Moses’s Guide to Rockaway Beach
If you’ve Aquacycled with Moses since he joined the team in January, you’ve gotten to know his mantra of finding and feeling the beat in class. Rhythmic movement has become his magic way of setting and challenging your pace while also spotting your form.
To jumpstart summer, Moses shares how to improve the rhythm of your life outside the poolroom, too, with a guide to why and how he enjoys his weekly summer retreats to Rockaway Beach.
Why the Rockaways
I go out there because it’s so easily accessible from the city by train, and especially if you have a buddy who has a car! Being so immersed in an urban landscape on a daily basis, our eyes and bodies crave nature and a natural landscape in ways we don’t even realize. So, as soon as it’s warm enough, I’m out there and in the ocean.
I also love living a beachy-sand-in-my-hair-salt-on-my-skin lifestyle in NYC because we forget that we live on an island all the time. But we do — an island in the northeast.
Best times to go
When everyone else is at work! Ha ha, weekdays are best, but if you don’t have such a flexible schedule, get out there early on Sunday, not Saturday. The earlier the better — get your choice spot on the sand!
How to get there
I usually take the A train out towards the Far Rockaways and then take the shuttle train one stop to the end, followed by a bus ride or walk out to the sand. It takes a little over an hour or so. Bring entertainment, take a nap, listen to jams; arrive on the sand fresh and stress free.
OR you can drive out there. Ideally have someone drive you. There is also a bus (the NYC Beach Bus) that leaves from Williamsburg that I’ll be investigating this year.
What to bring
Healthy nibbles! I’m vegan so I don’t do the hot dog and hamburger thing. I usually just make and bring my own seitan sandwiches and almond tuna wraps. Other food stuffs: fruit, trail mix, granola, protein bars, kombucha, whiskey (for the kombucha) and plenty of water.
…Sunblock, a towel, an umbrella, a jawbone, or quality speaker setup of some kind (good music makes friends!), something super drape-y or lightweight for chilly evening beach air. Sunglasses, but that goes without saying. And YOUR FRIENDS. You will make the best memories with your girlfriends or your boys on the beach.
Favorite beach workouts
I love to swim and all forms of water activities. I body board, and plan on learning how to surf. I leave the beach exhausted and happy from the waves crashing into me and working with them.
