Fitness at your fingertips: Free classes in your city

For busy, cash-strapped young people, a gym membership can feel like a luxury. Not only is your precious time consumed by work, school, relationships (and the list goes on), but also, who can afford spending upwards of $80 per month on a gym membership? Not I.

Luckily my status as a graduate student and full-time employee of Emerson College grants me free fitness center privileges on campus. Obviously, this is amazing; but sometimes I miss being able to take classes not available at my gym (like most college campuses, the gym is pretty much a ghost town during the summer when the majority of students are gone, and no classes are held).

Charles River Esplanade
Image Source: Wikimedia Commons

That’s why I was pleasantly surprised to discover that the Esplanade Association (TEA) of Boston runs a program of free fitness classes over the summer called Healthy, Fit & Fun. Designed with working professionals in mind, most classes are scheduled after the workday, at 6:00 or 6:30 p.m. (with the exception of Fridays, on which the class takes place at 9:30 a.m.). They’ve got a running group, Zumba, yoga, and even a boot camp class. Did I mention this was free?

All the classes meet at locations on the Charles River Esplanade, and are sponsored by local gyms and athletic clubs. Don't live in Boston? Other cities offer similar programs; for example, there's also Shape Up NYC. Your city's parks and recreation department's website should list classes available near you.

Boot camp after work on Thursday evenings? Yes, please. Because nothing is more stress reducing than working out along the lovely Charles as a drill instructor barks orders at you.