Kore

Took my first class today with Tomas! You will definitely sweat like a beast and get a great workout, even if you can’t do all the moves. Tomas was friendly and encouraging and gave great alternatives for those of us who had injuries or just weren’t strong enough yet to perform the specific exercise at specific times. I believe this is a great way to get a hard workout without injuring yourself.

Tried KORE for the first time today. It was challenging and a lot different from from a lot of the bootcamp style classes I’ve taken over the years. The instructor (Samantha) was motivating, friendly, and very fit herself – who wants to take a class from someone who’s out of shape? (been there done that).
It was a full body workout using kettlebells, ankle weights, trx, body weight, and resistance bands. It is a great mix! Great vibe going on in the room with the disco ball lighting… next time I’ll try to wear something fluorescent so I can glow in the dark!
Trainer and employees were polite but some of my fellow gym-​goers had a snooty vibe going on. Asked a question about the lockers and got a dirty look. wtf?!
The studio is small and the bathroom is small (1 toilet, 2 showers) but clean and well-​lit. No extra charge for towels, lockers with digital lockers (don’t need to bring your own), and the bathroom is stocked with any extras you might need.

I’m a ClassPass member and decided that I needed to try a new fitness facility. Read the Unilocal reviews about this place and decided to give it a try.
I was a little skeptical when I walked in because of my interaction with the woman at the front desk. She was very «dry» and not friendly at all. I expected her to be since she’s in a customer service position. But anyway, the instructor was also at the front desk and after I registered he let me know that he was the teacher, directed me on the location of the locker room and told me that I would have fun.
Kore has a very small space with 1 studio, 1 women’s «locker room» — the lockers are in a common space, and 1 men’s locker room.
The ladies room boasts 2 shower stalls and 1 water closet — I’d hate to see the morning traffic during the work week.
The lockers are locked with an electronic number code.
The class was awesome!!! It’s literally a party with the dance moves being workout moves! Lights are off and the music bangs!!! Every body party is targeted. You will sweat like a beast. The instructor was fun and encouraging.
I will definitely be back.

I took a 750pm class here tonight and the class was rather small. I’d say about 10 people. I liked that it wasn’t too crowded and you had your own workout space. The instructor mentioned she usually has a full class of about 12 – 15 people. I can’t imagine cause i thought the class size tonight was perfect. The workout wasn’t too intense. Started off with 5 min of stretching and then we jumped right into squats, planks, push-​ups and basic interval training. Then we head for the kettle bells and did a series of the same intervals. Then the ropes which focuses on your arms. And one trx exercise. The class is motivating and the instructor gave very good instructions. My only downfall was she wasn’t going around watching us to make sure we were in good form and she was by her phone and laptop a lot. She cheered everyone on saying everyone was doing great but her back was faced us quite a lot. That was a bit of a turn off for me. I like it when the trainers get down and dirty with you and feel your pain with you. That’s when you know they really care about the people that come to class. I guess I’m more in tune with trainers being engaged because you feed off their vibe and they feed off your vibe. It should be a two way street! The class itself is fun! You’re in a semi dark room with a strobing light so it felt like you’re working out in a nightclub. The music was on point (they have an awfully great system). Felt like I was in a club! I would come back and try other instructors.
** updated review ** I absolutely love Tim andersons class! His style and technique is much different from all the group fitness boutique studios. He concentrates on mobility and I love incorporating mobility in my routine. I come here at least once a week just for his classes.

Tim anderson’s class is the shit. I didn’t come in here with high expectations but I got a kick ass workout.
First the cons: it was packed so not a ton of room, some sweat on the floor but Tim tried to clean up whatever he saw, the floor wasn’t comfortable on my knees, small locker room area which personally doesn’t bother me.
Pros: his teaching style was great — informative perfect level of motivation, went around correcting form. Some might not like crazy lights in the dark with loud dance music and at first I didn’t but then I liked the mix and got more into the workout. You can either think annoying flashing lights or… am I at a nightclub right now?! Not a bad distraction for exercising! Nice selection of songs. I was looking for a workout w a good amount of cardio and i def got it.?Love the feeling of a nice workout that makes me sweat! Thanks for the challenging and fun class Tim!

