Miami - April 30, 2007

The Bod Squad

Membership-Free Exercise Classes

One-year leases induce heart palpitations. Even that T-shirt-of-the-month club made you twitch.

Commitment is your kryptonite. But you’d still like to feel like you could leap tall buildings occasionally. Here are a few workouts for under $20 that’ll have you sweating bullets, not the membership application.

Normandy Gym (1145 71st Street, Miami Beach; 305-865-8570) offers pound-melting kickboxing classes that combine street fighting with plyometrics and calisthenics, and are set to techno music — sometimes provided by a live DJ — that can be heard blocks away. (Along with your panting.)

Belly dance superstar Bozenka, who has choreographed for Shakira, runs Bozenka’s Bellydance Academy (350 Lincoln Road, studio 505, Miami Beach; 305-538-1608). Classes range from Egyptian-influenced to tribal fusion and are an hour and a half, so you’re sure to feel it the next day — after all, your hips don’t lie.

If you like your yoga simple (not too sweaty, not too Lamaze-like), head to Bayfront Park (301 North Biscayne Boulevard; 305-358-7550), where students get personal attention even when the class is packed (which is often). On a beautiful day, it’s also one of the most scenic workouts around — and it’s completely free.

See? Membership doesn’t always have its privileges.

Photo Credit: Denise J. Marino