Getting a Move On

Even if it wasn’t one of your New Year’s resolutions, moving around is never a bad idea. One of the big problems we have is gym memberships can be expensive, and frankly we have such issues with commitment that getting locked into anything for a year is a frightening prospect. So we thought we’d look around for some cheap, noncommittal ways to get active; free is best, but the occasional class shouldn’t break the bank.

Sweat Fitness Club (700 E. Passyunk Ave.) hosts a free PNF stretching class every third Thursday from 8-9PM; you need to register at 215-351-1603. If you can get over there tonight, there’s a free session called “Five Secrets to Permanent Weight Loss” with local wellness practitioner Scott Yorker—sounds strangely diet-like to us, but you can get in there and scope the place out from 8-9PM. If you’d like to give it a try, you can sign up for a free one-day pass. Pretty much any large area gym offers a trial run; if it’s not obvious from their website, just ring them up.

Philly.com offers a “Get in Shape for Winter” workout to get your body ready for the special rigors of the season. It didn’t occur to us that you could prepare for snow shoveling… well, actually, it did occur to us, but we’re in denial that such a thing as “snow” happens here. We can think of some folks who might want to check it out…

If yoga is your thing, Maryte Curran leads a weekly class on Mondays at 7PM featuring guided meditation in addition to your downward facing dog at the Rotunda (4014 Walnut) for $10. If you’re a curvy girl and prefer a more cardio-centric approach, try one of the Curvy Girl Workouts, a Core Cardio Thursdays at 7:15PM at Vitality Fitness Center for Women (2439 S Broad St) for $6 a pop. There’s also a low impact class on Mondays, also at Vitality, at 7PM, also $6. The February calendar isn’t up yet, but those days usually stay the same month to month.

Dance is one of the best forms of exercise, and you can get your fix at the Koresh School of Dance for $15 a class. They offer choices like Beginner Tap, Intro to Hip Hop, and Afro Modern for all levels, with something going on nearly every day of the week. If you have some ballet experience, you can check out free open classes being held this weekend at The Rebecca Davis Dance Company (1802 S. Broad), Saturday and Sunday from 10:30AM-12PM.

For less structured activities (which we commitment-phobes are fond of), take a walk. Schuylkill Banks is really a pleasant place to stroll, as is of course Fairmont Park (they’ll help you get out of hibernation in March). You could even take the old roller blades with you if you need more excitement. You can take a run with Back On My Feet running club. While it’s still chilly, check out the Blue Cross RiverRink, which will set you back $9 with skate rental (you can get a coupon here). Coming up in the spring are opportunities to volunteer with local organizations to help them garden—which is surprisingly rigorous work. If you’d rather just look, thanks, check out the Morris Arboretum, the Scott Arboretum of Swarthmore College, or Longwood Gardens for a leisurely walkabout.

We can't even guess how much we've missed. Let us know in the comments.

Image Credit: Flickr user d_vdm