Get fit: Your guide to working out in the Queen City
By Alicia Thomas
Pilates class-goers share a laugh while working their cores.
Courtney Perry
Charlotte Observer file photo
In case you haven’t noticed, Charlotte is an active city. One with an affinity for food and breweries (and thus, for brewery fitness), but an active city nonetheless.
On any given day, you can find thousands of people walking, biking or running on the city’s greenways, gathering for outdoor yoga, and sweating their way through CrossFit or bootcamp-style classes. And it feels like new fitness studios are popping up around the city every week.
Whether you’re new in town and looking to get involved in Charlotte’s fitness scene, you’ve lived here forever and just want to try something new, or you’re a total beginner who isn’t sure where to begin, we’ve got you covered.
This guide is just a small sampling of the wide array of the fitness options you can explore in the city. Happy sweating!
One of the newest fitness facilities in South End, Urban MVMNT offers a variety of group fitness classes in a fun, friendly environment. Bonus: the gym’s facility is also home to spin studio called Ride or Die and a coffee shop called South End Grind.
Cost: Individual class $25. Monthly plans starting at $150.
In its own words, this studio combines “the intensity of a CrossFit workout, the controlled movements of Yoga and Pilates with the cardio-strength from the Lagree Fitness™ Method to form the most innovative approach to full body conditioning.”
Core•ology offers full-body conditioning classes. Charlotte Observer file photo
Cost: Individual class $25. Monthly plans starting at $85.
HSM has a huge following in Charlotte – and for good reason. This studio promises to “sculpt and tone your entire body in 60 minutes or less” for a total transformation of both mind and body.
Cost: Individual class $27. Monthly plan $300.
Hilliard Studio Method promises to “sculpt and tone your entire body in 60 minutes or less.” Courtesy of Hillard Studio Method
CrossFit Mecklenburg has a talented team of coaches ready to help you identify and meet your fitness goals. Bonus: It has a two-tap kegerator in the gym for you to enjoy after your workout of the day!
Regardless of your current fitness level, Reebok CrossFit Charlotte Uptown wants to work with you to not just meet your fitness goals, but to exceed them. (And yes, this gym is sponsored by Reebok).
STAX is best known for its free bootcamp, offered every Tuesday and Thursday at 6:30 p.m., where more than 100 people meet to get fit together. But STAX also offers bootcamp classes throughout the rest of the week, along with CrossFit classes, cycling, yoga, and cryotherapy.
Cost: Free Tuesday and Thursday at 6:30 p.m. Individual sessions as low as $20. Monthly plans starting at $145.
Former NFL star Randy Moss, left, leaps over fellow participants at STAX. Diedra Laird dlaird@charlotteobserver.com
If you’re in a fitness rut or a fitness-newbie unsure where to start, this six-week bootcamp program could be for you. This program is particularly ideal for those who work best in a group fitness setting.
With focuses on strength, conditioning, and nutrition, Body Upgrade Fitness (BUF) Bootcamp classes are created to help you achieve your unique health and fitness goals – whether that means weight loss, toning, or improved performance.
Offering 45-minute cycling classes that are both high-energy and therapeutic, CycleSouth’s goal is for you to leave each workout feeling emotionally and physically lighter and stronger. This Uptown studio focuses on pairing music with your ride to keep you focused on individual challenges from one song to the next.
Cost: Individual ride $23. Monthly plans starting at $69.
An indoor cycling studio first and foremost, First Wind offers a few different options. You can do “The Ride,” a straight 50-minute cycling class. You can also “Ride to the Barre” (half cycling, half barre) or “Ride to the Circuit” (half cycling, half circuit-training).
Cost: Individual ride $20. Monthly plans starting at $145.
First Wind Cycling & Fitness offers options that mix cycling with barre or circuit training. Photo courtesy of First Wind Cycling & Fitness
From “Morning Grind” to “Happy Hour” rides, Just Cycle offers a variety of 45-minute rides to start and end your day right. Expect to hear a wide variety of music, ranging from hip-hop to alternative to reggae and beyond.
Cost: Individual ride $20. Monthly plans starting at $90.
With locations in Charlotte, Cornelius and Huntersville, RockBox Fitness offers one-hour workouts that incorporate not just kicking and punching bags, but also functional training exercises to work every part of your body.
Cost: Individual class $22. Monthly plans starting at $69.
In its own words, the goal of Dyme Boxing & Fitness is “to provide members with the skills of a professional boxer, while focusing on the importance and benefits of fitness.” In addition to boxing with Dyme, members also have access to the full-service gym within their facility.
This fast-paced kickboxing gym wants to help you “take back your body” with one-hour fitness kickboxing classes that incorporate cardio, strength training, flexibility and agility for a true whole-body workout.
