How to Stay Fit in Minneapolis, MN this Winter
A List of 15+ Local Twin Cities Virtual Fitness & Wellness Classes
The cold, dark, and long winters make us northerners tough. I could have easily started this article off by talking about how it’s the winters that are tough, but I thought it more important to call out our own resilience.
We’ve made it through seasons before, and this one will be no different… well, maybe a little different. With gyms closed, COVID anxiety going around, and fewer options to connect with each other, I thought I’d compile a list of virtual wellness classes and outdoor activities to help us through.
From zoom yoga and live fitness classes to sauna rentals and snowshoes, read on to find a fun online workout or activity that can help you stay in shape and connected this winter.
Twin Cities At Home & Virtual Workouts
Minneapolis & St. Paul are home to plenty of amazing fitness & wellness organizations and the scene has been buzzing for the last few years. While it’s been sad to see the closure of gyms, for the time being, our local professionals have been adaptive by offering plenty of virtual options. Here is a list of local fitness classes you can attend from your living room.
- The Firm is a longtime favorite of Minneapolis residents for yoga, spin, weight training, and more, and are currently offering a Free 7 Day Trial of their The Firm On Demand program. Great instructors and ability to stream live or workout with recorded versions.
- City Sweat Tour — The Center of Movement has created a super fun & interactive program that will introduce you to a variety of gyms and classes over the course of this winter. Sign up for their email list and get notified hours ahead of your next workout. The gym, instructor and workout will all be a surprise to keep things interesting!
- BreathHouse—Another offering from TCOM, this new program offers a monthly membership or drop-in classes focused on immune-boosting and stress-relieving breath practices.
- The New MPLS—Daily workouts and donation-based wellness practices done over zoom. Founded by local fitness instructor, founder and lifestyle coach Chaz Sandifer.
- Alchemy 365 has launched, “Alchemy Anywhere” featuring daily live workouts that you can stream to any device. They’ve also got their versatile, “Torpedo” weight for sale to add some resistance to your in-home training. Alchemy Anywhere has a free 7-day trial, but if you purchase a torpedo, you’ll get a full month free.
- Lululemon MOA has been putting together some amazing virtual programming from sweat & meditation classes to special events & workshops bringing together local wellness leaders for community conversations around mental & physical health.
- AltrFit has transitioned to online classes of their signature metabolism-boosting high-intensity interval workouts and offers a fairly full schedule and multiple class packs and options to get started. Reserve your spot here.
- Barre3 Edina has been up and running with online classes since the beginning of the pandemic, and continues to offer their, “full-body balanced workout combining strength conditioning, cardio, and mindfulness that will leave you feeling balanced in body and empowered from within.”
- 612 Jungle has recently opened up virtual classes for their well-known yoga and hip hop dance-based workouts.
- Klass Minneapolis recently launched their, “KlassNow” on-demand dance and fitness platform.
- Yoga Sol has daily, “pay what you can” yoga classes available via Zoom.
- Akro 30 Day Shred — Put together by local trainer Austin Gelhar, his program offers 30 workouts in 30 days, plus nutrition & rest/recovery coaching. (Shameless plug here as Austin is my personal trainer & rocks!)
- Shred Fit—Local fitness entrepreneur Sammi G. pivoted her boutique training studio into a fully digital offering featuring over 140 different class sequences and 100+ hours of fitness programming. She’s currently offering a free month trial for all of her content.
- The MindStrong Project — A local collective of athletes offering training, breathwork, and more. A good mix of general wellness practices and cutting-edge performance coaching with a strong community.
- PureBarre North Loop—For the barre fans out there, the north loop location is now offering live stream options for their signature low impact—high-intensity calorie-burning workouts.
- Skybox Gym offers full-body workouts with minimal equipment through their new Stay Fit Club. You can subscribe to their full live stream offering or opt for the more budget-friendly on-demand option.
- Stoke Wellness is another option with live classes to sculpt, tone and burn calories. Billed as an all-inclusive fitness, nutrition, and mindfulness membership, you can check out their zoom schedule here.
- Minny Hustlers are a local duo who put together their own home workout routines during the first COVID quarantine. It worked so well for them, they’ve decided to put together a guide and share it with everyone else!
