Velocity Sports NYC
133 East 58th Street, 6th Floor
New York, NY 10022
(212) 593-3278

 By Chris Granville

I’ve trained as an athlete and couldn’t wait to check out a workout at Velocity Sports Performance NYC, a gym well-known for training top college, high school and youth athletes, as well as adults looking for a challenging workout. The years of agility and speed drills I practiced as a hockey player helped condition me to compete at my best, and I hoped that Velocity Sports wouldn’t pull their punches with me just because I’m a little older, a little slower, and not earning a paycheck with my body these days. As it turned out, they didn’t. In fact, when I thanked my coach for the evening, Eugene, I had to refrain from mentioning that the last set of sprints he had me do nearly made me lose my lunch.

Velocity Sports has many locations throughout the country, but the one in Manhattan has the look and feel of a private gym. Clients range from elite athletes to people who are just looking to get into better shape. Velocity’s approach, however, is sports-specific, and if you opt for a class they will run you through the same drills whether you are a starting tight end on an NFL team or an accountant getting ready for swimsuit season. They are fully equipped with everything you would expect to find, from clean locker rooms to free weights, benches, prowlers, sleds, Pilates.  However,   they also offer some unusual features, including a sprint track, Olympic weight training, and an Astroturf area.  

While Velocity also offers private sessions, I opted for a class on my visit. They keep the classes small at Velocity, six to eight people maximum. This allows for the trainer to give everyone personal attention and encourages a sense of camaraderie within the group.

We started with a dynamic warm-up on the 35-yard sprint track that incorporated some dynamic-based movements, running, grapevining, and a series of agility drills. We then did some sprints and a couple of drills straight out of an NFL training program. In one particularly fun drill, I sat on the track facing my opponent, standing six yards away. His goal to tag me once the whistle blew. My goal was to stand up, turn around, and outrun him. We all had fun crashing into the padded wall at full speed at the end of the track trying desperately to avoid the tag.

An ab circuit with a 25-pound plate, cone drills, and some weighted pushups found their way into the session as well. We finished up with a two-person relay race, pushing 45-pound plates on sleds the full length of the track. The competition had everyone digging deeper as the fatigue of the session began to take hold. I recall the sense of determination to push through the exhaustion I felt in my legs as I looked over my shoulder and realized I was on course to win my race. But afterward, win or lose, everyone gathered for fist bumps, high fives, and encouraging words. It felt exactly the way it did when I was part of a hockey team. 

Velocity offers a unique setting for anyone who wants to train like a professional athlete or who is looking for something new and different in their exercise program. Their Manhattan location is set up for a full range of agility, speed, and strength training workouts. I had a lot of fun in the class I attended and can easily see why people love to train here.

Chris Granville is an ACSM certified personal trainer. A former NCAA Division 1 and professional athlete, he\’s a managing editor in book publishing and lives in New York City.