Coastal Fitness

Coastal Fitness in Kittery serves Maine’s southernmost town, directly across the Piscataqua from Portsmouth, New Hampshire.

Kittery was the first town incorporated in Maine, in 1647, and holds the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard — which despite the name sits on the Maine side of the river, on Seavey Island. The yard has built and serviced submarines since 1800 and remains the oldest continuously operating shipyard in the US Navy.

The town is also known for its outlet stores along Route 1, which draw traffic from both states, and for Fort Foster and the Nubble Light a few miles up the coast in York.

Gym saunas are how most people first encounter heat practice. They are rarely well specified, and almost none permit water on the stones. What they offer is proximity, and proximity is what produces the frequency that makes the practice work at all.

The Atlantic here stays cold year-round — below 60°F even at the height of summer — which supplies the contrast half free.

Access generally requires membership; ask about day rates.

Kittery’s outlet strip along Route 1 and the working shipyard give the town a mix of commerce and industry unusual for a place of eleven thousand people.