Tag: fitness

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Good Vibes on Tap: A Memphis Fitness Celebration

Hannah Luckes and Andrew Forsdick (Photo: TapRoute)

In 2013, Andrew Forsdick got thirsty — like, really thirsty — while out on a run training for an Ironman Triathlon. “I just wished there was a tree with water that I could tap into,” he says. “I was doing a lot of long runs then, and I hated carrying water.” So, he asked a few friends to keep out a few water bottles in their yards along his path, and soon he came up with the idea for TapRoute, where individuals or businesses throughout the city could volunteer to offer free water to walkers, runners, or bikers at “taps” — often in the form of TapRoute-provided water coolers housed in wooden boxes, like the one pictured to the right.

For years, TapRoute was just a side project for Forsdick, and, over time, maintenance of the various taps fell off, with most going out of commission. But he says, “It had a rebirth in 2022. That’s when Hannah [Luckes] was hired in June, and she’s grown it from about five active taps to about 30 or 35 active taps.” Now the taps aren’t even just in Memphis; they’re in Nashville, St. Louis, and Olive Branch.

And this Saturday, thanks to Luckes, TapRoute will host its first event — Good Vibes on Tap — at Grind City Brewing Co. “We have created a three-mile challenge where we’re asking participants to do at least three miles of movement, whether that’s walking, running, or biking [on Friday, June 23rd, or Saturday, June 24th],” Luckes says. “They can also go further, but the minimum is three miles. They track it on a fitness app, and they show us that they completed it, and they’ll get $5 drafts all day.”

Those who complete the challenge will also be entered to win a $250 Grind City Brewing gift card, along with five other raffles in partnership with various local fitness organizations. The event will also have yard games and pizza from Diamond Dave’s Pizza food truck.

“It’s also a great way to check out the new North Memphis Green Line that just opened along the road right by brewery,” says Luckes. “They have built a completely new playground. The entire place has been done up so well, and it’s a beautiful place to bring kids and check out another view of the river. We are also building a brand-new tap for that, so we’re hoping to make it another resource where people can get water and hang out.”

Overall, Luckes and Forsdick hope that this event will capture the mission of TapRoute as a whole — “trying to bring the fitness community together to support and celebrate each other,” Luckes says. “And to get people outside,” Forsdick adds.

To become a tap host or to find a tap, visit taproute.com or follow TapRoute’s socials (@taproute).

Good Vibes on Tap: A Memphis Fitness Celebration, Grind City Brewing Co., Saturday, June 24, noon-6 p.m.

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Fitness Under the Stars at Mud Island

CREDIT: Izabella Sandoval

This summer was the hottest on record, and finally, some cooler weather is ahead of us. To celebrate beating the heat and the arrival of autumn, Fitness Under the Stars may be just the place to go.

Taking place around sunset every Friday until October 18th, Fitness Under the Stars features free yoga, barre, spin, and aerobics classes led by a collective of local fitness studios. The nine-week-long summer/fall fitness series takes place at Mud Island River Park, providing an aquatic background perfect for letting go and getting fit at the same time.

“It’s all about coming and leaving all your issues and problems, everything, on the mat,” says Courtney McNeal, who has partnered with Mud Island River Parks to present Fitness Under the Stars. “Or, as Janeen Gordon told me during an interview, ‘Just let it all flow down the river.'”

Izabella Sandoval

Take me to the river — for some yoga.

Fitness Under the Stars got its start when McNeal, who’d been a member of Your Inner Yogi, saw the need for more free fitness programming in Memphis.

“There is yoga that takes place on the riverfront. And that’s been pretty consistent,” she says. “It’s fabulous. I’ve actually participated in it several times. But I wanted to do something a little bit different — something that gives a little more variety and at a different location.”

The stars aligned when McNeal heard about Fuel the Fourth Bluff, a community grant provided to Memphians with ideas for programs to revitalize the Civic Commons footprint, a six-block area that stretches from Main Street to Mud Island, as part of a national initiative called Reimagining Civic Commons.

Fitness Under the Stars, Mud Island River Park, Friday, September 13th, 6 p.m., free. Register at fitnessunderthestars901.eventbrite.com.

