Barre3 in Georgetown, Washington, DC
By now I'm sure you've heard about ClassPass! For $79 a month you can take unlimited yoga, cycling, barre, pilates, strength training, boot camp, dance, etc. Most places don't have any type of commitment so you can cancel as needed. Basically, you can design your work out schedule around your life! You can try a new studio every day or take up to 3 classes a month at the same studio.
It is incredibly easy to sign up for classes through ClassPass. You can narrow your search results by studio type or location and then filter out to your desired time. Then you simply click "reserve" and you're good to go! Most places you can book a week in advance so I would "heart" (aka favorite) my local studios or places I wanted to try and then Monday morning of each week I would create my schedule and export the times into my google calendar.
Biker Barre in Eastern Market, Washington, DC
I've never been a big gym rat… I get really anxious walking into a massive gym and not knowing where to go or which treadmill I should go on so I prefer classes. You can follow the group and get the lay of the land a lot quicker with a small studio ;) ClassPass was the BEST way to get me excited about my workout after sitting in a chair working all day! The excitement of knowing how easy it was to book a class and try something new truly was motivation enough to overcome my fears.
I was lucky to be able to try out ClassPass with my blogger bestie Kristyn from Primp & Proper! I can't tell you how comforting it was to know that she had the same anxieties I did about working out! When we walked into Biker Barre together it was an instant "okay let's go to the way back" but we were good and decided to go for the middle back hehe. I was worried about not begin able to see (most cycling classes are dark - you SoulCycle obsessed ladies know this)!
Some tips for first timers:
1 // Grab a friend - they will hold you accountable
and not let you back out. Plus if you get red in the face (cough cough me
cough) they will be there to laugh with you and if you're lucky, get red in the
face too!
2 // Go early - scope the place
out and get a feel for the studio. Ask someone to show you where the restrooms
are and where to put your things.
Most of the studios I went to in DC were pretty small so it was easy to
get a quick feel for things.
3 // Stick with a schedule – even
if you go with a friend hold yourself accountable as well. It sounds super cliché
but I felt so much better with myself after going to 2 classes a week. I set
that as a minimum for myself (hello, bikini season) and then would add on other
classes as I had free time open up.
4 // Pack a bag before – If you
bring your workout clothes to work you have no excuse to go home and bail. If I
go home to change before a class I always
end up sitting on the sofa or doing something around the house and just decide
to not go out. Bring your shoes, yoga pants, socks, etc. and you can head
straight to the studio (since you want to be early anyways!). A couple of times
I was able to walk around a new neighborhood and explore things!
5 // Bring your own water bottle –
This goes without saying but you don’t want to be stuck in a cycling class sans
water, dying, and have to run out for a little paper cup of water. Worse yet,
you don’t want to pay $3 for water. No thanks!
Yoga Del Sol in Georgetown, Washington, DC - image found here
I had a pretty busy April but was
still able to squeeze a decent amount of new classes in. My top three favorites
were Barre3 (barre), Biker Barre (cycling), and Yoga del Sol (yoga). Having so many options all over DC
was truly the icing on the cake. I was able to pick classes that were within
walking distance of my office or house! I found myself excited for the next
class and looking forward to trying something new.
I’m looking forward to signing up
for another month of ClassPass but I must admit I’m truly partial to Barre3 in
Georgetown. I really fell in love with the studio and how great I felt after a
barre workout (I know all you barre ladies are agreeing with me).
Be sure to head to Kristyn’s blog
to see her tips and hear about her experience :)
Love Always,
This sounds like such a cool program! I usually just run to stay in shape, but I've always wanted to try out a dance class or kickboxing. I feel like if I had the class pass, I'd have a valid reason to do that.
ReplyDeleteRunning Alyssa