon as the arm and core mat work finished, we made our way over to the ballet barre… right there, in the middle of the beach! Doing those small but effective barre movements on the bumpy, unreliable sand, is very different from barre work on the flat, firm ground. Rising up onto the balls of your feet on the sand and sitting back into a chair pose requires a heck of a lot more balance and core work. My friend, the one who used to teach barre, said this was a whole new game for her even. So you can imagine the challenge for us regular people. But I am here for it all and love unique fitness adventures (as I like to call them) and this was definitely that.
Forme Barre offers beach workouts with the Barre Bus a few, limited times a week. There are many more opportunities to work out at their studio on Amelia Drive, which I didn’t have a chance to visit. The Barre Bus is available to rent and will travel anywhere on Nantucket for your private events, music festivals, bachelorette parties, birthday workouts, etc. Forme Barre is currently running an “end of the summer” offer of 40% off 2 months using the code SUMMER40 at check out.
To sign up for beach barre, click on the “Book the Bus” button at the bottom of the “Book a Class” page on the website. You can also sign up through the Mind-Body App. This class is a little pricey— it’s $39 for the 45-minute class. But it’s a unique experience and worth it, at least once. Class is popular and often waitlisted so I recommend signing up in advance. Directions to Nobadeer Beach, including where to park, is listed on the website, as well. I highly recommend the beach barre class from the Barre Bus for the ultimate seaside workout! Don’t forget to bring a towel, water, sunscreen and your sunnies.
One of my favorite parts about visiting different studios is to observe their unique communities. Usually, you can immediately get a sense of the community the moment you walk into the room just based on the initial interactions — the interactions the members have with the instructors, the owners and each other. And this was one of those places with a strong community— in more ways than one. When I walked through the doors of the quintessential Nantucket style building of Nantucket Cycling & Fitness, I was enthusiastically greeted by the owner, Lisa, and the instructor, who seemed to be waiting for my arrival since it was my first time there. I immediately felt comfortable and happy to be there. So thank you, ladies. As silly as it may sound, a greeting like that could make or break someone’s workout, or whether they return.
I signed up for TRX HIIT and Core class simply because it worked well with the rest of our plans that day. We were going on a boat later in the morning so I needed an early class and TRX was offered at 7 am… perfect! Nantucket Cycling & Fitness offers a variety of TRX workouts that use body weight and gravity in the suspended TRX straps to develop strength, balance and lots of core stability. Some classes are more strength focused, others more cardio and this class was a good mixture of both with a strong focus on core… which I was still feeling four days later. The instructor, Jasmine Cruz, is the only TRX certified instructor on the island so she teaches all of the TRX classes at NCF. I did the class in big, clunky sneakers which helped to hold me in the foot straps, but Jasmine is so bad ass that she did the exercises in bare feet (and looked so cool doing so).
The class consisted of a mix of men and women of all ages and abilities that seemed to be regulars. The straps were suspended around the room. We warmed up with some jogs and jumping jacks leaning forward into the straps. And then we worked through three groups of exercises, with 3 sets each, in the straps. The first group was more cardio focused. The second group was more strength focus. And the last group was all about the core… although there was some form of a plank in each exercise group so that could be the reason for the abdominal pain days later. Fifty minutes was challenging but flew by because of the structure of the class. I especially loved the feel good stretching in the straps at the end of class.
Nantucket Cycling & Fitness holds all sorts of classes (Run, Row Reps + Core; Sculpt & Weights; Bootcamp; Metabolic Mashup; Cardio Fitness; Burn; Boxing; and Combo Spin with other workouts). Of all the places that I visited during my trip, this place has the largest variety of classes. And I would have been happy in any class, although a bootcamp with this CrossFit community might have been outta my league. (They share the space with Nantucket CrossFit so a bunch of their members cross over). NCF started as a cycling studio so there are plenty of cycling offerings on the second level of the studio (I hope you managed to catch my IG stories last weekend of the artwork lining the stairs to the spin room). If not, here is a taste:
I love a good retail opportunity and Jasmine was rocking the cutest Nantucket Cycling & Fitness crop. So of course I had to grab one after class. The NCF logo is adorable (a sunset filled kettlebell. See, I told you it was adorable), and I am a sucker for a relevant souvenir. When I posted a picture wearing the shirt later that day, so many IG followers asked about purchasing one (I even went back the next day to get one for my spin teacher back home). Feel free to email Lisa at info@nantucketcyclingandfitness.com if you want some of her cool logo attire. Fun fact: Susan creates new retail each year with a different, annual logo for NCF that is created as part of a contest for designers from all over the world (using 99 Designs).
The drop-in rate for one class is $33, which is at the high end of a one-time class cost (class packages offer savings). But, I’m not at all surprised because this is in line with everything on the island. It’s an expensive place.
On the last morning of my stay on Nantucket, I visited Supta Yoga for a Sunday morning yoga class which seemed like the perfect conclusion to my trip. And class was just that. The Nantucket fog was lifting as we entered the breezy, light and open one-room studio for class. The doors were left open and the cool breeze flowed in during class which was a serene way to calm me and ground me. At times, it almost felt like we were outside. When me and my friend entered the studio right at the start time, the room was pretty full but we were able to grab two spots next to each other. They had Manduka mats available for our use, which I appreciated because I don’t travel with my yoga mat.
Class was “Free-Form” which is an “open format practice inspired by the surrounding elements”, so maybe it was no coincidence that the foggy morning stuck with me and played such a integral part to my experience at Supta Yoga. I loved the flow and rhythm to the class. It was peaceful. It was calming. Every part of it felt good. But there was enough movement and some challenges to make this class more than just restful. The instructor, Meg, was accepting during class and offered variations and opportunities to do “your thing.” I liked that freedom and playfulness.
Supta Yoga offers a wide variety of yoga classes. They have several opportunities for hot yoga (that they call “warmed” which is a way more inviting way to say “heat”). They have a good deal of restorative and Yin classes, as well as meditations and breath work classes. The vibe of this whole place was very accepting and peaceful so it makes sense that these are their offerings, as opposed to power and sculpt and fast flow classes.
Class cost me $27, which is right around what I would expect to pay to drop into a yoga class. I registered myself several weeks in advance, but bought my friend’s spot only a few days in advance so there is no need to rush to book a spot for this particular class/day of week (I can’t speak for the others). Since we arrived just in time for class, I didn’t have a chance to talk to the instructor ahead of class and she was engaged in several conversations with her students after class. So I didn’t get to learn as much about this studio as I would have liked. But they were hosting a community event the following night, featuring some local vendors and artists, with a portion of the proceeds going towards The Women’s Reproductive Rights Assistance Project (WRRAP). And I got the sense that everyone in the class was planning to attend. Community for a cause.
Finding fitness is my thing. There were a few other places that I happened to learn about in my travels and that I would have loved to have had time to visit. For example, Michelle (my barre teacher) recently took over the dance studio on the island, The Dance Space. She just started to offer fitness classes, one of which is Bounce (trampoline workout). I wanted to take Michelle’s Bounce class after yoga on Sunday, but it just didn’t work out (I have a problem with over planning and I didn’t think it was fair to subject my friends to that!). Also, when we visited one of my favorite places for the best breakfast sandwich in the world (yes, you can hold me to that), Bartlett’s Farm, I noticed a yoga studio right above the market (upstairs on the second floor)! Talk about a convenient way to get your post workout meal. And since returning home, I learned about 1111 Nantucket from a studio owner at home. So it looks like I may have my workouts for next summer when I return to Nantucket. I already started my countdown.
