Happy New Year, everybody! Welcome to 2018! I know it’s going to be a great one, and I wish you all love, happiness, and success in the year(s) to come! We’ve got this. This post certainly ties in with one of my main resolutions, which is to continue to take time for myself and stick to a solid fitness routine because #healthiswealth

By now, most of you have probably seen that I’m no longer on ClassPass (*sigh*) It was a hard break-up after a few months of ass-kicking, sweaty fun! I love both their mission and service (duh, who doesn’t like going to Physique 57, Barry’s, Flex, Y7, Bari, and Tone House…jk considering I’m not cut out for TH and learned that the hard way…) but I was looking for a little more stability with my daily routine and felt like I could get more bang for my buck by being a member at a gym with classes, since many are nearly equivalent in price these days. That being said, I’ll always be a die-hard classes kind of gal and I’m writing this post for all of the other women and men out there who want both a real gym and the opportunity to take classes at boutique fitness studios without totally breaking the bank. No matter how you slice, the fitness industry is always going to be expensive in NYC. Sure, there are tons of opportunities to snag the odd free  workout. For instance, you can take an instructor training class, keep a lookout for a blogger code, attend a weekly Nike group runs organized by their Flatiron team, or sweat it out at a free session at Athleta or Lululemon. Still, sometimes you simply need more. Here’s the solution: buy classes through Dibs.

Flexformer at Flex

Post Flex Barre/Pilates

Dibs has partnered with various studios in NYC and across the pond in London to offer spots in their classes. The cost of each class is determined by the real-time demand for a spot in that class. Let me break it down even further: rather than shelling out a typical $38 for a session at say, Flex Studios, you’ll pay a (usually significantly) cheaper rate that’s determined by factors like the particular type of class, the time of the class, the instructor, etc. For example, here’s what the 7 PM hour looks like at Flex Studios this Thursday and next Thursday. The earlier you book your class in advance, the cheaper the class is and the more often you book, the better your rate will be as well. Naturally,  the prices increase as the day and time of your class approaches.

Flex Studios 1/4

Flex Studios 1/11

A much better rate than $38! And here’s some of the evening lineup at Everybody Fights,  one of my favorite boxing gyms, both this Thursday and next Thursday. A single class is $35.

Everybody Fights 1/4

Everybody Fights 1/11

There are no commitments and there’s literally no hassle whatsoever. Just make sure you actually make it to the class or if you know you can’t make it,  cancel your reservation within the studio’s cancellation window! If you cancel outside the window, you’ll get the credit returned to your account. 

As someone who will never be able to abandon the group fitness lifestyle, but who also wants a gym, using Dibs makes perfect sense. I was really nervous when I left ClassPass for a number of reasons: I want to be able to challenge my body in unique ways. I love experiencing new studios in terms of both workout and atmosphere. I was also SO nervous that I would lose a major part of my blog’s branding, which is fitness. Paying for a boutique studio class on top of a gym membership doesn’t have to feel like a total nightmare with Dibs, and I feel like I’m getting all the benefits of ClassPass and more. I absolutely love the dynamic-pricing concept and I think that this is a platform that many of us fitness fiends need to achieve our goals and have fun doing it! It’ll encourage us to book classes at some of our favorite studios (good for us and good for local businesses, duh!) while helping us keep some extra cash in our pockets! Sounds like a win for everyone.

The list of gyms Dibs works with seems to be growing by the second! They’ve partnered with an awesome variety of studios, so there’s a class for everyone! (And they also partnered with me last week, when I took over their Instagram for the day! I also took a class at Everybody Fights and got a quick ring work demo, which is above!) Here are the studios you can buy classes with through Dibs right now (and make sure you use my code, @danadiaries, for $5 off your first booking!

• Everybody Fights
• Flex Studios
• Solace
• Body Conceptions
• Row House
• Mile High Club
• Box + Flow
• The Fit Co
• As One
• Throwback
• Brooklyn Strength
• Pon De Flo
• Rhythm Ride
• Uplift