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Take a spin class overlooking the ocean at Ride Element's new outdoor pop-up studio Sea Sycle at the W Fort Lauderdale. Breathe in the ocean air and enjoy weekly sunrise and sunset classes four floors above the beach.

Ride Element, a Fort Lauderdale spin studio, has hosted several other classes and events at the W Fort Lauderdale previously including Pump Your Ride and Glow Your Ride.

Classes will be held weekly on the rooftop in a safe, socially distanced environment. Bikes are spaced 6-feet apart and there is deep sanitation of all shared surfaces and equipment after each use. While masks are required for entry, a mask is not required to ride. Participants should bring their own spin shoes or plan to use sneakers for class.

"Sea Sycle was created to provide an alternative option to those indoor cycling lovers that are not comfortable in an indoor setting due to COVID. We decided to take advantage of the Sofla fall and winter to enjoy riding outside with an incredible view provided by our partnership with the W Fort Lauderdale. We have done many events with them in the past and Sea Sycle is here to stay through at least the end of the year," said Ride Element owner Ana Gajardo. "We can’t wait for people to experience this amazing cycling class while enjoying breathtaking views of the ocean!"

Morning classes include an all-day pool pass and evening riders are welcome to enjoy a post-class cocktail at the outdoor terrace or the Living Room bar. Pricing is $20 for a single class or $54 for a 3-class pack. There are only 20 spots available per class.

"We love our community and we look forward to welcoming you back whenever you feel ready," said Gajardo.

The schedule right now is Tuesdays and Thursdays at 9 am and Fridays at 6:30 pm but check seasycle.com for the most up-to-date schedule. Book your spot online or call the studio for any questions at 954-280-7433.

ADAPT, North Miami’s largest fitness & wellness facility, has launched a nonprofit organization, ADAPT Non-Profit Foundation, LLC. ADAPT, a longtime advocate for youth development, created the nonprofit in order to sponsor young members of South Florida’s community on a journey to wellness and core physical development. The foundation will collaborate with key partners on various initiatives throughout the year, all with the same mission to support South Florida’s youth, the future of our community.

Youth development is at the core of the foundation's mission. ADAPT understands the value of regular exercise and creating healthy habits at a young age. Physical activity can help children and adolescents improve cardio-respiratory fitness, build strong bones and muscles, control weight, reduce symptoms of anxiety and depression, and reduce the risk of developing health
conditions. ADAPT Non-Profit Foundation, LLC aims to help provide the youth throughout South Florida access to the resources needed to better manage their health and wellness, despite socioeconomic level.

“We want to open our doors to any adolescent interested in developing their athletic ability, or wanting to prioritize their wellness,” states Jorge Sanchez, co-founder of ADAPT. “We don’t want finances to be a barrier to these kids getting the guidance, activity, and development that they need, especially during this time.”

Funds and donations are accepted at any time through the ADAPT website, or through the participation of organized activities by ADAPT Non-Profit. The nonprofit’s first event is the annual Turkey Bowl on Thursday, November 26th between 9 am - 11 am at the Miami Shores Recreation Field. All are welcome to partake in friendly flag football games for every age and level of play. ADAPT will collect $10 per player and provide t-shirts on the day of the event. All proceeds will go towards the sponsorship of young locals in the Youth Development Program at ADAPT.

ADAPT Non-Profit Foundation is also hosting a food drive this November to collect canned goods for locals in need of assistance, to be donated to Feeding South Florida. A drop off box will be accessible daily at ADAPT Gym at 14901 NE 20th Ave, North Miami, from now until Thanksgiving. Feeding South Florida is requesting holiday foods such as canned cranberry and vegetables, as well as boxed mashed potatoes and stuffing mix.

For more information on ADAPT Non-Profit Foundation, LLC, visit www.trainadapt.com/nonprofit.

When cities across Florida initially went into lockdown due to COVID-19, many artists assumed that they would need to cancel a performance, maybe two. Seven months later, some performing arts organizations have missed much of their season and are unsure about when they will be able to head back into the theater to do what they live for - perform in front of a theater audience.

You may think that COVID-19 closures have left the local arts community feeling hopeless, but conversations with some of Florida’s directors and dancers prove otherwise. In response to regulations and concerns surrounding the pandemic, Florida artists are creatively pivoting their repertoire to maintain their ability to delight their audiences. These artists are also being reminded of how crucial the arts are to helping people stay positive and connected during difficult times.  

“People are really craving an emotional distraction right now. Ballet offers beauty amidst the chaos, it gives people hope,” says Jennifer Kronenberg, Co-Artistic Director of Dimensions Dance Theater of Miami. 

"The Nutcracker" is a holiday institution. It is one of the largest productions in a year for many companies; a show that is beloved amongst longtime ballet patrons and first-time audiences alike. This year, for the second consecutive year, Dimensions Dance Theater of Miami joined Ballet Vero Beach for their rendition of the festive ballet, “Nutcracker on the Indian River.”

