R5 SLT: Rye Ridge’s New Pilates Hotspot

Another Manhattan fitness phenomenon migrates north this month with the opening of SLT (Strengthen, Lengthen, Tone) in the Rye Ridge Shopping Center (116 S Ridge St, no phone as of press time; sltnyc.com). The year-old cardio/Pilates studio incorporates the hot-right-now Megaformer machine—with sliding platform, adjustable handlebars, resistance bands, etc.—in a heart rate-raising mash-up of traditional Pilates moves designed to strengthen, lengthen, and tone (hence “SLT”).  Founder and Chief Exec Amanda Freeman has called it, in apt, sugar-free fashion, “Pilates on crack.” Instructors lead a grueling succession of core-steeling, rapid-fire transitions made to incinerate calories. Mercifully, sessions—set to hip-hop, pop, and rock—are just 50 minutes long (and tap out at 10 students per).