I used to ride my bike anywhere between 250 and 400 weekly miles, including commuting, evening rides, and at least one weekend “century.” I never stretched or conditioned my strength. I’d ride, step off, find…
Hip Fit
Mike Nicholson’s Hip-Hop Fitness is a whirling, leaping, popping way to get in shape; and beyond the fun moves you’ll learn, there’s a whole community of people who want to get down just waiting for…
Light Years Ahead
The cult of nerd culture has eclipsed the “mother’s basement” jokes, and the losing-the-head-cheerleader-to-the-quarterback tropes. Someone who got his start building computers in his garage is now one of the richest men in the world,…
Near And Gnar
Swooping through Olde Towne East to the Three Creeks Trail, my hosts—three on two wheels stay in a tight formation. Making turns through intersections, hovering tensed over our frames while we wait for lights to…
Divine Intervention
Sometimes, in the course of your life, you cross paths with people who amplify your sound, literal and figurative. They dovetail into your mission so solidly that it seems like it was laid out in…
Mind. Body. Booze.
Beer has been a boon to our lovely city for almost two centuries. Beer is a part of many facets of our city. We have good water infrastructure because of the Bud plant, there are…
Donate Holiday Cards!
Columbus! We need your help spreading cheer to those unable to spend the holidays at home. We’re challenging kiddos (of any age) to make holiday cards for Columbus’s kids and adults in hospitals and nursing…
Rediscovering Columbus: Water
A core workout in the heart of downtown. For Lisa Daris, growing up on the Cuyahoga River in Kent, Ohio wasn’t just a lovely way to spend afternoons as a kid. It meant living next…
Rediscovering Columbus: Wheels
Unicycling is just one unique way to get out and around in the city. Tom Schneider knows a thing or two about adventure. As a jumpmaster and rappel master in the army, his every day…
Rediscovering Columbus: Wildlife
Yes, ‘goat yoga’ is a thing—and you’re gonna wanna try it. Meet the geniuses behind the workout we think is Greatest Of All-Time. Dana Bernstein and Katherine Harrison are a match made in nanny goat…
Rediscovering Columbus: Walls
Parkour offers new ways of achieving your fitness goals. There’s one thing I think of when I think of parkour—that episode of The Office where Michael, Dwight, and Andy get into what they think of…
A Primary Goal
Looking for a doctor? The Bartlett Medical Clinic and Wellness Center won’t accept your insurance. Heather Bartlett, M.D., the clinic’s founder and owner, sees a hidden health care crisis in America, one which led her…
New Year, New Habits
Let a local fitness star rewire your mentality for 2018 Hello there 2018 … you snuck up on us. The idea of a new year tends to drive us towards reevaluating our goals, relationships, careers, health,…
Keepin’ it on the Q.T.
After passing the inconspicuous driveway a few times and circling back, I pull my Prius onto a signless and rocky asphalt throughway. The tree-lined drive opens up into a large gravel lot with parked industrial…
Treetop Flyers
Sixty-five feet off the ground, your toes peek over the edge of a wooden platform while your friends jostle around behind you and laugh in excited nervousness. There is a helmet fastened to your melon,…
Axes Up!
