New Orleans Athletic Club

Mens Sana in Corpore Sano.

In English, this means “ a healthy mind will exist in a healthy body”. In the French Quarter, this motto has been employed since 1872 at the iconic New Orleans Athletic Club.

Such concepts were fleeting when young gymnast J.G. Aleix was struck with the vision of bringing physical fitness to the masses in the 19th century. What first began as a club in his backyard blossomed into a serious industry in the heart of New Orleans, and the club has not slowed down since. In a world of mass produced gyms, where the spandex is neon, the music is loud and monotonous, and the treadmills are stacked in organized rows like cattle, the New Orleans Athletic Club is a charming aesthetic coated in a rich heritage. Equal parts Victorian mansion, old time social club and fitness bastion, the club is a throwback; carpeted floors, chandeliers, massive steel grated fans. Inside the walls, one can box in the same ring that trained John L. Sullivan, swim in the old saltwater pool once shared by Johnny Weismuller, practice skills on the hardwood John Havlicek roamed, and shadow the paces walked by Clark Gable and Tennessee Williams.

Amenities such as a barbershop and a library are offered, a welcomed reprieve from the tanning beds and smoothie shops typically found in modern fitness centers. And true to NOLA style, a fully functioning and thriving saloon lies adjacent to the weight room.Perhaps such an idea would never float in any other city in the country, but since it is New Orleans, it cannot help but feel right.

In the middle of the Earthly home of debauchery and sinfully delicious imbibement, an oasis stands, waiting to help us sweat it out and live another day. And that refuge from insanity can only be the New Orleans Athletic Club.