From Rehabilitation to Training: A Q&A with MOTIVNY
It's likely that at one time or another, you've experienced a physical injury. Whether it was from overuse, underuse, a sports injury, or something else, it's like to happen to each of us at least once. And perhaps you've tried to recover on your own, or have gone to a physical therapist only to have the injury return once you really got back into working out. Sound familiar? Enter MOTIVNY, a gym that combines movement practice, strength training, and recovery work so that clients can practice smart performance to keep you fitter (and without injury) for longer. We caught up with the MOTIVNY team to talk about what sets MOTIVNY apart from other gyms, why rehab is an integral part, and what the team is listening to. Here is what they had to say.
What inspired you to start MOTIVNY?
MOTIVNY was founded by two Physical Therapists, Luke Greenberg and David Jou, who had a passion for working with athletic clientele but often saw shortcomings in how the model of most clinics and gyms worked. We’ve often seen that people tend to get cookie cutter and lackluster treatments or programs, and wanted to shift the conversation to an individualized approach. We try to incorporate a spectrum of assessment and intervention from rehabilitation to training because we believe that in the process of training to become your best, challenges will come up. We opened our flagship location at 199 Mott St in SoHo in 2019 where we are able to integrate all of our services under one roof: rehab, recovery, training, and lifestyle.
What sets MOTIVNY apart from other gyms?
We use a combination of movement practice, strength training, and recovery work to get the best out of our clients without the common overuse that people run into at typical boutique studios. Coaches at MOTIVNY have been selected by a rigorous research process, and are uniquely talented to tailor their approach to the individual needs of a client. We implement a lot of work with Functional Range Conditioning and Kinstretch for our mobility work, Kettlebell training for our strength classes, and custom programming for our individual clients. We believe that we have a voice that is a more sensible alternative to achieve smart performance without breakdown over time. We assume you want to be participating in your sport for years to come, and aim to succeed at helping that be possible.
At MOTIVNY you believe that everything is reciprocal. What do you mean by that?
We see rehab or training on its own as a piece that is important but is half-full without the other. Over the years we became frustrated to see clients doing “rehab” and continuously ending up with the same issues after a short time of returning to sport. With our full integration of training into our system, and an open dialogue between therapist, coach, and athlete, we are able to reduce how often these types of things can recur. It shapes the lifestyle to be more focused on the sport itself, and lets rehab be an understated piece of progress without the athlete needing to feel “injured.” We nest our effect into the training to keep enhancing the athlete throughout the process.
You recently launched an app. What can we expect to see from it?
MOTIVNY recently launched a comprehensive client training portal. With this, we are able to provide modern and engaging videos, workout programs, resources, and guidance all under one umbrella. With the app, clients will have access to their workout templates, or how to proceed in their calendar at the tip of their fingers. With so many people focused on digital content and our attention so frequently focused on our phones, we wanted to eliminate the necessity for clunky spreadsheets or paper documents. This way everything is organized, measurable, and progressive within one platform.
If someone is getting started at Motiv, where should they begin?
Right now MOTIVNY has released a ton of free content, including a growing archive library of Instagram live classes. We have free 30 minute versions of our in-house classes (Read: Strength as well as Kinstretch and mobility). We’ve had an amazing community response to this type of content and intend to keep it rolling in the future.
You seem to do a lot of classes using kettlebells. What value do kettlebells bring that traditional weights may not?
One of the largest values of kettlebells is the versatility. Few other items are able to be used for traditional weightlifting moves, as well as ballistic and athletic power training. Plus, there’s something primal and satisfying about harnessing this unwieldy hunk of iron. People feel a real sense of accomplishment compared to other weights which I think feel quite familiar.
Favorite 3 move quick workout?
We love to take some of our core moves and mix them in for a total body workout. One great way is the Every Minute On the Minute style.
15 Minute EMOM
Minute 1: Max Kettlebell Swings in 40 seconds
Minute 2: Max Pushups in 40 seconds
Minute 3: Max Goblet Reverse Lunges in 40 seconds
With this workout, you can take it a few different directions. You could go super heavy and shorten it, or go a little lighter and add more time. It allows you to tailor the workout to the stuff you have available, but also to be smart about fitting into training and recovery.
Current favorite song to workout to?
Our squad has such diverse music taste:
Michael - Big Boi - Chocolate
Ross - Missy Elliot - Pass That Dutch
David - Kung Fu - YNB Cordae
Luke - Polyphia - So Strange
Julie Ann - Doja Cat - Boss Bitch