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Fakery Spectrum:
Feels like the gym: 1
Feels like the Olympics: 5
Photo-illustrations by Jesse Lenz
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Feels like: Skiing
The 45-minute cardio-heavy Aspen Ascent (The Sports Club/L.A.”New York, 330 E. 61st St., nr. Second Ave.; 212-355-5100; memberships from $176 a month) class utilizes props like a step, light free weights, and a disc to imitate the moves you’d use while skiing. There’s also an emphasis on squats and lunges, which strengthen the slopes-injury-prone knee area.
Rating: 2
Photo: Courtesy of The Sports Club/L.A.
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Feels like: Snowboarding
For first-timers, snowboarding can be tricky. The same goes for Winterboarding class (Crunch Fort Greene, 691 Fulton St., nr. St. Felix St.; 718-797-9464; membership from $80 a month), which engages your core and legs to balance atop a 30-inch wobbly wooden Indo Board. The 45-minute session also uses the board for sequences of push-ups and lunges.
Rating: 2
Photo: Courtesy of Crunch Gym
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Feels like: Road-biking
Trendy it may be, but spinning is a far cry from pushing yourself outdoors. In Power Cycling (Chelsea Piers Sports Center, Pier 60, 20th St. and Hudson River Park; 212-336-6000; eight-week programs from $300), you set up your own road bike on a stationary stand, then watch yourself and your classmates onscreen as you cycle.
Rating: 5
Photo: Courtesy of Chelsea Piers Sports Center
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Feels like: Ice skating
Spunky former figure skater and owner of Physical Mind Studio Lauren Piskin’s Cardio Slideboard (1200 Lexington Ave., nr. 81st St.; 212-744-6100; 55-minute sessions from $34) trades the ice rink for a six-foot-long slick mat. Wearing nylon booties, you’ll glide back and forth using your quads, abs, and arms, quickly working up your heart rate.
Rating: 4
Photo: Gabrielle Helle/Courtesy of Physical Mind Studio
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Feels like: Running outside
On the Matrix treadmill at Dasha Wellness (115 E. 57th St., nr. Park Ave.; 212-755-5500; sessions from $60), you can simulate running down Sunset Boulevard, the mountains of Utah, or the streets of Chicago. The selected landscape will display on a screen in front of you, making for an entertaining, if not completely real-feeling, scenic route.
Rating: 2
Photo: Adam Zeliger/Courtesy of Dasha Wellness
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Feels like: Surfing
Developed by a former hockey player who surfed to keep buff in the off-season, the RipSurferX is essentially a surfboard with a base and resistance bands. Enroll in SurfSet boot camp (Chelsea Piers Sports Center; 209-819-7873; classes from $35; January 9 to March 4) to experience the same effect on your core and arms as catching real waves.
Rating: 3
Photo: Courtesy of Chelsea Piers Sports Center
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Feels like: Beach games
A small Beach Boys”soundtracked cardio class, Fun in the Sun (Smart Workout, 124 E. 40th St., nr. Lexington Ave.; 212-661-1660; membership from $145 a month) aims to perk up the S.A.D.-afflicted through swim-inspired cardio moves like the backstroke using resistance bands as well as sand-simulating workouts using ankle weights.
Rating: 1
Photo: Courtesy of Smart Workout
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Feels like: An obstacle course
Designed to emulate Tough Mudder, the hard-core outdoor obstacle course created by the British Special Forces, Crunch’s brand-new One Tough Mudder class (1109 Second Ave., nr. 59th St.; 212-758-3434; membership from $90 a month) puts you through a gauntlet of intense running, jumping jacks, crawling, push-ups, and mountain-climbers.
Rating: 3
Photo: Courtesy of Crunch Gym
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