Work Up a Sweat

This fall, kick, slither, pound and downward-dog your way to fitness.

What? Yes—if you’re bored with your usual approach to exercise, we have two things to say to you: pole dancing and kickboxing.

At the Ottawa Pole Fitness Studio on Somerset Street West, you’ll find two spacious studios outfitted with 18 poles just waiting for you to wrap your beautiful self around them.

Never fear: these classes are designed for women of all shapes and sizes, with the goal of improving muscle tone, flexibility, coordination, strength and endurance. (Anything else you may happen to learn is a bonus.) There’s no major commitment involved, as most sessions are just six weeks in length—or if you want to ‘try before you buy’, you can sign up for a workshop or organize a pole-dancing party for your next girls’ night out.

At the other end of the aggression spectrum, consider kickboxing. With several locations around the city, Douvris offers a Fitness Kickbox Bootcamp that includes kickboxing, cardio bag, and body shape. Between the three, you’ll gain endurance, muscle tone, power, strength, coordination, balance and agility. Classes are done to music and taught by martial arts instructors, and no previous experience is needed—though you will need boxing gloves and hand wraps. Ever wanted to know how to jab, cross, hook and upper-cut punch? They’ve got you covered!

For something a little more zen, try the Elation Centre in Westboro, where the focus is on women and the main activities include yoga, running and nutrition. Elation offers a variety of yoga classes, including vinyasa, family yoga, yoga with baby, runners’ yoga and—for the really busy or self-punishing among you—Powerful Woman Sunrise Yoga (5:45 am from Monday to Friday). There are also fall running classes getting underway soon for beginners, as well as for those who want to run faster or run trails—there’s even a runners’ boot camp and free running club.

Ruling out these options because your baby or toddler is still too young to be left for more than a few minutes? Don’t despair—there are brand new FITMOM Stroller classes going on now at three locations in Ottawa. Bring your baby in a carrier or stroller and get moving again. Bonus: you can sign up for a free week of classes from September 12 to 16 if you want to give it a try before committing.

No excuses now—off you go! Tested by Patti R., Ottawa

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