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March 2024 by Josh Krakauer
Workouts that feel like play. ?♂️ That’s it, that’s the tweet. If you’ve always wanted to learn handstands, train calisthenics, get flexible, dazzle your friends with feats of strength and skill, balance on your hands like a friggin boss, or achieve your childhood dream of climbing a rope to the top without your feet — then welcome, you found your new place.
Physicality classes are challenging, fun, and easy to jump into at any level. A wide mix of skills, ages, and backgrounds in every class. Everyone is a cool Yoga instructor or a rock-climbing economist — I don’t know why, that’s just how it works.
On a Tuesday in fall 2022, I finally gathered the courage to show up to a handstand class. Within minutes I realized I made a huge mistake — I should have joined sooner. Now I come 5-6 days a week, do handstand push-ups, and my wife says I look “almost as good as when we met.” (That was 10 years ago, so it’s a compliment I think.) Don’t wait like me! Join the best gym in DC. I’ll see you in class. ✌️
BTW, I typed this all upside down.
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October 2023 by rebecca barrow
took my first class yesterday and I LOVED it. Rare to find classes like these!
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July 2023 by chinojarjos
Best place in DC to start your gymnastics journey! Chris is an extremely knowledgeable coach! Open and inclusive environment for having a great work out.
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July 2023 by A. Lee
Best gym in DC by far for well-rounded strength, flexibility, handstands, roman rings and just basic core work. Coach Chris Garay brings a rare balance of technical rigour and fun variety to make these classes addictive and community building, with flexible, no-frills membership packages.
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July 2023 by Ta'Quan Ford (TQ)
Is it free??
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July 2022 by Meghna Balakumar
I’m way overdue in writing this review. Chris Garay is extremely knowledgeable, professional, kind and highly skilled. He has such a profound understanding of anatomy and is able to scale exercises for anyone. As someone who was told I should never workout by all of my doctors, my joints have never felt better and I owe it all to Physicality. After 7 years of constant back and knee pain, I’m virtually pain free and am so much stronger. Highly recommend coming here if you want to focus on strength, stability and mobility.
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July 2020 by Elias Riskin
Can’t recommend this place enough. It’s addicting. Chris, Cory, and Shawn do an incredible job scaling each class and exercise so that it’s always challenging but attainable. I’ve had a long history of back, hip, knee, and shoulder injuries and their program has helped correct my structural and muscular imbalances and move me to a place where I’m virtually pain free.
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July 2019 by Keva P
This is an awesome place for strength training. As a physical therapist I loved that their class syllabus was structured to target strengthening of muscles which help to stabilize our joints. They don't have us just do a bunch of random exercises. They have a plethora of gymnastic specific equipment that non gymnasts can use.
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July 2019 by Emmi Marie
Great gym, great owner, very well organized, great instruction!
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July 2019 by D. Turner Hoff, Jr.
Let me start this review by saying that I’m not generally one to write reviews. In fact, this may be the first review I’ve ever written. Also, because I’m about to go all-out fanboy on Physicality, I should probably mention that I was not prompted nor asked to write this review. Lastly, I was a personal trainer in a past life, which I mention just in case you think the additional context valuable. So, now that that’s out of the way…
Physicality is objectively one of the best gyms in the DMV, and probably the country (I know, big talk). The coaches, Chris and Cory, have such a deep knowledge and understanding for how the body works/moves. The weekly programming is thoughtful and focuses on strength AND mobility, something I’ve found most gyms advertise but few practice. There is also an emphasis on quality over quantity, improving strength through the full range of motion and progressive overload. All the exercises can be (and are) scaled so that members of all skill levels feel comfortable and can continue to improve. The class environment couldn’t be friendlier and is competitive in all the good ways, meaning that folks are pushing each other to train harder, while also ensuring that there isn’t a sacrifice in quality (the coaches, of course, are also actively monitoring).
As I’ve gotten older and my interests and reasons for why I train have evolved, it’s been such a pleasure to have found a gym that is focused on more than just near-term results. While there is certainly an emphasis on consistent improvement via progressive overload, the programming is also designed for health and longevity, which has become increasingly important for me in recent years.
I can’t say enough good things about Physicality. I regularly (3-4 times/week) attend the group classes but feel as though I get many, though certainly not all, of the benefits of one-on-one training sessions since the coaches are so actively involved in providing guidance for each member during the group class sessions.
Please, PLEASE do yourself a favor and sign up for the 5 classes for $50. It's an absolute steal. If you don’t see the value after five classes, I will personally refund your $50 (joke, of course, but that’s how much value I see in what these folks are doing)
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July 2019 by Christopher Anderson
I'm a yoga teacher and I do 90 minutes of yoga six days a week. I go to class here a couple times a month to work on strength training and develop movement patterns that are missing from my daily yoga routine. These instructors are very knowledgeable and helpful and I trust them guide me without letting me hurt myself. It's also an intense and fun workout in a small group setting.
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July 2018 by Tarika Winchester
I was looking online for a trainer in DC to improve my strength in gymnastics and aerial acrobatics and found Physicality GST. Excited, I rushed the next day to check out the gym facility and meet the coaching team. My expectations were totally exceeded. Facility-wise - very well equipped with pretty much all you need for hard core gymnastics and strength training. But what is a facility without a coach? Chris is extremely knowledgeable, methodical, confident, versatile, and on top of that, a great cheerleader. Trust me, you will need it in strength training! As our sessions progress, I am impressed with the exercises he chooses for each pt session. They are challenging, non-standard, and simply working. I am on my way to great things with this coach!
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July 2018 by Francis Jung
I, a physical therapist, have been collaborating with coach Cory Hill to serve mutual clients for several years. Coach Hill with a record of World Champion in Taekwondo has very unique holistic approaches and is one of the best movement/exercise experts in DC area. He promotes and enhances best optimal outcomes safely for his clients. I highly recommend him and his facility.
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July 2018 by Aaron Trent
Truly excellent, thoughtful and effective gymnastics-based strength and mobility training. I’ve been training with Physicality for a little over a year, and my shoulder strength and stability has increased dramatically.
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July 2018 by Greg Wells
I'm impressed with the new space! Nice work Chris and Cory.
