The first half of my summer was insanely fantastic and crazy fun: I was in India, visiting my family, and in full swing of celebrating my brother’s wedding. But that second half? Let’s just say doom-scrolling on TikTok was getting old, really fast.
It was around that time my friend sent me a referral link to an app called ClassPass. According to the official ClassPass website, the app “gives you worldwide access to thousands of top-rated gyms, fitness studios, salons, and spas, so OBVIOUSLY I was intrigued and soon signed up. That led to a fun fitness-filled two weeks, about which I’m gonna share with you!
Let me really quickly break down how the whole thing works. Basically upon signing up, you are given a certain number of credits for free. Since I signed up using a referral code, I was given an extra amount of credits, which totaled 58 credits. The catch is, that you have to use those credits within two weeks of signing up, or else they’ll expire.
On the app, you’ll find different classes across all sorts of different studios and workout types. Classes can be worth anywhere from two to eleven credits, but from what I saw, four to six was normal. So when you book a class, that number of credits is deducted from your account. Something important to note is you can’t try the same studio twice, since they want you to try a bunch of different places. But different branches of the same company are fair game. So, that’s the crash course on how ClassPass works.
In that two-week period, I was able to try twelve classes, with two credits left over! So this is my unfiltered and unaffiliated experience with the different classes I took, divided up by Workout Type:
Reformer Pilates/Lagree:
Even if I didn’t get to try anything else, just being introduced to Reformer Pilates made this entire free trial worth it. I visited 3 studios for Pilates Classes, and all of them were AMAZING. Reformer Pilates was unlike anything I had ever done. The strength and control you need to have while working out on the machine – which speaking of the machine, is so much fun – took me back feeling like a child on the playground. But don’t underestimate the amount you will sweat. It’s a total body workout, allowing you to isolate and work certain muscles and end with an amazing stretch. Lagree is a specific type of workout, similar to reformer pilates, but uses a MegaFormer, and is far more intense and sweat-inducing. This was my all-time favorite workout and I am so happy that I got that chance to try it. I am definitely a Pilates Princess.
Cardio/HIIT/Circuit:
I’m a cardio junkie so a HIIT class is right up my alley. The 45 minutes of pure, brutal cardio, left me exhausted but so incredibly satisfied. She led us through a series of moves, where in between each round of exercise there was a 30-second all-out cardio movement, which was the real gotcha of the whole class. Overall it was a smashing success. I also tried two other places where the workout was at intervals across different machines. One place was a split of 20 minutes on a cycle, 20 strength training, and a 20-minute yoga flow. The other was 6 rounds alternating between the treadmill, strength training, and the rowing machine. Both of these were so impressive, the latter being one of my favorites from the whole two weeks! These types of workout are especially remarkable cause it doesn’t let your mind get bored and stuck on one thing.
TRX:
TRX is a set of suspension ropes that you use with your body weight to strengthen your form and muscles, increasing your balance and flexibility. While it wasn’t my favorite of the classes, it was definitely fun to try out, and taught me how much I need to work on my core balance! You definitely should try it at least once!
CrossFit:
Early on, I tried a CrossFit class, and the community feel was unbelievable. The instructor asked me to stay up front and helped me through all the exercises and circuits, and the more experienced people came and gave me a fist bump after class, which was so sweet of them, especially since I was a newcomer. The workout was incredible and unassumingly intense. I worked super hard through it and my Apple watch definitely displayed that at the end!
Barre:
This was actually the first type of workout class I tried, and I visited another studio as well. I’m new to Barre, but really enjoyed myself. It was a circuit of moments, with small isolated movements, that would BURN. We used small weights that were ~2 to 3 pounds, a resistance band, and a small ball. I was actually so sore the next day. Between this and pilates I was reminded that cardio isn’t the only way to get an intense workout.
Boxing:
Yet another workout I hadn’t tried before but left LOVING!! Boxing was so much fun, the loud music, dark room with flashy lights, and a motivating instructor made for such a mind-blowing workout. We alternated between a round of cardio/weights and a round of boxing twice. It was a killer workout, and I loved that it wasn’t just boxing the whole time, the cardio and weights sections were the perfect complement to the boxing rounds. I’d take away a few points because they didn’t tell us we needed to purchase wraps and rent gloves, but other than that, it was the perfect way to kickstart my Sunday.
Cycle:
My final class actually was a Cycling Class, and – a recurring theme – I had never been to a cycling studio before. However, let me tell you: It is HYPE in there. The energy of the class and the instructor was infectious. The particular place I went to felt like such a community, with class milestone shout-outs and they even decorated the locker I was using for my stuff. The workout itself was phenomenal and an insane calorie burn. I would definitely love to go back!
Let’s Wrap it Up:
This article was absolutely on the longer side, so if you made it this far, thank you!
ClassPass for me was incredibly worth it for me. As a college student on a budget I tried to make the most of it by trying so many different types of workouts, a few I’d never even heard of before! If you live in or near a big city – for me it was Austin – versus smaller towns, the downtown areas in the bigger cities have many studios you’ll be able to try through the app. I also went to many of these classes with a friend also using the app, so that made it undoubtedly more fun and way less intimidating. Also, always read the parking instructions and the description for first-timers cause many times it would have important information like waivers or necessary information. Also, even after my trial was up, it inspired me to find studios around town that offered discounted or free first classes and try those out as well. So I totally am on board with the ClassPass free trial and I hope you found this article about my experience with it helpful!