How Fashion Week models get in shape - New York Daily News

Fashion Week can't be all high heels and plunging neck lines. Sometimes a model just needs to kick some butt.

And that's where model boxing comes in. In a supersecret fashion lair (hint: it's below Coffee Shop in Union Square, but you didn't hear that from us), instructor Mateo Maldonado helps the ladies of the catwalk get mean and lean.

"My arms are still shaking," said model Nova Malanova, 20, after a recent class. "Usually I take a dance class, and I think boxing is for men. But it's great when girls have some power."

The boxing class is hosted by Modellounge X Microsoft, the city's best looking professional club, thanks to its exclusive membership. Not only do you have to be a model to get in, but you have to be a model with representation from a top 10 agency.

At the lounge, models can get a massage, make international calls to families back home, get snacks and (nonalcoholic) drinks, and even borrow shoes, all for free.

The boxing class is presented by Gotham Gym and is new for this year. It aims to help get the girls in shape for the rigors of Fashion Week.

And it’s a subtle answer to a recent comment by Olympic skier (and full-figured model) Lindsey Vonn, who slammed stick-thin fashion mannequins as “unhealthy.”

“We do kickboxing," said model Tatjana Sinkevica, 28. "It's a great fitness workout.”

A Daily News reporter who joined a recent class was the only guy (and only non-model) and the least attractive in Spandex. But that didn’t matter, as the class began and Maldonado ordered everyone to chase each other around a big circle.

Next, we did some hops and squats, and then carried each other around wheelbarrow style. And that was just the warm-up.

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Finally, we strapped on our boxing gloves and Maldonado led us through a few basic left-right combos.

Students in his regular boxing class at Gotham Gym would use punching bags and do pad work. But for a group of models more accustomed to a stylist's chair than a corner stool, Maldonado kept the class simple and we focused only on punching each other's gloves.

Yet as my arms and hands began to ache, I learned an important lesson - don't underestimate the force of model's punch.

"You don't want to come up to me in a dark alley,” said Jelena Salikova, 23.

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