Lean Times

“Far-fetched” was the word used by one local to describe the four-minute and ten-minute workouts that were offered by Club Motivate, a fitness center in the East Village.

At the beginning of March, the gym posted a message on their front door attributing “the current economic climate” as the reason for shutting down. The storefront, on the corner of J Street and Island Avenue, now sits vacant with “for lease” signs posted on the windows.

The business opened in early 2008 and equipped their 3500-square-foot space with machines known as ROM and Reflex, which supposedly offered full workouts in much less time than typical gym equipment.

A former client said that the idea of quick workouts was promising but ultimately failed to gain enough interest from locals.

“I hardly saw people inside working out. I think their juice bar got more customers than their gym.”