- Ze Moves is led by pilates teachers & movement specialists Mariusz and Emma based in St. Paul. They offer live and on-demand group pilates classes and are offering discounted unlimited passes as well as a 10-day challenge starting Dec. 14th.
- Fit For Me by Courtney offers monthly or yearlong memberships with workouts and monthly challenges. Classes can be streamed online, or accessed on-demand with a library of 50+ and growing workouts.
- Sweat Guide MN — While they don’t have their own workout classes yet, this pair is worth the follow on Instagram as they’ve probably tried every workout on this list! Follow them for class reviews, recipes & wellness tips.
- Eventbrite also has an extended list of local Virtual Workouts to peruse.
Private COVID19 Safe Wellness Experiences
If you prefer to do something that doesn’t require a screen and internet connection, COVID-Safe options have started to pop up!
- Embrace North—Private Sauna Rental — Unless you’re lucky enough to have your own sauna, it might be tougher to access the healing powers of sweating it out this winter. Have no fear, Embrace North (The guys behind last winter’s weekly cold plunges into Cedar Lake) have set up a private sauna rental for you or members of your household to enjoy by the hour!
- Stokeyard — Turn your backyard into your private wellness heat retreat with one of their wood-fired mobile saunas delivered to your home. Their saunas seat 4–6. Delivery range covers the greater Twin Cities Metro Area.
- Cedar and Stone Sauna—Take a weekend trip up to Duluth designed around a private sauna experience! They also help design and build custom saunas for the home.
- The Salt Cave Minnesota—While they are closed at the time of publishing, they are offering a great deal on gift vouchers for future visits!
- Peak Lab Minneapolis—An amazing new facility in Bloomington that has everything you can imagine for rehabilitation, accelerated fitness, and peak performance, book your intro session and see what they have to offer. From cryotherapy to red light recovery—from cold tubs to saunas, this is one of the most comprehensive facilities to come to Minneapolis in a long time with a mission to help us all realize peak health.
Outdoor Activities and Adventures
- Minneapolis Landscape Arboretum — Open for reservations, the arb always puts on a fantastic winter light display and offers a chance to get out of your house for something new.
- Skiing and Snowboarding — From what we can tell, most of the ski hills will be open for business this winter (if we ever get more snow!). There will be a few new rules, but out on the mountain it should be business as usual. Ski and Board MN has some Guidelines posted as well as links to local ski areas websites so you can check out their status and get your passes.
- Hiking, Cross Country Skiing — Make sure to stock up on your long johns and grab a good pair of hiking boots from Nokomis Shoes, there are plenty of excellent trails to visit this winter. Here’s an interactive map from AllTrails on hiking to check out, and one for Cross Country Skiing from TrailLink with reviews to boot. Fitt.co also has a guide on top hiking spots.
- If hiking or skiing is not your thing, perhaps you’d like to try out some Snowshoes or SnowFeet! Any frozen lake is a good candidate for snowshoes, and they are getting lighter and more durable every year. I personally bought a pair of SnowFeet this year, and while I haven’t tried them out yet, I’m excited for the idea of a hybrid experience where I can use hiking motions with the benefit of gliding along on!
In Closing — How to Thrive this Winter:
Pay attention to sleep and light exposure, surround yourself with plants (Mother Co. Plants offers local delivery and pickup!), stay active with virtual workouts and wellness activities, eat well, and keep your sense of adventure intact! Springtime will certainly come again.
The good news? We’ve made it through November and the election craziness (for now), and they’ll be more sunlight in January than there is this month!
Average monthly hours of sunlight in Minneapolis, MN, USA
Lastly, if you’d like to help support local gyms during the pandemic, please check out Gyms Coalition which has resources for contacting local officials to urge support of the many wellness businesses out there that are struggling.
I hope you find something you like in the list above, and if you have other classes or activities to add to this list, please let me know in the comments or via direct message.
About the Author:
Matt Cannon is an entrepreneur from Minneapolis, MN with a passion for community, wellness & optimal living. You can find him on Instagram or follow his upcoming blog at Be Sage.