“Nutcracker on the Indian River” is a unique telling of the original ballet. The storyline and score follow the show you may have seen as a child, but its magical backdrop has been re-envisioned in the brownstones of New York City and Clara’s holiday travels to Vero Beach in 1919. The second act, usually a trip through a multicultural candy land, features the lush flora and fauna of Florida’s Indian River Lagoon and includes performances by land crabs, cranes, manatees, river otters, and bougainvillea. “Nutcracker on the Indian River” was created in partnership with The Indian River Land Trust, an organization that preserves, conserves, and improves the area’s natural resources.

Adam Schnell, Artistic Director and CEO of Ballet Vero Beach, knew that performing their beloved “Nutcracker on the Indian River” in the theater this year would be nearly impossible. With the sizable cast and crew required to perform “The Nutcracker," COVID-19 regulations surrounding performance venues, and student cast members, the risk would just be too high. Ballet Vero Beach has always incorporated film into their performances to help bridge the gap between an old-world art and a new world audience and for this year’s “Nutcracker on the Indian River” it came to the forefront.

When considering their options for the 2020 performance, Schnell decided to move the action outdoors. The concept for making a portion of the production a magical on-screen journey was born. Interior scenes were filmed at the Hallstrom House, built in 1918 to resemble a New England mansion. Exterior scenes were filmed exclusively on Indian River Land Trust properties, including a stage built on the banks of The Indian River, where the second act of the production is purportedly set. Filming “Nutcracker on the Indian River” and placing it at these unique and historical settings has added an entirely new, whimsical dimension to their seasonal gem.

Even though the dancers have been back in the studio rehearsing for “Nutcracker” and their respective upcoming digital seasons, things are not business as usual. The dancers are rehearsing in smaller groups, with masks, and are getting tested for COVID-19 regularly. For the filming of “Nutcracker on the Indian River,” the student performers were separated from the professional dancers and they filmed outside, a unique benefit of being in Florida this time of year. 

Pivoting is nothing new to Kronenburg or Schnell. In order to run a thriving ballet company, it is essential to create works that speak to your audience and the local community. Dimensions Dance Theater of Miami prides itself on being representative of the unique energy of Miami. They hire local artists, partner with local musicians, and perform works that embody the vibrant culture of Miami. Schnell has been incorporating film into Ballet Vero Beach’s performances since the company’s inception and talks about using this time as inspiration to find the “crackle between the performers and the audience” in the digital space.

The 2020 film, “Nutcracker on The Indian River,” is a traditional ballet performance in an unusual setting, with a multimedia digital component, extra safety precautions, and an audience and donor base that extends beyond the local community. These circumstances exemplify how arts organizations all over the world are pivoting to meet the unpredictable, ever-shifting demands brought about by COVID-19. 

“We’ve been pushed to be more creative than we’ve ever been,” says Dimensions Dance Theater of Miami Company Member Chloe Freytag. “It has been an opportunity for growth; how can we take the circumstances we are given and still deliver a high-quality, artistic production that supports joy in our community?”  

While most artists are itching to get back into the theater, many see a silver lining in that COVID-19 closures have brought the opportunity to get in front of a larger, more national audience. “We want to bring art to as many people as possible, that’s what keeps me going,” says Schnell.

“The Nutcracker on The Indian River” will be available to the public for free from December 23 - January 6 on https://balletverobeach.org/.

If you are interested in supporting your local artists during this challenging time, please consider making a donation to Dimensions Dance Theater of Miami and Ballet Vero Beach.

Photos by Joe Semkow.

It's been roughly four months since we reopened the doors of Downtown Strength and Conditioning; almost equal to the amount of time our doors were shuttered by the local government as part of its COVID-19 response.

To say its been a wild ride would be an understatement. The closure for many studios meant adapting our business models during lengthy shutdowns, finding new ways to deliver training to our clients, and navigating a reopening or even a permanent closure.  

Now with most of our local fitness studios back open it begs the question where do we go from here?

We survived … right?

It would seem that the work has just begun. With our studios closed for months on end we had to rebuild membership bases, recover financially, and learn to operate our gyms in this new world.

They say the only thing constant is change. If we learned one thing through the whirlwind that COVID-19 took many of our fitness businesses through, its that nothing is the same as it was.

Those gyms who “made it” through the last few months since March have their work cut out for them. Many who survived closure now need to survive a world where the gym experience is different i.e. wearing a mask during a training session, rising operating costs, and a population who in some cases are afraid to return to a physical gym.  

RELATED Op-Ed: Confessions of a Miami Studio Owner During COVID-19

What’s different? What’s the same? What now?

We reopened our gym along with a slew of new protocols implemented. We have found that many of these protocols will work long term and are here to stay. Nothing in our post-lockdown COVID-19 world is the same as it was, and a one-size fits all approach no longer works. We see examples of this daily in our gym.

When we reopened, we added more class times, bringing our daily weekday schedule to roughly 14 classes including open gym time. More classes gave us the opportunity to keep classes small, and seemingly safer. We imposed tighter class capacities limits and more equipment along with this, no sharing allowed.

What small classes also did was end up giving clients a more personalized and high touch experience; a benefit that members ended up really liking so smaller more frequent classes are here to stay!