I firmly believe any fitness studio’s number one priority should be safety. As someone who works in the fitness industry and even more so as an avid workout junkie who’s suffered a severe sprained ankle this year, I’m quite concerned about KORE’s lackluster safety implementation.
The whole experience:
The space is small, but clean. I wouldn’t plan on utilizing the whole eucalyptus towel service + showers despite the tempting allure unless you take a class at a less popular, odd time. About three women in, you begin to feel cramped in the tight space.
They have electronic lockers in the hallway, which vary in size and are convenient.
Sliding barn doors open up into a dark room filled with kettle bells, TRX suspensions, and ankle weights. A colored light system teases a light show during the workout and despite the cool factor, it hindered the ability to see, especially in terms of form and precision.
The moment I stepped in, I noticed the floors were slippery. I felt a drop on my face while I was waiting for the workout to start, which led me to think, «Was that real? Am I imagining things?»
The answer was, «No.» Fortunate for my sanity, unfortunate for the studio.
The floors were so slippery, I watched the girl next to me slide out from planks during warmups. Many drip drops later, I found it hard to do jumping lunges with ankle weights on a damp floor (and by hard I mean incredibly dangerous considering my aforementioned weak ligament). I obviously stopped jumping and adjusted the workout for my own safety.
Onto the TRX… The guy to my left struggled as his feet kept on sliding out from underneath him because he can’t get a grip on the wet floor. The instructor shouted, «it’s okay, let’s keep moving! Don’t waste time! Use a towel next time.»
He used a towel for grip next round, and slid yet again.
The instructor responded, «it’s okay let’s try again, keep at it.» While it may not have been her intention, she made it sound like a slippery floor was something to overcome on our end, and that we should compensate with speed and lack of form. She actually changed the stance from a deep squat to a stand for those that couldn’t get a grip of the floor. Didn’t help. Sliding continued.
It concerns me that an instructor ignores these signs, and that even after magically making it through the class injury free, I didn’t see anyone entering the room to wipe the floor or take a look at the drippy ceiling (drips came from all over, not one concentrated space).
I’ll let you make your own conclusions.

I really do LOVE the workout here. The studio is small but clean, the bathroom has all the necessities you need.
I found the instructor extremely encouraging, tough, and all around amazing EXCEPT there were no corrections or hands on assistance whatsoever. I doubt we were all perfect so I would’ve loved some more attention to detail.
The exercises are killer. I found this to be mostly a leg focused class with some accessory work for arms and abs, might’ve just been my particular instructor though. I was dripping in sweat and felt very accomplished during and after the work out. Give them a try!

New favorite workout. Move over Barry’s (sorry!). I just wish there was one more centrally located in the village because the meatpacking is pretty hard to get to for me.
I love that I feel sore after each class because that’s how I gauge my workouts.

Really enjoyed my first Kore class! Not your standard, predictable HIIT class – there’s an emphasis on stretching, conditioning and strength/​cardio circuits. I appreciated Todd’s attention to form. Went hard without worrying about injuries.
Class really flew by. Hoping to try a few more Kore classes before I head back to SF.

Ehh. First off let me give you a background — I was never really into working out up until this year. Around February I decided to change my fitness life (thanks mostly to the fact that I took a SoulCycle class with Jaws Nelson who’s the best instructor in the city hands down and she inspired me to get off my ass).
Fast-​forward 8 months and I am kind of a gym rat. I workout every single day, boxing 3 times a week (everyone check out Shadowbox for a kick-​ass workout, no joke), Soulcycle once/​twice a week for hardcore cardio, and the rest of the week running and free weights/​strength training. I’m in pretty decent shape as I have really dived into this whole fitness thing head-​on, no excuses. As a result, I am not a fan of Classpass since I find most of the classes on it either target a lower fitness level (which is not bad, just not for me), or the tough ones you can only access at random odd times.
I found Kore on Gilt and got 5 classes for $ 16 bucks each which is a sweet deal. I did some research and went to Joe Buffa’s class.
Joe himself is great — he really knows what he is doing and truly cares about form. He is fun and funny and motivating.
The workout itself? Meh. In a couple of the classes I took, the kettle bell work was heavy and challenging which made me feel great after class and sore the day after (exactly what you look for when you pay for a workout). Most of the classes though i found myself breezing through the workout, sweating only at certain stages of the class, and burning barely 200 calories based on my fitbit.
I guess for classpass and/​or a coupon deal it makes sense. But I truly cannot believe that they charge $ 34 per class. This is not that kind of workout.

Love this work out! Though the toughness varies with the instructor, you can expect a well rounded work out– core, arms, legs, and it’s kind of dancy– well at least the way you perform the moves are workout video like. Which I love. Not a lot of pausing which is my least favorite thing about workouts like these.
I was totally taken by surprise when I got to the studio and saw how small it is! Real boutiquey. But clean, new, advanced and the workout space itself is the perfect size. Showering is cramped.
Adding this to my list of ClassPass go tos!

Joe and Chaz are awesome. I would have given this 5 stars had I only been to their classes. They are able to create a challenging fun class that smoothly transitions into each circuit. They are both encouraging and keep it light. I just took one of Erin’s classes and it was the opposite. A lot of standing around, reminded me of trying to drive a stick shift, while being nagged. Blah.
Beautiful gym and super diverse full body workout. Probably won’t be back to a class with Erin but definitely love this place!

