NinjaBear NYC — Local services in New York

I suffered a back injury about 5 years ago. Spinal stenosis, basically a disc bulge. It completely derailed my life - I could barely move and had severe chronic pain. I also had chronic shoulder and neck pain from a very old injury + working at a desk job which at times would be so bad that I'd have trouble concentrating and working. I've been in physical therapy 8 times over my life to fix various injuries, so I know what it's like to rehab stuff, and I know what good programming looks like (and what bad programming looks like).

For the past 5 years, I've been struggling. Pain in the morning when I wake up, feeling very fragile. I've worked with physical therapists and made some progress, but the pain has always come back. Physical therapists were really just putting on bandaids.

About 6 months ago, I came to Ninja Bear and got a program written for me by Eddie, and it's been literally life changing. I feel like I have regained my ability to move about and enjoy my day without debilitating pain.

Eddie did a full evaluation of my movement patterns and helped me gain fully new movement patterns. I can now hinge directly over my hips; before I'd get a tight pinch in my hip flexors. I now engage my lats when I do dumbbell presses; before I would use my shoulder/neck muscles and I'd go home with bad neck pain. I've gained internal hip rotation that I've been chasing for years. Yesterday I reached under my desk for something and my back kind of tweaked - but I thought to myself "you know what, I'm gonna be fine".... guess what? I was. Woke up this morning and did a 2k row. That would have never happened before. I feel young again.

Eddie did full custom programming for me, and when I hit a plateau and was frustrated with my progress, he revamped my whole program to address my feedback. He does little tweaks week to week and checks in. It's really next level gym service. Sure you don't have a personal trainer standing over you telling you to get one last rep, but I don't need that. I can self motivate and do my movements on my own. Whenever I need/want coaching to check form, I can just ask one of the coaches and they come over to help.

I moved to the apartment I'm living in so I could be closer to this gym. If I move in the future, I will not move far.

ALSO - in case it's helpful for you who is reading this, this is a queer friendly gym. It's not like, covered in rainbow flags or anything, but I am a visibly queer person and everyone (coaches and gym-goers included) has been a delight and made me feel welcome and...

This gym charges $250/month, justifying the high price by claiming trainers are available to help whenever needed. In reality, the trainers mostly hang out with their favorite members or give one-on-one attention to certain younger female members. I’ve only seen one guy ever receive that kind of training. If you’re not part of their inner circle, you’re basically on your own.

I also paid $180 for a custom training program that was supposed to last 3–4 months and gets uploaded weekly. But since week one, they’ve just been copy-pasting the same routine, with no explanation of the plan, its structure, or how it’s meant to help me progress. There’s been no real guidance or feedback.

The trainers are chill, but the experience feels lazy and definitely not worth the investment. I expected more support and interaction for...

A sanctuary for persons seeking overall health, happiness, and support in a calm and safe environment. The wellness lair allows me to recover both mentally and physically in the sauna/cold plunge, and the upstairs space is set for any type of program/experimentation with movement and exercises. I’ve had seven hip surgeries/procedures, and Eddie helped me analyze my movement patterns and for the first time in 4 years, squat without pain or fear. And for those of you that like a spa day or recovery day, this place has all of those amenities and calm vibes built in. I’ve replaced my recovery days at other spas with the downstairs lair at Ninja Bear, so I’m actually saving money. Join as a member here, and become instantly...