Fitness expert Brigitte Grenier shares her 6 favourite places to get a workout, no gym required
Sometimes it’s just fun and energizing to shake up your workout routine and try something new. Wengage asked Brigitte Grenier, an exercise, yoga, Pilates and dance instructor in Toronto, about her top picks. Some of these venues have drop-in or pop-up classes while others meet at set times every week.
Everybody say salsa
My favourite thing to do is go out salsa dancing with my friends; it’s such a workout and a great place to meet people. I go El Rancho’s on College and also Lula Lounge on Dundas. Lula Lounge has dinner service, so you can go for a meal and they offer an hour of lessons before they start with the social dancing. El Rancho has different rooms, so you can choose what style of dance and music you want and go to that room.
Go bounce
SkyZone has trampoline dodgeball —that’s another fun way to get active and they have drop-in games. It’s in East York.
Play ping pong
Spin United is a downtown social club with a bunch of ping pong tables. I couldn’t believe what a good workout it was!
Try Cheer
When I was a professional cheerleader for the Toronto Argonauts, women would often tell me how they always wished they could have been a cheerleader. I realized was that there was nothing being offered for women after a certain age, so I decided to create a fitness class called CheerBody, similar to Zumba, and added pompoms so that women could get that cheerleader experience. It also incorporates dance, Pilates, yoga and strength exercises throughout the class.
Join the circus
I went with a friend to Cirque-ability on the west side of the city in Roncesvalles. It’s pretty much a circus school and it has a lot of adult classes, like aerial silks, trapeze and hoops.
Brigitte Grenier, Toronto, Ontario, Founder, Cheerbody, Dance, Fitness & Health Coach, Certified Kinesiologist