I gave myself the name Ragnar. Joining me for my first experience with the nascent “sport” of axe throwing was Maple, Axe Bomber, and Hoss Funk. Before we were to train with the hefty and sharp…
by Steve Hecker
Dive-In Theater
Under the surface, it’s quiet. The cool turquoise press of the water slows your movements. Like meditation, you are conscious of every breath. Every motion is methodical: inflate and deflate your vest, keep track of…
by Megan Leigh Barnard
Skin, Deep
There it is in black and white, on the schedule for classes: Nude. Yoga. I share an office with my editor, and many of our conversations begin with me spinning around in my chair and…
Find Your Fire
The first thing that hits you is the heat. Step in and let it slide around your body and envelope you. Relax into it. You can feel it in your chest when you breathe. Your…
by Erika Brooke
Your Neighbor/Fitness Star
We can see why Women’s Health was as taken with Darcy Wion as we were. This month, the Upper Arlington native will find out whether she made the magazine’s cover as potential winner of the fifth…
by Megan Leigh Barnard
The Nitty Gritty: A Gym for Beer People
What had I done? Dammit, Hoewischer—I’m a beer writer not a fitness critic. And yet, there I was on a muggy Saturday morning, wedging my feet into a pair of running shoes I’d damned near…
Hit It or Quit It: Ronin MMA
In 1996, Senator John McCain called Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) “human cockfighting.” In 2016, The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), the world’s premier MMA promotion, was sold for $4 billion. In that two-decade span, the MMA…
Cha Cha Change
Columbus ballroom studio transforming bodies and lives “I’ve always been a very active person,” Cindi Parker confessed. An equestrian and a tennis player, the Dayton-based allergy practice manager still weighed more than she wanted to,…
Built to Order
Roll reinvents the perfect ride Imagine buying a car that just didn’t fit—one that was cumbersome and uncomfortable to drive and didn’t even come in the color you wanted. That’s precisely the challenge many riders…
Halfin’ It
Ten things you need to know about the next biggest 13.1 miles of your life ‘Tis the season for spandex, electrolytes, and petroleum jelly: while this sounds like a fun Saturday night to some, the…
One Track Mind
Just yesterday this race wasn’t a real thing at all, merely wooden stakes in the back of an SUV somewhere, ready to be planted, on the fly, into the soft ground of a holler in…
Boss Fit
On planet Earth, there are approximately 379 million women in their 50s. Columbus’ own Shellie Edington is the fittest of them all. The 51-year-old’s decisive first place performance at the 2016 CrossFit Games (Women 50-54)…
The Big Fight Back
“She encourages us.” “I yell at them.” The instructor and her students at Title Boxing’s Rock Steady class are having a pleasant disagreement as to how to characterize the 1-2 days a week they spend…
Alterna-Fit
The ever-steady popularity of the treadmill accurately represents America’s attitude toward fitness—that it’s repetitive, monotonous, and probably going to be boring as hell. It’s hard to get excited about creating a killer new body if…
Fitness in Flight
I am suspended upside down 10 feet in the air. Two long, shimmering white sheets rigged to the ceiling are holding me up—one wrapped carefully around my left foot and the other nestled tightly underneath my…
Fights for the Future
I was less than four months old when Columbus native James “Buster” Douglas shocked the world by knocking out Mike Tyson to become the heavyweight champion of the world. My mom likes to tell me…
Vocabulary Building
While The Arnold Sports Festival isn’t the place you see many first-time fitness competitors pop up, the annual event is happening this month (March 3-6) and for those interested in the big bodybuilding stage, (614)…
Stage Moms
One weekend a year, the second largest bodybuilding competition in the world is held right here in Columbus. Thousands of competitors compete in the Arnold for a chance at a trophy and a moment of…
Paradise by Reflector Light
You’ve likely seen that prolific biking idiom on a Harley Davidson cutoff tee—or more ironically—a bumper sticker attached to a Prius. Although predominantly used in motorcycle circles by hefty chaps named Tiny, I can’t help…
One Clear Path
One year ago, I looked in the mirror and wasn’t quite sure who was looking back at me. I was struggling with my confidence in every way and felt lost. I decided that in a…
A Deep Chill: The cold power of healing through cryotherapy
When it comes to sports injuries, many athletes use ice without giving it much thought. Luckily for them, that easy fix really is doing the injury some good. Mark Merritt, an associate professor and director…
Playlist: CRUNCH Time
Summer is coming to a close (boo). Lucky for you, we have the perfect playlist to burn some calories quickly. Time to get those abs in shape! Ready? Let’s do it. Click here for playlist: CRUNCH…
Shaky, sweaty struggles: A first-timer’s Pure Barre experience
As I sit here writing this, my seat is trembling, my arms feel heavy and my body is still drenched in sweat. I just left my first Pure Barre class. If you’ve ever spoken to…
Eat More Purple
Purple was great for music, Prince proved that. Purple was great for kids, Barney took care of that.. Apparently it’s good for hairstyles – just look at today’s trends. But, did you know that…
Weightless relaxation: My first float
I couldn’t talk. My body felt lethargic. My movements were slow. I just finished my first float, and it was one of the few moments in my life where I felt completely and utterly relaxed….