I’m a total gym rat! I’ve been looking to switch up my routine of spin classes, yoga, and free weights. I found out about Kore through a gilt city voucher.
It was very easy to book online and there are several classes and times to choose from making getting a workout in easy for anyone.
The studio is very clean and the décor is like a night club. It’s one massive room with kettle bells and TRX bands. One complaint I have with workout classes is the music and sound quality. Not here! The tunes were fantastic and sound was just as good as any club in the meat packing. I wanted to dance during my workout!
The session kicked ass, especially the ab series. High cardio, high reps, kick was music and energetic lighting made for anything but a boring workout!
The ladies bathroom had two showers and one toilet. hair dryer, lotions, shampoo, razors, etc. Everything you need to get ready for work after class.
Kore honesty reminded me of the «Soul Cycle» of circuit training classes with the energy, etc of the studio. I highly recommend Kore for anyone looking to switch up their everyday without routine. I’ve been three times so far and can’t wait for the fourth!

I tried Kore last week for the first time thanks to joining Classpass (best thing ever), and immediately it’s become my favorite class so far. I took my second class today with Chaz Dawson again, and I absolutely love the fact that he switched up the circuits. Chaz as an instructor is amazing. He’s not too aggressive, but is extremely motivating and always reminds us to breathe — something I tend to forget to regularly do when I’m in an intense workout. I’ve learned so many useful workouts that don’t need equipment but also especially target the two areas I am currently focusing on, which are my core and glutes. Additionally, Kore is just a great overall workout, and I feel that if I continued
As for facilities, it’s very clean and I love how big the showers are. Although there are only 2 for the Girls’ bathroom, Kore provides a ton of beauty/​bath products necessary to fully get ready — something I am a big stickler for when it comes to workout studios. The only drawback is the bathrooms are quite small, but if you’re a girl and no one’s using the boys’ bathroom, it’s totally cool to hop in the shower there.
I wish Classpass didn’t limit me to only 3X a studio per month! I would love to take Kore more.

The workout was not horrible. Tim was our instructor and he was very good. We moved between stretching, interval training, kettle bells and resistance bands. I feel like we covered a lot of ground in a 1 hour class. My only problem is the class had at least 19 people in a room that is made for 10. I have very long legs and it is hard for me to get into a proper lunge with someone inches behind me. Also, because there are so many people, the instructor stayed in the front and barely corrected form. I saw girls doing the plank with their butts touching the ceiling. You don’t want to see someone get injured just because the instructor couldn’t be there to assist. If I didn’t want help, I wouldn’t take a class. They need to cap the class sizes in order to make workouts safer and more effective for students.
Also, lights were more distracting than helpful. Constant flashing made me feel sick. I don’t mind semi-​dark for a workout, just make it consistent. Even at nightclubs, color don’t switch so abruptly.
Bathroom situation is horrendous. The class is mostly female and to assume that 2 stalls would be sufficient was dumb. The space is really small but something has to be done. However, I LOVE the sinks. I’m a person that always washes my face after a workout and the low sinks are perfect for that. Most gyms don’t even think about that.
Overall, KORE has its problems, but the workout was good. And that is ultimately what I’m coming for. Based on these other reviews, I’ll probably stick to Tim’s class.

The space is definitely small and the set up of the lockers being outside of the shower/​changing room is not ideal, but all would be forgiven if the workout made up for it. There are plenty of places with less amenities that I would give higher ratings to (Tone House or Fhitting Room original location).
Holy shit, the workout blows.
First, the workout began with static stretching for 5 minutes. I hate cold stretching. Moreover, I thought that science has already proven that cold stretching is not the move. Then we did a bunch of Jane Fonda style moves for another 8 minutes or so. Next up, it was a series of kettlebell moves (which we didn’t know what moves we were doing before we picked out weights, so I ended up with a weight that was too light for some moves and too heavy for others). Finally, in the last 5 minutes, we finally broke a sweat doing some plyometric moves.
I left the workout confused and annoyed. Confused by this workout being marketed as a HIIT workout and annoyed with the time I wasted.

Two thumbs up for KORE Method. Our instructor Tim was fantastic. Gave a brief, 2 — 3 minute breakdown of what class was going to be. Divided into sections: 1) Stretch and warm up. 2) Traditional HIIT method (four sets of four moves repeated over and over) 3) «Free Time,» as Tim called it, where we did a variety strength training consisting of Kettlebells, TRX moves, and body-​weight workouts on the floor, and 4) a final cardio blast with a cool down and stretching. Honestly, seems to be a super effective way to exercise. Plus Tim was supportive — helpful — encouraging — and fun! The music was great — and for a lot of the moves, you were able to hit it on the beat which I love!
Post class, the greatness didn’t end. Sparkling clean bathrooms (definitely too small which sucked, but still sparkling) with toilets, showers, and vanities full of KORE’s own line of dry shampoo, cooling spray for your face, makeup remover, deodorant, powder, soaps, lotions, you name it. Plus they had cool towels soaked in Eucalyptus which smelled and felt AMAZING. LIKE AMAZING. I got dressed to go out and meet some friends over at Brass Monkey (when in the Meatpacking district!) and felt like I left the studio a new person. Not sweating — just KORE glittering. Overall, fantastic experience. The perfect mix of enjoyable and effective!

