As I’ve mentioned once, twice, eleventy billion times, I spent the past 30 days trying out ClassPass (for free, but they didn’t ask/require/suggest I blog about it). I really liked it and I’ve had a lot of questions about it so I figured what better way than write a super long blog post all about it? I know, genius. Long and short of it: I’m going to continue being a ClassPass member, on my own dime, starting in the middle of this month.
What is it?
ClassPass is best described as purchasing a bulk package of drop in classes for area gyms and fitness studios. At $99 a month it isn’t inexpensive, but when you compare the cost of drop in work out fees (the most expensive way to try out a gym per-class) or a monthly membership (cheaper per-class but typically more than $100 a month) for the “fancier” gyms it is a great deal. When I started it was limited to 10 “passes” a month but now it seems you get an unlimited number of classes with your monthly fee. The caveat: you can only visit one studio 3x in a month. So it can’t be used to “beat the system” on the unlimited monthly memberships at any gym. Breaking it down:
Flywheel (the spinning gym) is:
1 class = $25 for a drop in class
10 classes = $225
Unlimited monthly = $195 a month
Pure Barre (fancy barre class) is:
1 class = $23
10 classes = $200
Unlimited monthly = $225
So you can see that living in a big city with lots of fancy gyms could get really expensive really quickly. And you can see how ClassPass is a great deal, considering it is $99 for unlimited classes, and if you attend 10 classes it breaks down to $10ish a pop.
How does it work, generally speaking?
You pay your monthly fee and then you book classes! Easy peasy. You book using the ClassPass website, which was generally easy to use (and was just upgraded with some nice features for filtering and sorting classes). You can cancel any class up to 24 hours prior, but if you miss class (eep!) you are charged $20 for a no-show. I learned that try as I might, 6 am classes are not for me- one of them I missed getting to the studio in time thanks to a middle of the night road closure and missed class. Sigh. Once you book the class you get a confirmation email with any info you need about the studio- how early to show up if it is your first time, what you should or shouldn’t wear, if you need to bring a towel/water/etc. You can also directly input your class info into Google calendar in the website, which was very helpful. Oh, and the 3x per studio max includes all locations…so while Chicago has 90 bazillion Pure Barre studios, you can’t visit each one up to 3x.
What did I think?
I really liked it. I made it to 7 classes + the free opening event class…and the 3 misses (going on the assumption you have a 10 class maximium, which isn’t the case any more, but I was operating under that assumption) were avoidable. I missed one class due to traffic, one becuase I planned poorly, and one because I was spacing things out so as not to use up my 10 classes too quickly but I also wasn’t paying close attention to when my 30 days ended…oops! I tried the following:
Flywheel (2x) – Loved it! Definitely an amazing spinning workout in a very sleek atmosphere.
Go Cycle (2x) – A great spinning class, not quite as trendy as Flywheel but I almost liked it more. I took their “Go Yo” combo class- spin followed by yoga- and it was my favorite class all month.
Eb & Flow Yoga (1x)- A “moderately paced” hot yoga class that was the perfect Monday night unwind, I was surprised when the hour ended because I was enjoying it so much.
Pure Barre (2x)- I really liked Pure Barre…well sort of. I hated parts of it (you want me to plank for how long?!) but at the end I recognized it was a great work out that really felt good and cleared by head, so back I went, happily.
Bar Method (1x)- Ugh, the worst (for me) when compared to Pure Barre. Too bossy/too many corrections by the instructor made me feel dumb.
The list of studios is constantly growing and I have a long list of places to try.
The pros, in a nutshell.
I got a plethora of amazing workouts. I tried to rotate cardio with yoga and barre classes, which worked well for me. I’m glad it has become unlimited (rather than a 10 class limit) which will make coming up with a general schedule going forward (as far as picking nights/days to work out). I feel like I’m on the road to being back in shape, and mentally the time to myself was awesome. I took an early Sunday morning Flywheel class and the instructor wanted us to focus on why we woke up early and we were there. For me, I can honestly say, it was about an hour of uninterrupted alone time to just be without email or housework or errands or parenting or anything else. I know that sounds incredibly selfish but those 2-3 hours a week were just what the doctor ordered.
The gyms were all really great about giving me the quick and dirty on their method. They ask you to show up 15 minutes early for your first time to the studio, and every gym gave me a tour, explained what I needed/how to set up and followed up with me after class, making sure I didn’t have any questions. Super accomodating! There were also a lot of gyms all over the city, so it wasn’t hard to find classes near my house (North side) or downtown (where I often met friends). There are even a few studios in Evanaston and the Western ‘burbs (although not many).
The cons, in a nutshell.
I hit a few glitches along the way. The Go Cycle schedule wasn’t quite right on ClassPass so I was late for class (they were very nice about it and I think it is fixed now) which was a bummer. You also don’t get the camaraderie of “belonging” to a gym- hard to settle in and find a favorite instructor or become a regular. You probably won’t hear an instructor calling out your name to praise your awesome form or great endurance- and that is ok with me, but for some, it might be a bummer. It can also get expensive in the sense that a lot of these “specialty” gyms have special equipment (of course…) and for us city dwellers, you gotta pay to park anywhere, even a gym. Thanks to ClassPass my Amazon wish list has barre socks, a hot yoga towel with grippers to put over my yoga mat, and more work out pants. My list might be shorter than some since I already owned a yoga mat, spin shoes and spinning shorts. And speaking of spinning and cons…since each studio has their own thing, there is definitely a learning curve. At Flywheel my shoes fit in their bikes, at Go Cycle they don’t (so I have to reserve shoes). For the control freaks out there, this could be really frustrating, although over time I’m sure I’ll settle into my group of favorite studios and there won’t be more uenxpected surprises.
If you are strict about who gets your email and maintainting your inbox, it deserves to be said that each studio gets your contact info and emails you….I use “Unroll me” so I can control what I’m getting, but some people might find this annoying. I didn’t mind, especially since a lot of the studios also offered me a free class outside of ClassPass – no doubt trying to lure me into their own membership!
The biggest cons of ClassPass right now are probably the fact that it is only available in a few cities (Boston, LA, New York, Chicago and San Francisco) and they have a wait list. This is great for people who are already in- you don’t have to worry about slots filling up- but of course, waiting on the wait list is a bummer. Hopefully over time that will settle out as they continue to grow!
Transparency/Fine Print/Let Me Be Frank:
1. My Amazon links are affiliate.
2. No other links are affiliate.
3. ClassPass gave me a free month to try, and I attended their launch party, but they didn’t ask me to blog/tweet/talk about it. Oh and they sent me a 2nd tshirt after I mentioned I left the first one in a cab.