Like many gyms we implemented more extensive deep cleaning measures, another “benefit” to this post COVID-19 world. Although at a greater expense for many of our businesses to add to already high operating expenditures, cleaner gyms had us wondering if gyms should’ve always been doing things like Chemical Fogging or use of wipes on anything and everything all the time. This was yet another area of procedures that were modified, improved upon and here to stay.

Adapt or Die …

Our first few weeks and months we’ve learned to adapt almost daily. We had to constantly have our pulse on the business and what was working or not. Local government changed rules a few times as well which also meant we had to change along with them.

We tried different workout formats to limit movement around the gym for example, removed the infamous chalk bowl we so often see at Crossfit and Olympic lifting facilities, and stopped climbing our ropes, to name a few small changes.

We realized we had to be so agile, and so reactive to the changing climate and member needs all in an effort to help them ALL feel safe, if we wanted to keep on surviving.

RELATED Gyms Are Open in South Florida. Here’s What Owners Are Saying About It

Safe? What does that mean exactly?

Feeling “safe” these days is relative. It seems what is deemed safe is ever changing and varies based on the individual and that’s OK.

In a group training environment finding a way to customize the safety aspect can be viewed as challenge. If we can customize workouts to individuals, we realized we could serve the needs of our community by being aware of each member’s individual needs in this capacity too.

Today in October, over six months since the initial closure we are providing our service in many different (and new) ways. In the gym we have a robust class schedule, we have some classes during off hours for those who want to be in groups of 1-3 people, we have open gym time each day for those who want to be alone, and larger group classes for those members who want the “old normal”.

For those members who aren’t ready just yet to step back into their favorite gym we offer online virtual class options four days a week, member equipment rental, and home programming options.

For all our members we offer flexible membership options with ability to stop, start and pause via our online portal for ease of use in this time of uncertainty and always. These are just a few ways we’ve worked to meet the needs of many at the same time.

Onward and Upward ...

We’re still here and we’re looking ahead. We survived and look forward to continuing to learn and grow through this “adventure.”

Although the world seems to be changing around us daily, our goal has stayed the same and our commitment to our community has never wavered. Our member experience, offering best of breed coaching and killer workouts all while being smart and safe remains our top priority.

No matter how or where you’re finding your fitness these days we realize, like our booty shorts, one size does not fit all in our COVID-19 world and that’s OK! We look forward to seeing you for a workout soon … and don’t forget your mask :)

54D will be reopening their Coral Gables studio, located at 4210 Ponce de Leon Blvd, next Monday, October 19 at the start of the next nine-week training program.

“We developed a holistic online program, designed to offer the same in-studio experience to all of our loyal existing members, as well as to the thousands of people who followed our daily IG Live free training during quarantine,” owner Rodrigo Garduño said. “Now it’s time to reopen our doors for those who were anxiously waiting to meet again with their fellow Coral Gables family members of fitness aficionados.”

Members and staff will be following a strict safety protocol. 54D studios have been retrofitted with industry-standard air purifiers and will operate under stringent safety and hygiene standards, as proposed by medical health experts, to ensure the well-being of members and staff.

Groups will be reduced to 20 members per class and masks will be required at all times. Strict cleaning measures will be implemented and take place during the day, with additional spacing time assigned between classes to ensure the thorough disinfection of the different training zones and equipment. The new time slots available to existing and new members will be 6:00 am, 7:15 am, 8:30 am, 9:45 am, 11:00 am, and 6:30 pm.

RELATED Miami Fitness Brand 54D Has International Success During COVID-19

While the studio does have lockers and showers, they will remain closed according to the local guidelines. 54D also has cryotherapy rooms which will be open for members.

For graduates of 54D's program, there is Steel by 54D. This space is right next door to the Coral Gables studio and offers a space with state-of-the-art training equipment. It will be open on a reservation basis only and operated under the same strict safety guidelines.

54D’s reopening in Coral Gables is concurrent with the ongoing progress to launch the brand’s second U.S. location, in Miami’s chic Design District neighborhood. The studio is expected to open in 2021.

As a neighborhood, Wynwood seems to have it all. The former industrial district has transformed into a globally recognized destination for its murals, cafés, bars, nightlife, and entertainment. Add in the office space, retail shops, and residential buildings that have moved into the area over the past several years, and nearly all the pieces of Wynwood's work-play-sleep puzzle have come together.

Still, elements like open spaces and greenery are sorely lacking. While Wynwood's edgy feel has become characteristic of the area, some business owners and residents are looking to Wynwood's future as a more walkable and livable neighborhood.

Enter the woonerf, which, surprisingly, is not the sound you make when firing foam darts from an oversize toy gun. Woonerfs, Dutch-inspired "living streets" designed with pedestrians and cyclists in mind, have long been proposed for Wynwood and are now one step closer to being approved. Cars are allowed on woonerfs (pronounced voo-nerfs), but strategically placed landscaping and bollards force drivers to slow down, pay closer attention to the road, and coexist with others using the street as a shared, social space. (We know. It's Miami. Have a little faith.)

