It’s easy to get in a rut with your workouts and feel like you’re dreading even those activities you usually love. Trying a different type of exercise can help you avoid getting burned out on your regular routine while letting you acquire new skills and work on different areas of your body. From flag football to aerial arts, metro Atlanta has classes and activities that are so fun you’ll probably forget you’re getting a workout. And you can add some new friends to go along with your regular running buddies or gym rats.
For Monica Shaffer, aerial classes have helped her overall fitness since she started years ago when she played soccer. She thought of herself as a fit person, but aerial silks classes let her work on her upper body strength, which her time on the soccer field didn’t improve.
Credit: Handout
Credit: Handout
When a roommate suggested aerial workouts, she says she was a little surprised since she didn’t think of herself as graceful. But before long, she was glad she was taking the classes.
She quit for a few years due to an unrelated injury, but since moving from Florida to Georgia, she’s taken classes at Above Ground Aerial Arts in Suwanee.
“It’s my favorite way to work out,” she says. “There’s so many opportunities to keep it fun and fresh. I don’t think I’d work out as often if it wasn’t this fun.”
She also points out the supportive environment aerial classes provide, and says she’s made friends who encourage her and cheer her on as she tries new skills.
Whether you’re already in a fitness rut or want to avoid getting in one, try one or more of these fun ways to work out in metro Atlanta:
Flag football
You may have played flag football — a tackle-free, safer version of the game — as a kid, but you don’t have to leave it behind. Flag football for adults is a fun way to keep fit while working on your cardiovascular health, agility and speed.
Atlanta Sport & Social Club: The group hosts a league that plays seven games as well as additional playoff games for teams that qualify. Mixed gender and single-gender teams are available, and you can sign up as a team, group or individual. atlantasportandsocialclub.com.
Rise ATL Sports: Register as a team or a “free agent” to play a seven-game seven-vs.-seven schedule or a 10-game five-vs.-five schedule, both with playoffs for the top teams. riseatlsports.com.
Silverbacks Indoor: Beat the heat and play indoors in a competitive, recreational or beginners league. atlantasilverbacks.com.
Aerial arts
Channel your inner circus performer by taking an aerial arts class. A variety of types are available, but they all use apparatuses that hang down from a rig point. These include fabric or silks, hoops or lyra, slings and more. You don’t need any experience to take this type of class, and don’t worry if heights bother you, since the apparatuses can all be used low to the ground.
Above Ground Aerial Arts: Classes are available in aerial silks, sling, lyra, rope and dance trapeze, with aerial silks being the most popular. abovegroundaerial.org.
Challenge Aerial: Take silks, sling, trapeze or lyra classes, with a special midlife flyers class offered for aerialists age 40 and up. challengeaerialatlanta.com.
Sky Barre: Locations on the Eastside Beltline and Brookhaven incorporate aerial work in a variety of classes, including barre, HIIT (high-intensity interval training) and circus tricks from a low level. theskybarre.com.
Credit: Handout
Credit: Handout
Nerf wars
A Nerf war is like paintball, but you’ll be shooting — and getting shot at by — foam blasters made by companies such as Nerf. Work up a sweat running around and hiding from your enemies as you try to pick them off before getting shot.
Atlanta Blaster Club: This club of foam-flinging enthusiasts hosts wars on the second Saturday of every month in Marietta. You’ll need to bring your own blaster. facebook.com/groups/atlantablasterclub.
Goat yoga, Pilates and more
Even if you’re already into yoga or Pilates, adding goats to the mix can turn it into a playful experience. Who could resist cute goats frolicking or jumping on your back as you’re working on a position?
City of Dunwoody Pilates with goats: One-hour sessions designed to strengthen your core are held once a month at Brook Run Park with the help of therapy goats. And if you’d like to work on your mindfulness and mental fitness, goat meditation classes are also scheduled monthly. secure.rec1.com/GA/dunwoody-ga/catalog.
Love Goga Mindful Seeds: Take goat yoga — or goga for short — classes at various locations, including on the Green at Halcyon in Alpharetta. lovegoga.com.
Red Wagon Goats: Take a goat yoga session at a private homestead just east of Decatur. You will start with an orientation followed by 45 to 50 minutes of gentle, all-levels yoga and then some time to hang out with the goats. redwagongoats.com.
GGA Dwarf Goat Yoga: Enjoy a yoga session with Australian miniature goats, go on a one-hour hike along a variety of nature trails with leashed therapy goats or schedule a meditation or reiki session with the animals. ggadwarfgoatyoga.com.
Credit: Handout
Credit: Handout
Dance
Whether you’re into ballet, hip-hop or another type of dance, Atlanta studios offer classes for adults that will help you learn a new skill or improve an existing one. You’ll also be improving your cardio, flexibility and more.
Dance 101: Get fit with all-adult classes in everything from ballet to hip-hop, with no experience required. dance101.org.
Get Up and Dance! Studio: Choose from more than 20 styles of dance lessons in either group sessions or private lessons. getupanddanceatlanta.com.
TADA: Take adult classes in ballet, tap, contemporary, jazz and more. tadaatlanta.com.
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