Interesting article from RACKED.com that is promoting the virtue of Big Box fitness clubs - while recognizing how the boutique studios have been getting all the press and recognition over the past few years.
Do Classes at Regular Gyms Hold Up Against Boutique Fitness?
If you own your own spin shoes, are constantly laundering leggings, and have downloaded the Mindbody app to your iPhone, odds are you're in deep with fancy fitness – and have the scary credit card bills to prove it. Boutique exercise is eating our budgets alive like bottles of wine at mid-week dinners used to (before socializing and sweating came hand-in-hand), and it's crazy how it got away from us so easily.
Those who aren't math-inclined might view the all-inclusive Classpass buffet and studio bulk-class deals as a free-for-all, but the truth is that it's costing you $1,500 a year at the very least. And that's without the occasional full-priced SoulCycle class and unavoidable last-minute cancellation fees.
But what if we told you there was a glorious place that had enough classes to keep your newly athletic heart content, not to mention showers aplenty, shiny equipment, and towels free of charge? It's the place you left in the cold the second spin studios started popping up on every corner –€” your good ol' neighborhood gym. So, we asked ourselves a newfangled question: Are we all out of our minds for spending this much money to take these fitness classes when we could have them for so much less?
Like the random Pilates mat class you went to near your office and hated, not all New York gyms are created equal, so we dove in first-hand to see if we're all fooling ourselves with the studio experience, and whether hitting the same gym classes on the regular – more than the three times Classpass would let you –€” could get you just as fit (and having just as much fun) as all our beloved bourgeois boutique spots.
While visiting four of New York's biggest power players, we learned a lot. Generally speaking, gym classes feel short compared to boutique fitness, and we've been battling for a spot in class sign-ups or in the second row with more vigor than necessary. Gyms have less competitive crowds and have embraced advanced sign-ups, too – even holding spots for spontaneous members who stroll in minutes before the start time. Trading in the complimentary rose water face cleanser for padlocks and crowds of people wasn't easy, though. Fingers crossed that we can hopefully save you from sweating your account balance instead of your workout in 2016.
So ... do your Big Box class stack up with the boutique studio down the street?
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