A guide to NYC’s free fitness classes (there are nearly 100) by someone who’s tried them

New York City is flush with fitness classes, from spin to yoga to CrossFit. But these specialty workouts can be expensive – and popping into a new one you’ve never tried before can be a bit daunting. That’s doubly true if, like me, you have gone months without a regular fitness routine.

This year, I decided to get out of my winter funk by sampling the free exercise classes available across the five boroughs through Shape Up NYC. The program has been around for about two decades, and there are now nearly 100 workouts on offer in the city's rec centers and parks. During the pandemic, the city began adding more outdoor and virtual classes to the lineup, but I had never tried a Shape Up class before and decided to dive in headfirst.

Shape Up classes may be free, but they don't discount on the intensity. Over the course of three days last week, I took four sessions in as many boroughs. I’m still a little sore.

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At a glance

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• Shape Up NYC currently offers nearly 100 free fitness classes around the city.
• The listings include dance classes, yoga, pilates and cardio workouts of varying intensity.
• Shape Up instructors typically take a 12-week course that covers topics such as injury prevention and anatomy before they get started.
• Some instructors get paid between $17 and $28 per hour, depending on experience – but most are volunteers.
• To find the full schedule of Shape Up NYC classes or apply to be an instructor, visit the NYC parks department website.

Some of these workouts are only available in select locations – I schlepped from my apartment in Brooklyn to the Highbridge Recreation Center in Washington Heights to try SharQui, a belly dance class. And there’s just one Shape Up class – Zumba – listed on all of Staten Island. But some neighborhoods have a variety of classes available throughout the week at different levels of difficulty.

If you’re willing to travel, Shape Up NYC can be used like a low-stakes version of Class Pass. That app allows you to try out different workout classes at discounted rates after paying an upfront monthly fee ranging from $49 to $159. But in this case, there’s no financial penalty to guilt you for not showing up.

As a newbie, classes felt inclusive and welcoming, with 20-somethings often working out alongside 60-somethings.

My first class, Hip House Cardio, was at Fit4Dance, a dance and fitness studio in Flatbush that also offers paid courses for kids and adults and has walls adorned with pictures of students participating in the city’s annual dance parade. I warmed up by biking the 20 minutes there from my apartment after work, taking advantage of the sun staying out later.

Laci Chisholm, the owner of Fit4Dance, said she had previously taught classes through Shape Up NYC and wanted to give back by hosting free classes when she opened her own dance space. “It’s been great to be able to provide the classes because it also introduces people to my studio,” Chisholm said.

Instructors typically take a 12-week training to teach a Shape Up class, and some then get paid $17 to $28 per hour, according to the city's Department of Parks and Recreation. Chisholm said she provides additional wages for the Shape Up instructors working at her studio. But most of the teachers in the city’s program are volunteers. I left the dance class sweaty, with a significant mood boost as I biked home.

The next day, I stepped my workout tour up a notch with Total Body Bootcamp, the most intense-sounding of the Shape Up NYC classes. That one took place in the somewhat bleak basement of a city health department building in the Bronx. But the chatty instructor kept the mood fun as we jumped rope and did crunches to reggaeton.

Despite being a little tired that evening, I made my way to the aforementioned belly dancing class. This class was the one I was most intimidated by – but of the classes I took, it also turned out to be my personal favorite and the most well-attended. The instructor broke down combinations, so that the class was doing a full routine by the end of the hour.

Here, too, was where I encountered full-fledged Shape Up NYC enthusiasts – people who make friends at these classes and try out as many as they can.

The two are now part of a group of about 10 women who call themselves the Butterfly Sisterhood.

Marianela Cabral, who is “close to 60,” was there with a friend whom she said she had met at a Shape Up class about eight years ago. The two are now part of a group of about 10 women who call themselves the Butterfly Sisterhood, according to Cabral. In addition to taking Shape Up classes together, they also take part in charity events like the AIDS walk and cancer walks.

“We met in a class, and we bonded,” said Cabral, who lives in Washington Heights. “We have a lot of stuff in common.”

Cabral said they found out about the belly dancing workout through a flier posted at the rec center when they were taking another exercise class. She had done belly dancing when she was younger and was excited to try it again — although she said she’s still practicing her “undulations,” or body rolls.

I left the belly dancing class feeling euphoric from my foray back into fitness. But by day three, I was feeling something else: extremely sore. As I made my way to Midtown to report on a conference, my usual breakneck walking pace had slowed significantly.

Despite the aches, I couldn’t resist heading to Forest Park in Queens that evening for the final class on my agenda: a mystifying workout known as IntenSati.

On the Shape Up schedule, IntenSati is described as an improbable combination of “dance meets kickboxing meets yoga.”

Googling it will reveal a website about the practice with testimonials from students who have taken IntenSati classes (although not necessarily through Shape Up NYC). “I’m a much better friend, sister, daughter, girlfriend, employee, student and overall person as a result of intenSati,” one person wrote.

I was intrigued.

The IntenSati class in Forest Park was basically an aerobic workout with extremely positive energy from instructor Julia Varela. She shouted an affirmation to go with each movement and participants called them back in response — a practice she said was intended to change how people think.

From the outside, the scene may have looked goofy, but chanting while punching the air certainly kept my spirits up and distracted me from some of the pain my body was in by that point.

So did the fact that other participants were so willing to try something new. Laura Rybicki, who lives in Glendale, came with her sister-in-law after hearing about IntenSati on Facebook. She described the class as “spiritual” with “a couple of arm lifts or leg lifts.”

But she said she was grateful for the exercise. After not working out for a while, Rybicki said she was able to use the class to “ease myself back in.”