Work It - A Guide to Women's Fitness in Colorado

Working Out is a Lifestyle Choice

I started running because I hated it… Actually, that isn’t true, I started running because I had to get out my aggression over a breakup.  There, I said it. 

When I noticed that running started to improve my aggressive mental state (and my backside), I started getting addicted to working out.  Actually, that isn’t true either.  I got addicted to working out in a certain gym because there was this nice-looking fella who would go to the gym around the same time as me. What?  It was a nice distraction and helped the time go faster! Plus, I heard he was in a band.

My Best Workout Advice: Make working out part of your daily lifestyle.

Workout Style: Cheap-O

Outside is free, but when outside doesn’t give you what you crave, try these sneaky tricks to almost free gym sessions.

- 24 Hour Fitness will give you a pass for a free two-week trial if you have never been a member of the club before.  You just have to suffer through an annoying tour and chit-chatting with a rep for about twenty minutes. NOTE: Never give them your real contact information or they will hound you.
- Metro State University offers free movement classes on the main campus at the St. Francis Atrium. Shimmy on over for the yoga, Nia, African Dance, or belly dancing classes, as well as other out-of-the-norm classes that might excite you in the middle of the workweek.  
- Lululemon Athletica in Boulder offers a free yoga class every Sunday morning at 9:30am. The top-of-the-line yoga clothing store pushes their pricey spandex toward the back of the room and opens up the space for a free guided morning salutation. Note: Leave as soon as the class ends and don’t look back… This store makes any tush look good in spandex… Their prices on the other hand are not so appealing. 
- City Recreational Facilities are always cheap for a one-time visit and they usually have a killer pool with slides and floating tubes. Note: Locker room has a lot of younger girls that like to stare at your body and ask you about certain things. Beware.

- City Living sometimes offers the opportunity of a small gym in condo buildings. If your condo does not have a little workout room, have your friend buzz you in to their building and just be friendly to all the people you see…so they don’t get suspicious.

- Hotel Hoping might seem a bit risky, but it will give you the best adrenaline rush. Just walk into the hotel as if you are staying there, go to the floor with the workout facilities and have someone else let you in.  You will never be the only one in the hotel workout room, so just act a little airy and pretend like you totally forgot your key. Note: Don’t leave to use the bathroom, you might risk not getting back inside if nobody is in the gym when you return.

Workout Style: Some Like it Hot

I am woman, hear me ROAR! These workout suggestions are a sure way to raise your heart rate and your sex appeal.

Workout Style: Zen

Nothing looks sexier then a person in spandex doing downward facing dog, just make sure your spandex aren’t old and end up being see-through when you bend over… Not that I had that experience a few years ago or anything.

Workout Style: Gym Rats

Listen, nothing beats being outside in the open and clean air… Running through perfect neighborhoods with kids playing in their front yard, and men in spandex passing you by on their road bike… but we don’t all live in Boulder.

In the winter months, when Mayor Hickenlooper’s snow plows seem to have missed my neighborhood streets, and the cold winter air makes it difficult to breath through my nose, I head to the comfort of a warm sweaty gym, where pick-up lines usually sound a little like this, “Are you training for something?”

Workout Style: All-Natural

March on out your front door and workout with your annoying neighbor… It will help you run faster.