Platoon Comes to Center City

Platoon's new location at 8th and Walnut.

I had the chance to train at Platoon Fitness‘ new location at 8th and Walnut Monday night. This is Platoon’s first city location and, unlike the Bryn Mawr location (they’ve been shaping up Main Liners with bootcamp-like workouts—most of them held outside, rain or shine—for the past 15 years), it will be used exclusively for personal training. So no classes and no walk-ins, but lots of serious, get-your-butt-kicked, one-on-one sessions. Mike Smaltz, a personal trainer for the past 20 years, took me through a great, 60-minute session that incorporated everything from the row machine and jump rope to kettlebells and gymnastic rings. While they opened softly in February, the grand opening will be this May. “We’re waiting on treadmills and some other equipment,” Smaltz told me. “Oh yeah, and a rock wall. I can’t wait to train clients on that.”