Being a fitness aficionado in New York City is like being a shoe addict in Milan... both addicting and expensive. Classes range anywhere from $25 to $50, so you can rack up quite a bill after a week of high intensity group classes. Trust me, I have. But I'm not here to complain about how much I've spent on workouts, I'm here to tell you how worth it every single class is. 
Working out in a group setting pushes everyone harder. When you're working out alone or with one other person, the competition is low. When you are working out with 15 or 20 other people, the bar is raised. The bar is raised high. The competition is stronger and the heat gets turned on. My competitive side always rages in every class. I am normally a mildly competitive person in day-to-day life, but in these classes I take on a hugely competitive aura. Whatever weights the strongest-looking person picks up, I match them. The resistance that spin-class regular puts on, I put on more. This competition that exists in the workout rooms is the good type of competition. It's the competition that we all need to push ourselves to do that last rep, and do it really, really well. When I work out alone in my gym, I crave that competition that only exists in the group workout classes. However, because I already know that I am capable of pushing myself to do more... I do.
Another benefit to these classes are that I take home new little work out tips every time I go, and then I use them in my own gym. I know going back to school, where I won't have access to these boutique classes, my workouts will be loaded with tricks I've learned from the boutique yoga studios, bootcamps, row classes, HIIT workouts, barre classes and spin classes! New York has truly become such a hub for boutique fitness, we may as well take full advantage of all it has to offer!
The people you meet at the classes are so interesting. I feel like every instructor has a special story to tell, and ending an hour in a literal ocean of your sweat (mixed with some strangers sweat) makes for a quite the bonding experience with both instructor and other class members!
I encourage all of you readers in New York City to splurge on a few classes. ClassPass, which is a membership to hundreds of studios across the city is here to help. Once you have a ClassPass account, you can try out any class from arial circus yoga to the hottest rowing class in the city, all part of the membership you choose. Go forth and sweat together my friends!