RELATED The Underline Launch Date Announced As October 1

The living streets are part of a larger proposal, called the Wynwood Streetscape Master Plan, that offers a new look for the art and entertainment hub and gives streets and sidewalks a makeover. Late last month, the City of Miami's Planning, Zoning & Appeals Board voted 10-1 to recommend that the city commission approve the streetscape plan. Commissioners are expected to consider the plan at their October 22 meeting.

"The biggest takeaway of this whole plan is to prioritize pedestrians over vehicles," says Albert Garcia, chairman and cofounder of the Wynwood Business Improvement District, a city board that represents property owners. "This ranks pedestrians as number one."

Pedestrians will have the run of woonerfs slated for Northwest First and Third avenues from 25th Street to Wynwood's northern boundary at 29th Street. A third "living street" is planned for Northwest First Place from 20th Street to 23rd Street. The streets can be closed on weekends for community events.

The plan also incorporates protected bike lanes, new crosswalks, street-end parks along Wynwood's eastern boundary, and a 1.8-mile "wellness loop" for walkers, runners, and cyclists. The idea is to reimagine Wynwood's existing infrastructure and make more out of its outdoor spaces.

"Land in the neighborhood is quite expensive," Garcia says. "Most of it is being redeveloped. There's no county- or city-owned land in Wynwood, so there are no public parks. The plan basically calls for converting some of those roadways into linear parks. That's one aspect we're very excited about."

Widened sidewalks and added crosswalks are a critical component of the plan, Garcia notes. Wynwood's sidewalks are heavily trafficked, and people regularly spill out from the walkways onto the street. Garcia says seven streets are proposed to be redesigned with expanded sidewalks.

Wynwood's streetscape, designed by Miami-based ArquitectonicaGEO, would get an infusion of green via the planting of shade trees and "urban wild" landscaping. Garcia says the point isn't to turn Wynwood into a lush garden or change the character of the neighborhood, but rather to introduce some tree canopy and offset the heat island effect in the neighborhood.

"Wynwood is largely just concrete," Garcia says. "It's part of the attraction and part of its detriment because of the heat and humidity."

Add some street furniture beneath the shade trees, and visitors have places to sit and hang out. Wynwood Walls, although privately owned, is the only space that's free and open to the public. The streetscape plan proposes more such spaces.

"Part of the issue is equitable access to open public spaces," Garcia says. "Right now, if you want to enjoy hanging out in the shade somewhere, you need to pay for a coffee or meal or pay to go into a lounge. This will be the first time where there'll be areas open, free to the public, and available 24/7."

This article was originally written by Alexi C. Cardona for The New Miami Times and can be found here.

Twenty of Miami's fittest workout enthusiasts will test their physical limits and go head-to-head for the grand prize in 54D's first-ever 54D Games. The man and woman to come out on top will split evenly $20,000 in prizes.

The competition will be broadcast live around the world via YouTube starting tonight at 9:00 pm ET. It will be live-streamed from 54D’s flagship Coral Gables studio and will follow strict health guidelines and regulations for the safety of all contestants and the 54D team.

RELATED 54D ON Celebrates First Graduating Class, Announces New Perks for Online Alumni

Contestants went through a rigorous application process to make it to the Games. All 54D Games hopefuls had to submit a video application putting their fitness abilities to the test. The top 40 contestants were then interviewed on IG Live by 54D founder Rodrigo Garduño, and finally, the roster was narrowed down to the final 20 contestants who were voted on by 54D followers on social media. The finalists are:

The contestants' stories are inspiring and symbolize the impact that 54D has had on their lives, both on a physical level as well as on their mental wellness while going through challenging times.

Watch when the competition kicks off at youtube.com/user/Rodrigogaropao.

The YMCA in downtown Miami will be reopening to members on Thursday, October 1. Located on Biscayne Boulevard on the 15th floor of the Southeast Financial Building, this YMCA branch has been open since July 2018 but was closed the past few months due to the pandemic.

The Y is a nonprofit focused on youth development, healthy living, and social responsibility. While the programs and facilities of each location may vary, the volunteers, staff, members, and donors of the Y are all united by a deep commitment to move the community forward and bring about lasting personal and social change. 

The downtown Miami YMCA is an all-inclusive fitness center with everything to help you live healthier and be part of a community. This location has an indoor basketball court, an indoor track circuit, a spin studio, a yoga and barre studio, and a turf area spread among two floors. There are two cardio zones and a large variety of machines and weights. The locker rooms have digital lockers and several amenities, including a steam room. Everything is clean and spacious.

Members can take advantage of personal training sessions or check out the group exercise classes. Jaguar Therapeutics is also on-site for physical and chiropractic therapy.

In light of COVID-19, the Y has a new list of protocols they will be following including single entry and exit points, regular temperature checks, and a mask requirement for all members. Staff will be managing traffic flow, limiting participation in classes, and monitoring the gym for social distancing.

"Safety is our top priority. We have patiently waited to reopen and we've been mindful of the pandemic and Miami being an epicenter," said COO Jake Steger. "We waited intentionally and we felt like the numbers decreased enough to open and do it in a safe and responsible way."

Memberships are available at a new reduced rate and start at $59 per month. Group classes are included in the membership and parking is free for up to two hours with validation.

