Ruth Zukerman is co-founder of

indoor cycling Indoor cycling, often called spinning, is a form of exercise with classes focusing on endurance, strength, intervals, high intensity (race days) and recovery, and involves using a special stationary exercise bicycle with a weighted flywheel in a c ...

businesses

SoulCycle SoulCycle is a fitness company owned by Equinox Group which offers indoor cycling and spinning workout classes. It was founded in 2006, and has operations in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom. In early 2020, before the COVID-19 ...

and Flywheel Sports.

Early life

Zukerman grew up in

Roslyn, New York Roslyn ( ) is a village in the Town of North Hempstead in Nassau County, on the North Shore of Long Island, in New York, United States. It is the Greater Roslyn area's anchor community. The population was 2,770 at the 2010 census. History Ros ...

to a family of Polish, Russian, and German-Jewish heritage. Her father was a physician and her mother a psychotherapist. She was a cheerleader and dancer in school, and majored in dance at Mount Holyoke College. After a few years trying to find dance work in New York City, she decided to give it up. In the early 1980s, she was offered a job teaching

aerobics Aerobics is a form of physical exercise that combines rhythmic aerobic exercise with stretching and strength training routines with the goal of improving all elements of fitness ( flexibility, muscular strength, and cardio-vascular fitness). ...

on the

Upper West Side The Upper West Side (UWS) is a neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan in New York City. It is bounded by Central Park on the east, the Hudson River on the west, West 59th Street to the south, and West 110th Street to the north. The Upper West ...

of Manhattan. Years later, after a divorce in 1996, she was introduced to spin classes. She was drawn to physical and mental aspects of the exercise, which she credits in helping her through the time of the divorce. When her instructor moved away she took up teaching at the

Reebok Reebok International Limited () is an American fitness footwear and clothing manufacturer that is a part of Authentic Brands Group. It was established in England in 1958 as a companion company to J.W. Foster and Sons, a sporting goods company ...

gym, where she worked for five years.

SoulCycle

While teaching at Zonehampton,

Elizabeth Cutler Elizabeth or Elisabeth may refer to: People * Elizabeth (given name), a female given name (including people with that name) * Elizabeth (biblical figure), mother of John the Baptist Ships * HMS ''Elizabeth'', several ships * ''Elisabeth'' (s ...

met Zukerman and followed her to Reebok to propose opening a boutique spin studio based on her method of teaching, asking her to be the face of the business.

Julie Rice Julie Rice in an entrepreneur, investor and co-founder of SoulCycle, a New York City-based fitness company that offers indoor cycling (also known as " spinning") workout classes. Personal life Rice studied English and theater at Binghamton Uni ...

, also one of her riders and a friend, became the third co-founder upon Zukerman's suggestion. SoulCycle opened its first studio in 2006 on Manhattan's Upper West Side.

Flywheel Sports

In 2009, Zukerman left SoulCycle to start Flywheel Sports with Jay Galuzzo and David Seldin. Flywheel opened in 2010. The companies are now competitors, with different marketing strategies, styles, and use of technology. In December 2018, Zukerman left Flywheel Sports.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zukerman, Ruth Living people American Jews People from Roslyn, New York Exercise instructors Creative directors American women in business Year of birth missing (living people) Mount Holyoke College alumni 21st-century American women