There’s a New Free Fitness Group in Town, and It’s Hard to Explain

Cofounders Capozzi and Macken/Photo provided

URBN MVMT is hard to explain, and that’s exactly the point.

Founded by Chris Capozzi, one of the co-leaders of Boston’s November Project tribe, and Catie Macken, a local yoga and cycling instructor, URBN MVMT is part free fitness series, part social meet-up, and part city-wide exploration. But most of all, Capozzi says, it’s about breaking boundaries.

“We’re not telling you who’s going, what community is going,” he says. “My bigger vision of this is to break those sort of barriers, that, ‘I’m part of this group, I’m part of that group.’ We’re stripping away some of these facades we have about knowing what’s going on, and allowing ourselves to be in it and in the moment.”

What does that mean, exactly? Capozzi says the new series will host pop-up workouts and activities, not all fitness focused, around the city. Some will be announced 20 minutes before the start time; others will be planned well in advance. Some—like the group’s inaugural meet-up, a run and yoga event scheduled for August 7—will resemble typical free fitness programming, with a creative twist; others will be decidedly more out-there. (Capozzi mentions scaling fire escapes clad in LED lights.) All are free, all emphasize community, and all locations are given in coordinates, not street addresses, to keep people guessing.

“It’s not going to be every month, or every week, or every two weeks, it’s just going to be random,” Capozzi says. “We’re kind of disrupting the routine and disrupting the flow of the city.”

Capozzi, who will maintain his role at November Project, has lofty goals for URBN MVMT, saying it could help bring people together and see the city as a playground—all while getting fit.

“It’s what I whole-heartedly believe is good for the city,” he says.

URBN MVMT’s first event is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. on August 7. Register and learn more at eventbrite.com.