The YMCA is open Monday -Friday, 6:00 AM– 8:00 PM, and Saturday from 7:00 AM – 12:00 PM. Stop in to check it out yourself or head to ymcasouthflorida.org/downtownmiamiy for more information.

Online human transformation movement 54D ON is proud to announce the graduation of its first generation of online program members. Spots for the first generation of the new 9-week online program sold out in less than an hour after launching pre-sales on July 13, with the 6th online generation opening for enrollment September 21 and starting September 28.

A major player in the global fitness industry, 54D has embarked on a new era with 54D ON, a 9-week online program divided into three specialized areas including physical training, as well as tutorials on nutrition and recovery. Online members are divided into smaller groups led by one of 54D’s coaches who are dedicated specifically to them, offering full guidance.

The 54D ON program was designed to deliver measurable results through a combination of high-intensity training and discipline. 54D has taken an educational approach for the online program, creating training sessions and tutorials so participants can learn proper exercise techniques and good nutritional practices by the time they complete all the courses throughout the nine weeks.

The revolutionary online program was developed to offer existing members and newcomers an opportunity to follow the brand’s emblematic high-intensity program from anywhere, any time. Competitively priced at $385 for the entire 9-week program, participants of 54D ON are guided every single day with daily tasks, with the 54D team monitoring participants’ progress and activity through the platform. 54D in-studio and online system delivers results through a no-excuses, full-commitment approach to fitness.

RELATED 54D Wraps Up Record-Breaking Instagram Live Trainings With Final Class and Launches New Online Program

For graduates of the program who have tested their limits and reached a new level in the fitness journey, the fitness brand is also announcing the introduction of a 54D ON + Lower Body Add-On offered exclusively to graduates, which can’t be bought separately and is offered combined with the base online program. The add-on product has a cost of $45 and comprises 27 episodes of 30 minutes each. It can be found on the dashboard of the regular 54D ON classes on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays.

54D ON launched in July after the brand gained international acclaim when founder Rodrigo Garduño began hosting daily workouts on IG Live amid the pandemic. The daily videos broke records with an average of more than 35,000 devices joining the live sessions and over 150,000 additional users streaming the posted daily videos. The brand gained a global following, including supermodel Adriana Lima, singing sensations Fonseca, Juanes and Carlos Vives, Yankees legend Jorge Posada, professional athletes, and more.

Check out more information or sign up for the program at https://54d-on.com.

Update September 23 @ 10:00 AM: Since publishing this article, Amazon stopped selling the product and said the bike “is not an Amazon product or related to Amazon Prime.”

“Echelon does not have a formal partnership with Amazon. We are working with Echelon to clarify this in its communications, stop the sale of the product, and change the product branding,” an Amazon spokesperson said.

Amazon teamed up with Echelon to build and sell the Prime Bike. The $500 exercise bike is similar to the Peloton bike minus the screen — even the color scheme and design are the same. The bike is available now from Amazon.

Echelon builds several fitness products and the Prime Bike is Echelon’s third smart bike. The other two feature video screens and are available for $999 and $1,1999. The Prime Bike has features including multiple adjustments and front-mounted wheels for easy movement. Instead of toe clips that many stationary bikes have, the Prime Bike uses straps to lock riders’ feet to the pedals. A screen is the notable missing feature, but that can be quickly resolved with a tablet.

“We were built on the idea of attainable fitness for everyone. The Prime Bike was developed in collaboration with Amazon, aiming to create an amazing, connected bike for less than $500, and it’s proven to be a phenomenal match,” said Lou Lentine, President, and CEO of Echelon Fitness. “Amazon looking to us to partner on their first-ever connected fitness product is recognition of our commitment to deliver quality at a reasonable price-point as reflected in our explosive growth over the last year.”

It’s worth noting that this same exercise bike is also available at Walmart for $500, where it sells under Echelon’s branding of the Connect Sport Bike.

This story was originally published on TechCrunch by Matt Burns and can be found here.

Last month, the community saw unprecedented fish kill and algal blooms in the northern Biscayne Bay basin due to multiple factors, including extremely high-water temperatures, low-dissolved oxygen, increased freshwater flows from the Biscayne Canal and Little River, and an influx of nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorus — primary components found in many fertilizers.

In an effort to combat these nutrients from entering the city’s stormwater system, the City Commission today has unanimously passed an ordinance on first reading, which requires the use of best management practices and specific management guidelines to minimize negative secondary and cumulative environmental effects associated with the misuse of fertilizers

“These increased nutrients are one of the main pollutants that are degrading the water quality and health of Biscayne Bay — Miami Beach is committed to doing our part to protect our environment,” shared Mayor Dan Gelber. 

The proposed ordinance regulates and promotes the following:

• Prohibits fertilizers from being used during the rainy season from June 1 through November 1;
• Establishes fertilizer free zones adjacent to waterways and storm drains;
• Establishes proper fertilizer application rates and methods;
• Requires proper training of commercial and institutional fertilizer applicators;
• Establishes training and licensing requirements; and
• Establishes enforcement and penalties.
  