I’ve never actually written a review before but really think the other ones here are very misguided. Walking in I was expecting a beautiful facility. What I found was a cheap, tiny place that tries to fool you into thinking it’s a top of the line facility. The woman’s locker/​shower room is literally the size of one flywheel/​barry/​soulcycle shower area. There’s only two showers and they store the shampoo, etc. on the floor of the shower. Towels are carelessly folded on a table in the hower room so they fall off on the floor constantly. Nowhere to stand to wait for shower. Terribly hot, no way to do hair/​makeup.
Onto the class:
First, the instructor had us start to stretch and got distracted looking for something. she literally forgot that we were in a pose for a full minute or so. it was bizarre.
They like to talk about these «lights» and whatever to make it seem like you’re working out in a nightclub. Newsflash: nightclubs don’t have floor to ceiling windows with no covering. The sunshine was bright and the lights could barely be seen, obviously.
My biggest complaint is honestly that I’m seriously concerned over whether the instructor was kettlebell certified or not. She was instructing us to do moves that seemed unsafe and didn’t even know how to grip the kettlebell correctly/wasn’t correcting anyones form. I know I’m not the only one, as the only clearly very buff guy in the class also switched to doing just kettle swings during one set because we both realized the move was nonsense.
There was also some random guy with a Kore shirt who kept opening the door, coming into the class and like futzing with stuff. I have no idea what he was doing but it was seriously distracting. Also distracting: the room clearly isn’t soundproof because we heard the next class showing up and waiting and it was seriously loud.
overall: your money is better spent elsewhere. it’s a cheap gym that tries to mask itself as upscale with fancy smelling/​cooling towels (because the locker room is so small they don’t want you to take a shower! ha!) and the workout is average, at best. Maybe I’m spoiled because there are so many nicer facilities in NYC, but really, there are so many nicer/​better places in the city. No need to settle for this.

3.5 stars.
Posh, modern and fancy boutique fitness studio located in the meatpacking district. Great «perks» — eucalyptus towels, gorgeous bathrooms/​showers, great products, and actually functional lockers (for some reason lots of studios and gyms have broken lockers in the city)!
Playing off of its location in the meatpacking district, naturally, the class theme is club x HIIT (high intensity interval training), which go pretty well together. However, my biggest problem was the size of the class — I think there were about 25 – 30 people crammed into a really small studio space! I mean, how are you supposed to work out when you’re worried about bumping into one another?
Moreover, there simply was not enough equipment for everyone, but that’s because the studio and class was obviously not designed to accommodate more than 15 people at once (only 8 TRX bands for a group of 25?!). This resulted in lots of delays, mix ups and the instructor trying to figure out how to split our group up into smaller groups. They really could be a little more efficient if they just shrunk the size of the classes by a little bit. Quality over quantity!
Lastly, since there were so many people, it was hard for the instructor to really give direction and correct our forms. That said, I did manage to get a pretty good workout in, so I would consider coming back.

This is probably more of a 3.5 stars, but want to give the benefit of the doubt on my complaints :).
I took my first class yesterday via Classpass and really enjoyed it! The class had a variety of so many different activities that I didn’t get bored. We had a good warmup, nice mix of cardio and strength activities, and a great design-​your-​own-​tabata at the end. I certainly felt a great post-​workout high!!! Joe, our instructor, certainly embodied the west side energy, both in his music and his teaching style. I liked his mantras — «take a break so that you don’t break» (while still pushing us), and «shitty form means a shitty body». It was just the right amount of cheekiness :).
My only complaint is that I felt the studio was a bit too crowded. Trying to do lunges while you’re running into the TRX bands behind you or your neighbor to the side is somewhat annoying. However, I think this is a result of a.) the new rush to the studio due to its newness and b.) the fact that I took a 5:30pm Tuesday evening class. Additionally, as a result, I did not get any personal attention, which is one of the flagship value props of KORE.
I also enjoyed the facilities! The towels are very soft and plush, and there are good products to use (shampoo, conditioner, body wash, face wash, etc.). The women’s bathroom only has 1 toilet and 2 showers, so it was a bit tight for the post-​work rush.
I definitely enjoyed the class at KORE and would certainly return!