Seattle’s Most Unusual Workouts
As the cold weather returns, stay active with one of these next-level indoor activities
By Maggie Kerr October 30, 2018
This article originally appeared in the November 2018 issue of Seattle magazine.
This article appears in print in the November 2018 issue. Click here to subscribe.
Tech has taken over for timber as Seattle’s dominant industry, but a new recreational activity in town—axe throwing, a sport in lumberjack competitions for decades—promises to bring out the grizzled woodsman in whoever gives it a try. It’s “the true Pacific Northwest experience,” says Dave Quinn, who opened the area’s first axe-throwing venue, Axe Kickers (from $20/hour; White Center, 10843 First Ave. S, 570.245.8361), in July. The nearly 3,000-square-foot facility offers nine (fenced, naturally) lanes for taking aim at a wooden bullseye with National Axe Throwing Federation (NATF)–standard 1.25- to 1.75-pound axes.
Scoring is similar to that for a game of darts. Something to consider for your next birthday—or bachelor—party: Axe throwing is both safety-certified by the NATF and suitable for ages 10 and older.
If flinging hatchets isn’t your thing, add some bounce to your routine with the first bungee studio to open on the West Coast. In August, founder and dancer Tiffany Kung opened her Lower Queen Anne studio, Coreo Fitness (from $35; 508 First Ave. N, 206.717.2894), on the hunch that this workout trend from Thailand would be a great fit in Seattle, a town where high-energy exercise such as hot yoga and barre class is the modus operandi. Strapped into sturdy harnesses hooked into the ceiling with a bungee cord, students are led in hourlong classes through a core-building, low-impact, high-cardio workout that provides constant resistance (imagine Jane Fonda meets Peter Pan). No more excuses that working out isn’t fun.
HANGING OUT: A student learns a move called “the chandelier” at a bungee workout class at Coreo Fitness. Photo by Karya Schanilec
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