Currently, the city’s Parks and Recreation Department and the Public Works, Greenspace Management Division are required to apply Florida-Friendly Landscaping principles and best management practices for fertilizer application on public properties, including prohibition from using glysophate. Additionally, all city landscaping contractors are required to follow industry practices and standards found in the Florida Department of Environmental Protection’s “Florida-Friendly Best Management Practices for Protection of Water Resources by the Green Industries”.

“Commercial landscapers operating on private property are not currently required to abide by these standards,” explained Commissioner Michael Góngora who sponsored this item. “If this ordinance passes second reading next month, it will be a game-changer in limiting the amount of fertilizer runoff entering our bay.”

Several county and city governments in Florida that have enacted fertilizer bans to address improper fertilizer use on private properties. Manatee County, Pinellas County, Lee County, Martin County and the cities of Miami, Melbourne and Cape Coral are examples of communities that have enacted a blackout period for fertilizer use during the rainy season.

The draft ordinance was developed using template language provided by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection and existing fertilizer ordinances that are in place in municipalities throughout Florida.

"This is a strong fertilizer ordinance and an important step towards limiting pollution in Biscayne Bay,” added Executive Director & Waterkeeper Rachel Silverstein with the Miami Waterkeeper. “Along with septic, sewer, and stormwater, the overuse of fertilizers contributes to algae blooms, seagrass die-offs, and the recent fish kill. I am thrilled that the City of Miami Beach is taking this important step."

Flywheel Sports, known for its spin classes, has filed for bankruptcy as the pandemic continues to devastate the boutique fitness industry.

Its parent company filed for Chapter 7 in New York late Monday, signaling that it is likely liquidating and permanently closing its remaining studios. Flywheel hasn't returned requests for comment, but some of its current and former instructors posted on social media that the company had gone under.

At its peak, the 10-year-old company had more than 40 studios across the United States that offered cycling and barre classes. But Flywheel was having troubles well before the pandemic hit.

Peloton sued Flywheel in September 2018, alleging the smaller company copied the technology used to create its in-home bikes and the leaderboard that lets customers race against each other. The decision made Flywheel's at-home bikes unusable, with Peloton offering its own bikes to Flywheel's customers.

In summer 2019, Flywheel permanently closed about a dozen of its studios. And in February 2020, Flywheel was forced to shut down the virtual classes that were connected to its in-home stationary bikes because of the two-year legal battle with Peloton over patent infringement.

RELATED 10 Must-Try Miami Spin Studios in 2020

Weeks later, the pandemic stuck and forced Flywheel to temporarily close all its studios. The company reportedly laid off 98% of its 1,200-person staff. Flywheel had recently begun offering classes in two cities (Hamptons, New York and Miami, Florida), but those are no longer bookable, according to its website.

The newly bankrupt Town Sports International (owner of New York Sports Club and other chains), dropped its plans in April to buy Flywheel after reaching an agreement just four months prior.

Without studios or an at-home bike, there isn't a strong path forward for Flywheel. Meanwhile, Peloton (PTON) has found success and reported blockbuster earnings last week. SoulCycle has reopened dozens of studios and has begun selling its $2,500 in-home bike.

This story was originally published on CNN by Jordan Valinsky and can be found here.

Peloton revealed two new fitness products to its community this week - the Bike+ and a lower-priced treadmill.

"After years of research and development, including invaluable Member feedback, both of these products take everything you love about your Peloton experience and build upon it to expand the world of strength, stretching, and yoga", said Peloton CEO John Foley in an email to Peloton members.

For $2,495, the new bike has a larger, rotating touchscreen to stream its classes and make it easier to complement cardio workouts with floor activities. There is also a new digitally-controlled brake that will automatically change your resistance depending on the instructor's cues. The touchscreen also includes a powerful stereo soundbar and subwoofer to bring more of the immersive in-studio feeling into your home.

"Many of you are already enjoying Peloton workouts off the Bike with the Peloton App and have asked for combined cardio and strength classes on The Peloton Bike. I’m excited to share a new full-body Bike Bootcamp experience that we will launch next week with some familiar faces," said Foley.

Beginning Wednesday, Peloton's core bike will now cost $1,895 — a $350 reduction — with the monthly financing rate dropping $9 to $49 a month. For existing Bike owners, you can trade up to the new Bike+ with a $700 credit.

The price of Peloton's treadmill, renamed Tread+, remains $4,295. Peloton is adding a new lower-priced treadmill next year for $2,495.

Five years after the project was approved, plans to convert a former Miami Beach golf course into a public park are nearly finalized.

The city, which owns the long-inactive Bayshore Municipal Golf Course Par-3 in the Bayshore neighborhood in Mid Beach, wants to build a sprawling park on the 19-acre plot and excavate a 1.6-acre lake on the property, equipped with a pedestrian bridge and viewing docks. The new property will be named Bayshore Park, and also feature six tennis courts, a playground, dog park and parking lot. The lake will double as a stormwater-retention area.

The project is being funded by $15.7 million in general obligation funds approved by voters in 2018.

