Calling All Couples: NYC Agape is Where Love & Fitness Meet

We say it’s a cooler form of couple’s therapy.

The NYC Agape fitness program is breaking the mold for traditional ways of communicating with and understanding your significant other; described as “where love and fitness meet” on its website, NYC Agape is also an excellent alternative to getting healthy together. The name is fitting—when we looked up agape, we discovered it stems from the Greek word for “love.”

Run from West Village-located Gotham Gym, the program lasts five weeks and is led by NYC Agape CEO, Founder, and Head Trainer Mike Brown, a personal trainer with a high-profile clientele (among his many accomplishments). In each of the 10 one-on-one, 50-minute sessions, partners engage in team-building workouts like boxing, function movement, TRX, Kettle Bell training, and cardio—“all exercises that we believe encourage participation…This opens communication [between] the couple, rather than them facing the stereotypical exercises in the gym that keep couples from working out together in the first place,” Brown tells us. A major component comprises boxing and kickboxing, as they are neurological and based off of adrenaline instead of strength, Brown says. “[They] serve as great exercise, which couples can do bias of skills.”

So what makes the program successful? Brown has a straightforward answer. “Similar to the oxymoron of couples in relationships working out, the program works because it is sophisticated yet simple,” he explains. “Couples are the most accountable to each other in most aspects of life—almost all, except fitness. They eat together, sleep together, live together, and typically spend most time with their partner. This allows miniaturization of your bad behaviors, especially if [the couple has] a goal.

“Monitoring bad behaviors is one thing. But NYC Agape puts the pressure on by utilizing the Nike FuelBand…Not only do we rely on human accountability, [but] we fortify it with the latest technology,” Brown continues. (For those who aren’t aware, the Nike+ FuelBand, worn on the wrist, monitors calories burned, steps taken, and measures how hard you work for your specific body type, i.e., “Nike fuel.”) Brown then reviews and tracks the information via an app; the couple that logs the most fuel points each week (currently there are seven couples in the program) is awarded a healthy, organic (and dare we say, romantic?) dinner.

If that’s not incentive enough, end results of the program are also designed to broaden communication, “which is the master key to all relationships,” Brown says. “Before you know it, not only will you be feeling better, but enjoying each other’s new fit appearance as well.”

Pricing: $1,500 for the full five-week program, plus, two Nike+ FuelBands and two pairs of boxing gloves; program components also comprise pre- and post-program assessments with sports psychologist Dr. Robert Price and a complimentary initial fitness testing consult. $300 for three-session package. Learn more at nycagape.com.

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