The haze of holiday cookies, chocolate and cheese logs has cleared, and your resolution to get in shape is gnawing at your conscience. To you, exercise is about as delightful as a root canal, but as these five picks prove, you don’t have to be that oily guy from the Bowflex commercials to enjoy working out.
Hit me
How do you get a boxer’s lean, muscled body without a black eye and toothless grin? Take Aerobox, an old-school, Rocky-style boxing class at the new Halsted Street Multiplex. Participants pair up and take turns wearing boxing gloves and punching flat mitts on their partner’s hands. The instructor also teaches fighting combinations and wheels around a heavy bag for everyone to pummel. You leave feeling empowered, tough as nails and confident you could hold your own in a bar fight. Classes are included in membership, but the gym offers a free pass if you want to try out a class. 3232 N. Halsted St. 773-755-3232.
Take off weight–and your clothes
Don’t worry. At Crunch Chicago’s Cardio Strip Tease class, there is no nudity and you won’t have to perform a lap dance for anyone. Instead you can concentrate on having fun while grinding and gyrating those pounds away. Class instructor James Bach, a card-carrying exotic dancer, teaches combinations that borrow from hip-hop and funk while incorporating sexy props like feather boas and chairs. Demi Moore wannabes generally wear three layers of clothing and strip down to shorts and a sports bra (it’s mostly women who show up, but men occasionally wander in). This is one class where you won’t mind taking your work home with you–and neither will your significant other. Crunch charges $65 to $98 per month for membership, but you can take a class and use the gym’s facilities for $24. 350 N. State St. 312-527-8100.
Don’t look down
You may not fly through the air with the greatest of ease, but you will tone your muscles on the flying trapeze. Circus performers Julio and Gloria Gaona teach a flying trapeze class for beginners at the Broadway Armory Park on Tuesdays, Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays. You’ll learn how to swing and balance on a low trapeze first, then move on to a 32-foot-high trapeze when you’re ready. Don’t worry–lines are attached to you at all times, and there’s a huge net below you. Prices range from $10 for one swing to $40 for an hour-and-a-half class to $160 for five classes. 5917 N. Broadway, 312-742-8259.
Poor man’s personal trainer
If you’re adept at dreaming up excuses to avoid working out (like watching a “Behind the Music” marathon), and you can’t afford $65 an hour for a personal trainer to whip you into shape, the Lake View YMCA’s new “Commit to be Fit” program could be just the motivation you need. Free with a $41 a month membership, this 12-week program includes four meetings with a Fit Coach. During the first meeting, you outline your goals, lifestyle and schedule, and together select a regimen that suits you. The next three meetings serve to make sure you’re still on track, and to discuss any setbacks. 3333 N. Marshfield Ave. 773-248-3333.
Om man, what a workout!
There’s a reason everyone–from patchouli-scented hippies to straight-laced CEOs–is flocking to yoga classes: They work. But if you’re still daunted by the idea of bending yourself into a pretzel while balancing on one foot, you may take a liking to one of the newest yoga styles. Forrest yoga focuses on breath work and core strengthening. But Forrest yoga, named for yoga guru Ana Forrest, is no walk in the park. “There is sweating involved,” said Steve Emmerman, an instructor at new Nirvana Yoga and Massage. “This is not a sleepy yoga.” Nirvana offers two Forrest yoga classes a week, as well as more traditional styles, including hatha, ashtanga and Kripalu. Prices range from $12-$15 for a 60- or 90-minute yoga class to $150 for unlimited monthly classes. 222 S. Morgan St. Suite 3C, 312-829-9642.