After the City Commission approved the project in 2015, an environmental survey found the site was contaminated with arsenic in the soil and groundwater, “which may have resulted from the historic use of the property as a golf course,” Planning Director Thomas Mooney wrote in a memo.

The property stopped serving as a golf course in 2005.

The firm designing the park, Savino & Miller Design Studio, proposes using “golf-like land forms to cap contaminated soil,” according to a presentation given before the city’s Design Review Board on Monday.

The city’s Design Review Board approved the concept in 2017, but the city did not obtain the required permits within the given 18-month time frame. The design firm again came before the board on Monday with updated plans, including new signage that requires City Commission approval due to its location near a single-family neighborhood.

Miami-Dade County must approve environmental reports related to soil management at the site and grant a permit to the city for its site and stormwater system, a city spokeswoman said.

The firm has submitted its design plans to the city’s building department for review and approval, and the city anticipates completing the permitting process and then putting the project out to bid by the end of the year, the spokeswoman said.

Jason Koslowe, a resident and board member with the Bayshore Homeowners Association, said the presence of arsenic at the site does not concern him because of the planned mitigation and that he is excited about the project.

“It’s been a long time coming for neighborhood residents,” he said. “All of our neighbors are excited.”

This story was originally published on The Miami Herald by Mario Vassolo and can be found here.

While Fitbit focused on fitness trackers earlier this year with the launch of the Charge 4, the fall is all about new smartwatches. The latest timepiece from the company is the $329 Fitbit Sense, an “advanced health” wearable that includes new hardware like an electrodermal activity (EDA) sensor and new features like electrocardiogram (ECG) measurements. Fitbit’s also updating its Versa smartwatch family and its Inspire fitness trackers, all the while bolstering its Fitbit Premium subscription service with the hope that users will choose it as their health service of choice for the long haul.

“Advanced health” smartwatch is a vague monicker, but it essentially means that the Fitbit Sense can do things that other Fitbit devices haven’t been able to do before. Key among those things are measuring EDA response and ECG information. The EDA sensor looks for electrical changes in your skin that may be caused by stress — to use it, you’ll navigate to the EDA app on the smartwatch, place your palm over the Sense’s display and breathe while it takes a measurement.

This feeds into Fitbit’s renewed focus on helping users track and manage stress, which now goes beyond the guided breathing exercises already available on most of its wearables. The EDA sensor records and shows data on a graph in the Fitbit mobile app alongside the new Stress Management Score, which is yet another all-encompassing number that takes into account heart rate, sleep and activity data. The higher the number, the better your body is doing at physically managing stress. This number will change regularly, and when it’s on the low side, it’ll be coupled with advice on how to manage stress, breathing exercises you can do and other resources.

Users will likely be more familiar with the Sense’s ECG capabilities now that many wearables are trying to incorporate the technology. Fitbit’s feature works similarly to that on the Apple Watch Series 5: place two fingers on the corners of the Fitbit Sense for 30 seconds and it’ll take a reading of the electrical signals coming from your heart. ECG measurements have become popular in wearables because they allow a user to get a quick glimpse into their heart’s health and possibly learn of early signs of conditions like atrial fibrillation. None of the most popular wearables on the market, including the Fitbit Sense or the Apple Watch, are considered medical devices, but they are capable of providing limited data that a user can then take to their doctor if they believe something isn’t right.

Aside from these two features, there are two others that up the Sense’s health-monitoring game: a skin temperature sensor and high and low heart rate alerts. The former does exactly what you’d expect — it monitors your body temperature throughout the day and takes baseline measurements at night while you’re sleeping so you can better understand fluctuations over time. The latter uses Fitbit’s updated heart rate monitoring technology to alert you when your pulse is above or below a certain BPM threshold.

Both of these are practical, albeit unexciting, features mostly because they’re automatic: you don’t have to prompt the smartwatch to take your temperature or to check if your heart rate is sky high — it’ll just do it. Also, changes in body temperature can be early signs of illness, showing up before other symptoms, and knowing when your heart rate suddenly increases can prompt you to take a deep breath, relax and possibly remove yourself from a stressful situation.

Most of the Sense smartwatch’s extraordinary features lie under the hood as the actual wearable looks pretty similar to the company’s Versa smartwatches. It has that familiar rounded square case with detachable bands, and now it supports “infinity bands” that look very close to those that come with the Apple Watch.

The Sense’s case is made of aluminum and stainless steel and it has a slightly larger AMOLED display than other Fitbit smartwatches. In addition to built-in GPS, it also has the new PurePulse 2.0 heart rate monitor, onboard storage for music, an SpO2 sensor, Fitbit Pay support and a new built-in speaker that lets compatible voice assistants reply to your queries audibly and lets you quick-answer phone calls (while your smartphone is on and nearby, of course — there are no LTE capabilities on this device).

Fitbit’s trying to do two things with the Sense smartwatch: compete with devices like the Apple Watch and the Samsung Galaxy Watch 3, and encourage users to pay for Fitbit Premium. The first is a bit more obvious than the second: the Sense’s spec sheet puts it squarely in competition with other premium smartwatches and features like EDA and ECG measurements emphasize its potential as a long-term health device.

