The Studios Helping New Yorkers Do a Deep Dive Into Their Health and Fitness

At RēCOVER – a state-of-the-art recuperation studio in Midtown Manhattan – a woman is reclining in a leather armchair, taking a nap. She wears an eye mask and her headphones are playing binaural beats. Two electrodes stuck to her neck administer microcurrents that disrupt the brain’s fight-or-flight response, easing her into a half-sleep state.

This neuroscience-based tool, which is said to give you all the benefits of several hours of sleep in just 30 minutes, is known as NuCalm. It’s part of a suite of specialized technologies provided by RēCOVER, including an infrared sauna, a Fit3D body-scanning machine and a CVAC – a pressurized pod described as being like “a cellular massage.”

Founder Aaron Drogoszewski, an educator and trainer at the National Academy of Sports Medicine, believes his studio’s offerings will help New Yorkers perform better in life as well as fitness.

“Prior to our opening this establishment recovery was synonymous with athletic recovery,” he says. “That’s a very real part of our business model – athletes want to do what they do better, but it’s not just athletes that have performance demands, it’s not just athletes that want to do what they do better”.

At Fitnescity, a studio promising to “uncover the data that’s vital to understanding your wellness,” it’s a similar story. Founder Laila Zemrani estimates that no more than 10 percent of her clients could be considered athletes or super fit.

Most of the people who undertake Fitnescity’s $145 body composition test (which reveals how much of their tissue is fat and how much is lean muscle) are hoping to figure out where they’re at in terms of their health and fitness. They check in every few months to see if lifestyle improvements are having a measurable impact, and their progress is tracked in a detailed report compiled by a certified exercise physiologist or clinical dietitian.

“You know how New Yorkers are […] they are driven by this very high-performance lifestyle and if they’re gonna spend some time at this gym they want to know it’s time well spent,” Zemrani says. “People don’t want to train or change their diet blindly, so to speak, but they want to do it in a more scientific way by learning more about why they’re doing what they’re doing and whether it’s working.”

Zemrani points to the rise of direct-to-consumer lab tests and advanced wearables as signs demand for personalized health and trackable metrics will continue to grow. Technology in the wellness space is empowering people to get extensive information about their body without visiting the doctor’s office.

Newly opened Clean Market – a one-stop for wellness that includes a meticulously curated wellness store and “tonic bar” – offers three results-driven services. Guests can step into the cryosauna for a quick blast of below-freezing air (proven to reduce inflammation, support fat loss and slow ageing), relax inside an infrared sauna (said to boost immunity, ease joint and muscle pain, and aid skin rejuvenation), or get hooked up to a NutriDrip for intravenous vitamin dosing.

There are 14 premixed IV solutions available, designed to help with everything from hangover recovery to athletic performance. Alternatively, customers can consult with the in-house medical doctor to create something suited to their exact needs.

All of this might sound a little on the extreme side to somebody who pats themselves on the back for making it to the gym a couple of times a week, but for many New Yorkers time is the greatest luxury. They don’t want to waste any of theirs on inefficient or ineffective pursuits, particularly when it comes to something as important as health.