WISE WORKOUTS

Don’t allow your gym membership to leave you penniless. We’ve updated our list of FREE or ALMOST FREE workouts to get your heart pumping again.

CharityWorkouts.org

Charity Workouts
Every Sunday at 9:30am, Charity Workouts meets in Balboa Park for a donation-based and rigorous boot camp workout. All donations are voluntary, but a minimum of $5 is your best bet. All proceeds go to a local charity that supports outdoor experiences for underprivileged youth. Keeping fit while supporting a worthwhile cause? Breaking a sweat never sounded so good.

SD Yoga Loft
Located in Downtown San Diego’s East Village, SD Yoga Loft is San Diego’s first donation-based yoga studio. Even without required fees, they sure don’t skimp on offerings. Daily classes include Vinyasa Flow, Kundalini Yoga, Hatha Yoga, and my personal fave – Lunchtime Hour of Power Yoga. So how much do you pay? Pay $5, $15 or as they encourage “pay whatever yoga is worth to you.” What a deep breath of fresh air.

CrossFit
CrossFit is the primary strength and conditioning program used by many police academies, firefighters, tactical operation teams and martial artists. However, us mortals can also exercise like these champions with the FREE workouts held at the various CrossFit studios in the county. During the high-intensity, hour-long workouts, you’ll do (or shall I say, try to do) a combination of short runs, medicine ball throws, pull-ups, squats, Olympic lifts, and so much more  – with many repetitions in a very short amount of time. Participants say it is the ultimate test of fitness, though the trainers won’t pressure you to be fast right away – start off slow and learn the correct form.  Here’s a list of the FREE CrossFit classes throughout San Diego County:

The Stronghold
FREE class every Saturday at 10am in Point Loma

San Diego CrossFit Weekend Warriors
FREE outdoor class every Saturday at 10am in Mission Bay Park

CrossFit Coronado
FREE class every Saturday at 11am

American Boxing
FREE class every Saturday at 9:30am in Pacific Beach

CrossFit San Diego
FREE class every Saturday at 9am in downtown San Diego

CrossFit East County
FREE class every Sunday morning at 9am in La Mesa

Lululemon and Ideal Studio

Lululemon
This retailer of yoga-inspired athletic clothing hosts FREE weekly workouts at its downtown San Diego and La Jolla locations. Every Sunday at 10am, the Lululemon San Diego Showroom  in East Village partners with CrossFit San Diego for a FREE outdoor bootcamp using the downtown landscape as your gym.  Lululemon La Jolla partners with local fitness trainers to offer FREE classes on Tuesday evenings at its storefront in La Jolla Village, where they push aside racks of running shorts and fitness tanks for belly dancing to bootcamp workouts. Go back on Saturdays to join in on the FREE all-levels yoga class at 8:30am.

Fitness Meetups
If lack of energy and motivation have stalled your exercise goals, it’s time to find a workout partner, or even better, several of them! Meetup.com connects people through shared interests, ranging from mountain biking to dodge ball to softball. The Meetup organizers will put together events –  such as a group hike, yoga session on the beach or tennis matches. And to make this even more appealing, most – if not all – of these activities are free! New workout buddies and a fit body – how’s that for a new you?