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Healthy You, Better You

Memphis is fat. We don’t need annual recognition of that fact by Men’s Fitness magazine to know what we can observe just by looking around town (or in the mirror).

And why wouldn’t we be one of the fattest cities in the country? We’ve got some of the best food on the planet to tempt us — from barbecue to soul food to fine dining — all in addition to the McDonald’s and Taco Bells on every street corner (turning all us fast-foodies into fat foodies).

Oh, I suppose we could just revel in our obesity and put together a serious run at top-ranked fatty Chicago. But then we’d all be dead or on our way out, and who’d be left to remind Nashville of their inferiority? No, better to head this two-tons-of-fun thing off at the pass, crack the whip, and get in shape.

No reason to stress though (that’s not going to help your heart either): Luckily there’s all kinds of help to be had in the Bluff City on the road to fit. In a town where parking can be fun, why can’t living healthy be too? And, of course, you don’t have to be a blimp to get some benefit out of a little extra exercise. Who’s to say we can’t take a shot at the top 10 fittest cities list. Milwaukee’s fifth, for Pete’s sake!

1. Find strength in numbers with the Group Power barbell program at Inbalance Group Fitness.

2. Prepare for your big bout against Mayor Herenton with boxing lessons from another former Golden Gloves winner — Joey Hadley — at Hadley’s Boxing Fitness.

3. Achieve your fitness goaaaaal! as part of a team in the Greater Memphis Soccer Association.

4. Dance all night to disco at Raiford’s Hollywood. Drink lots of water; go light on the 40-ouncers.

5. Help Lichterman stay clear of invasive plants during a “Privet Pull.”

6. Get your recommended dose of Omega-3 fatty acids at Blue Fish, Blue Fin, or the Half Shell.

Show off your bod with techniques taught at Strip to Fit.

7. Instead of taking the tram, walk the bridge to Mud Island. Then, pretend you’re the Jolly Green Giant and hike from Cairo, Illinois, to New Orleans in 15 minutes on the Riverwalk. (Eating green beans is good too.)

8. Go with the flow of your body movement at Push Pilates.

9. Save lives and get buff with the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s Team in Training Program.

10. Take two mulligans, get one free, at the Links at Galloway.

11. Launch a sailboat into Patriot Lake at Shelby Farms.

12. Thrash with the kids at Skatepark of Memphis.

13. Battle with your date for the last bite of K-Pie at Paulette’s. Lose.

14. If you must have pie, make it a mud pie with the “Moor Mud” facial at Eden Spa and Laser.

15. Volunteer to walk dogs for the Memphis Humane Society.

16. Eat your veggies at Wild Oats or Square Foods.

17. Enjoy the view on the way down and count the steps on the way back up on the Bluff on the Mississippi riverfront. Repeat.

18. Get equipped by Outdoors Inc. and get out of town for an adventurous weekend in the woods.

19. Do it all night on the Midnight Classic Bike Tour.

20. Learn to swim with the American Red Cross swimming program or improve your stamina with aqua aerobics at Cordova Athletic Club.

21. Duck, then retaliate, playing Memphis Dodgeball.

22. Keep pace with the current of the Mississippi River in Greenbelt Park on Mud Island.

23. Get yourself under control practicing pranayama at Eastern Sun Yoga, Midtown Yoga, or Better Bodies Yoga.

24. Ace the fitness pop quiz with tennis at Racquet Club of Memphis.

25. If Emmitt Smith can do it, so can you: cut a rug with ballroom dancing at Gallery Ballroom, Middle Eastern dancing at Rhodes College’s Bryan Campus Life Center, or Argentine Tango at Quetzal.

26. Stop keeping the doctor away and go get a physical and check-up.

27. Turn the ice-cold brrr into grrrl power with Memphis Women’s Hockey. (Those XX chromosomes sure look like crossed hockey sticks.)

28. Get “Rolfed” at Insideout Life Gym.

29. Take it all off — the pounds and the clothes — at Strip to Fit.

30. Look at the beautiful houses while walking through Central Gardens.