Cost: $49.99 initiation fee. Monthly plans starting at $69.
1730 E. Woodlawn Road, Charlotte, 704-665-9003; 1430 Winnifred St. , Charlotte, 980-335-1136. charlotteyoga.com.
Charlotte Yoga has two locations (one in Park Towne, one in South End) that both offer yoga classes that follow the Hatha yoga tradition, placing emphasis on the breath, as well as a strong asana practice.
Cost: Individual class $20. Monthly plans starting at $119.
As the name implies, you can find this small, cozy studio in the heart of NoDa, right above Cabo Fish Taco. Though they specialize in gentle, beginner and yin yoga flows, NoDa Yoga offers a variety of classes to choose from, including power yoga and traditional vinyasa flows.
Cost: Individual class $16. Monthly plans starting at $110.
2230 Park Road, Charlotte, 704-900-5089; 1318 Central Ave., Charlotte, 704-332-9911. www.y1now.com.
Yoga One classes are heated (95+ degrees, to be precise) and the studio focuses primarily on power flows to strengthen and tone your body. You can check out their studio in Dilworth or in Plaza Midwood for the same vigorous experience.
Cost: Individual class $18/Monthly plans starting at $110
This boutique fitness studio hosts barre fusion classes. Barre fusion is “a calorie burning, fat blasting workout designed to strengthen and tone muscles, sculpt arms, legs and abdominals as well as lift the butt.“
This certified Pilates studio in South End offers group classes as well as private instruction. Located in a 3,000 square-foot, multi level studio in Atherton Lofts, the facility is beautiful, featuring exposed brick, high ceilings, natural light and original hardwood floors.
Cost: Individual class $18. Monthly plans starting at $80.
This unique fitness studio offers “pilates reinvented, re-choreographed, and reconstructed to include other physical disciplines” personalized to meet the needs of anyone from fitness newbies to seasoned pilates athletes.
Cost: Individual class $15. Monthly plans starting at $195.
As the name implies, this pilates studio will definitely work your core. ABsolute Pilates has provided premier pilates, gyrotonic and core barre classes in the South Park community for more than 15 years.
Cost: Individual class $36. Monthly plans starting at $600.
This aptly named Plaza Midwood studio’s goal is simply to get you moving. Move Studio offers adult dance classes ranging from ballet to jazz to hip-hop and beyond – in addition to pilates, core barre, yoga and more.
This studio wants to help you rediscover your love of dance with a variety of dance and fitness classes for beginners and professionals alike. Classes are taught in a non-intimidating environment and include ballet, contemporary, hip hop, jazz and modern dance.
With locations throughout North Carolina, Carolina Dance Capital’s goal is to “inspire, motivate, and enrich” their students through the art of dance. This studio is welcoming of all skill levels and offers ballet, jazz, hip-hop, lyrical, and belly dance classes.
Aerial silks aren’t just for performances. AIR Charlotte offers a variety of aerial fitness classes that fuse elements of conditioning, Pilates, ballet and HIIT (high intensity interval training) on aerial hammocks. If you’re looking for a new, unique fitness challenge, you can check out their South Park or Myers Park locations.
Cost: Individual class $30. Monthly plans starting at $160.
801 N. Tryon St., Charlotte; 311 S. Polk St., Pineville. www.aerialclt.com. 980-292-1593.
Want to learn a new artform while getting a workout? AerialCLT can fill all your aerialist needs. Choose from silks, trapeze or hoop – or all three. No experience needed. Start with the $120 eight-week intro course or drop into a fundamentals class to try it out.
Cost: $25 for a drop-in class. $150 for unlimited monthly pass.
Aerial CLT offers classes with silks, trapeze and hoops. Photo courtesy of AerialCLT
Inner Peaks Climbing
2220 S. Tryon St., Charlotte, 980-242-3244; 9535 Monroe Road Ste. 170, Charlotte, 704-844-6677. http://www.innerpeaks.com/.
Inner Peaks has two state-of-the-art climbing gyms in Charlotte (one in South End, one in Crown Point) where you can get in a full climbing workout, on your own or in a group. Both gyms also offer once-a-week yoga classes to members to supplement your climbing workouts.
Cost: Individual day pass $18. Monthly plan $69.
Brewery Fitness
Did you know that there are more than 85 fitness activities happening at breweries and other beer-serving locations around Charlotte every single week? It’s true. You can find yoga classes, run clubs, bike rides, bootcamps, and dance classes going on at your favorite local breweries any given day of the week, and the workouts are usually extremely inexpensive to attend.
If this sounds like something you want to try out, be sure to check out WorkForYourBeer.com. We created a master calendar of all of these “beer fitness” classes so you can find them by day of the week, a map so you can look them by neighborhood in Charlotte, and individual pages for each workout so you can look them up by type of activity.
