New year, new you! And new opportunity to hit the ground running. Even if you’re taking a slow and steady start to the year when it comes to fitness and health, you have 365 days to do whatever you set your mind to. Want some suggestions? I gotchu.

For most of these ideas, you have the option to use ClassPass to accomplish your goal. BTW: It’s completely free to try ClassPass for A FULL MONTH (limited time deal). Click here to try it out! (ClassPass Partner Link)

1. Branch out from your hood.

OK, I’m so so guilty of operating exclusively in a shrinking radius of 2 miles. Seriously, I do not leave my neighborhood and if I do, I’m so proud of myself. It’s so dumb! There’s so much of Houston to enjoy and explore (in general but also in terms of fitness!) — I’m going to try to make it a goal to touch more corners of Houston and find more studios that I frequent regularly. My plan is to essentially open up my ClassPass app, zoom out and start tapping away until I find a cool class outside of my lil neck of the woods. Some studios that are catching my eyes:

• DUO Coffee & Pilates
• SWEAT – River Oaks
• SPENGA – Tanglewood

2. Do a workout you’ve never done before.

On the theme of branching out… I need to admit I’m in a bit of a rut. I do three workouts on repeat — Pilates, Rowing, and Spin. I also stay in the same rotation of studios for those too. There’s a lot of pros to this — I get to track my progress a bit better than if I keep consistent with the type of workouts I’m doing, but I could also get a little too comfy.

I wrote a whole blog post on where to find off-the-beaten-path types of workouts, and you can find that post here! But to summarize:

• Versaclimber
  • HIP Fitness in the Texas Medical Center/West University area has 30-min HIP Climb classes for about 6 credits or so
  • Fyre Fitness in the Heights area has 30-min VERSA classes as well as 50-minute LIIT classes that incorporate lagree and versa.

• Rowing
  • Crew Fitness in the Heights (love them lots!) has rowing and strength training classes for 3-5 credits on average.
  • Row House in Bellaire has rowing and strength training classes for 3-5 credits on average.

• Bouncing
  • Define in River Oaks has bounce classes for 4 credits.
  • Motiv Fitness in Tanglewood has jump classes for 3 credits.

• Dancing
  • Dance House Fitness in the Heights has a great selection of classes (different levels and styles) for 4-6 credits.
  • Motiv Fitness in West University has a 60-minute dance cardio class for 6 credits.

• Stretching
  • REACH stretch studios (multiple locations) has recovery and assisted stretch classes for 11 or so credits (intro offer of 2 credits!)
  • The Studio Be in the Heights has BE ZEN classes for 4 credits.

3. Sweat then socialize.

OK, this one might have to wait a month or so due to the uptick in COVID cases, BUT! One thing I LOVE doing is connecting with people I workout with! A few of my gyms offer post-class social opportunities and I definitely want to get more involved in those! If you’re looking to take it outside with your instructors or fellow class takers, I recommend following the studios you go to on Instagram or subscribe to their newsletters to see if they plan any happy hours or meetups! Here are three studios I’ve personally got personal with outside the studio!

• Boost Pilates — they did a New Year’s Eve happy hour!
• Crew Fitness in the Heights has done a few happy hour meetups in the past and I know there will be more!
• Every Friday, CycleBar Sawyer Heights has a Happy Hour ride followed by beers at the next-door neighbor — Holler Brewery.

4. Prioritize recovery.

Listen, if you’re going to work your body like an athlete, you need to recover like one too. Here are some ideas

• Restore Hyper Wellness (two locations!) — get the full-body Cryo (8 credits) and/or 30-min compression (6 credits).
•  A Kneaded Touch — a women- and Black-owned business in Upper Kirby has cupping (20 credits), 60-min relaxing massages (25 credits), and 60-min athlete mobility bodywork sessions (33 credits).

5. Bring a friend.

OK, on a similar note to making friends at a workout, I also want to bring in friends to workout too! PS. If you’re on ClassPass and you get three friends to join ya, you get $300!! I mean, we all got three friends, don’t we??