But that last fact feeds into the company’s apparent strategy for Fitbit Premium: give users devices that can track tons of health data, give them just enough of that information to satisfy most people’s needs and put the rest behind a paywall. The most detailed data for Fitbit’s advanced health metrics, such as the breakdown of how that new Stress Management Score is calculated, will only be available to Fitbit Premium users. In addition to data, Fitbit’s continuously adding resources to Premium — things like meditation sessions, exercise programs and healthy eating routines — to persuade users to pay $10 per month or $80 per year for the service.

All of Fitbit’s new devices come with a free trial of Fitbit Premium. The $329 Fitbit Sense smartwatch along with the $229 Versa 3 and the $99 Inspire 2 are available for pre-order today and will be widely available in late September.

This story was originally published on Engaget.com by Valentina Palladino and can be found here.

Today, Art Basel released a statement formally cancelling the annual event due to the pandemic.

This decision was based on a number of factors, including restrictions on international travel, large-scale events, and gatherings, as well as other quarantine regulations. Florida also continues to be a COVID hotspot in the United States. There were a lot of logistics surrounding an event with a high-risk for low attendance.

“It is with great regret and disappointment that we announce the cancellation of our December show in Miami Beach, as we know how crucial our show is for our galleries, as well as for the greater Miami arts community and economy, said Noah Horowitz, Director Americas, Art Basel, in a statement. "We thank everyone who shared their perspectives and insights with us over the past months and weeks and look forward to returning to Miami Beach next year to deliver a successful show.”

In the statement, Art Basel also said that, despite not having any physical editions this year, organizers still hope to have a variety of online programming. All galleries that were set to show at the in-person 2020 fair will have access to virtual booths in the online version of Art Basel Miami Beach, set to appear on screens in December.

ADAPT Gym in North Miami launches free classes for Miami residents. Locals now have the opportunity to attend in-person group fitness classes every first Saturday of the month and complimentary virtual cooking classes once per month hosted by the in-house registered dietician.

ADAPT’s founders, Scott Grondin and Jorge Sanchez, understand the significance of health and well-being, especially at this crucial moment in time. As of today, the facility will offer open access to its renowned trainers and methods to everyone in the community.

“We have been fortunate enough to see a substantial comeback since the re-opening and believe it’s largely due to our amazing trainers, and the fact we have more than 20k square feet of space,” states Scott Grondin, co-founder of ADAPT. “Now more than ever we need to help our community get back on their feet by offering new options to keep them healthy and active, even when budgets are tight.”

Every first Saturday of the month at 8 and 9 am, participants can burn calories either indoor or outdoor on the newly installed covered training area for a one-hour workout with the best trainers in Miami.

Dining out also looks a bit different these days in Miami, which is why ADAPT now offers a fun approach to date-night, all while supporting local businesses. Every second Wednesday of the month, ADAPT offers a complimentary virtual cooking class with the facility’s in-house registered dietician. Each menu will feature healthy, delicious meals with local grocery partners such as Mr. Fresh to provide the ingredient kit for pick-up.

“We put a creative spin on our nutrition program and felt the virtual cooking classes were a fun way to stay healthy while
supporting the local businesses in our own neighborhood," said Grondin.

For more information, visit www.trainadapt.com or call 786-717-7470. You can reserve a free group fitness class by clicking here or register for a complimentary cooking class here.

Be sure to follow ADAPT on Instagram and Facebook @trainadapt.

North Miami’s largest fitness & wellness facility, introduces ADAPT Study Hall as an in-person option for school this Fall. Children grades three and up can now attend their virtual classes, do homework, and study within a safe and moderated space at ADAPT.

This program comes at an essential moment for parents and children alike, with an unprecedented fall semester made up of mostly virtual classrooms. ADAPT’s founders, Scott Grondin and Jorge Sanchez, have long supported programs Miami’s younger generation with their highly successful youth development programs and summer camps.

”It seemed like a logical option for us to open up the available space on our second floor to children that need a safe place where there is less distraction in order to better pay attention in class, complete their work and stay on task.” states Grondin. “Our ADAPT Study Hall also provides a big relief to parents who have been trying to juggle their own work-at-home life balance, or for those who no longer have a childcare option with many schools being closed.”

The facility will provide students with a socially-distanced personal workspace, high-speed WiFi, a printer, and a dedicated Staff Member to monitor behavior and activity, and offer any assistance when needed. ADAPT Study Hall will be open Monday through Friday for both morning and afternoon sessions. A CDC-approved deep cleaning will be done daily before and after each session.

After school programs are also available for ages 8 - 17 years old with ADAPT Kids and the Youth Development Program, which focus on perfecting athletic technique, and training for sport-specific skills.

ADAPT Study Hall launches on Monday, August 31st. Space is limited, and reservations must be made in advance. Weekly pricing is $175 for one session per day or $300 for both.

For more information on ADAPT Study Hall, or to reserve a spot, visit https://trainadapt.com/studyhall/ or call 786-717-7470.

For more information on ADAPT, visit www.trainadapt.com, and be sure to follow ADAPT on Instagram and Facebook @trainadapt.