Being outside in Maine rules! Except when it’s crappy out.
When it’s raining or frigid or storming or just downright gross outside, our natural inclination to venture outdoors is replaced with an inclination to climb back into bed and fall asleep watching Cold Case Files reruns while spooning a plate of cheese.
But for those days when we’d still like to get a good sweat on, there are a host of indoor options – work outs and active things we can do, whatever the weather.
Active things to do when the weather stinks:
Kick the dickens out of something
It sure does feel good to punch and kick an inanimate object in a socially appropriate environment. At Riverview Martial Arts in South Portland, you can do a whole lot of socially appropriate kicking and punching during a fitness kickboxing class. You’ll also do pushups and ab work and squats and lunges, which means the sweat will be abundant and you’re certain to be spent by the end of the 55-minute class.
Riverview Martial Arts
682 Broadway, South Portland. www.riverviewmartialarts.org.
Read more about it: Jab, hook, kick: Fitness kickboxing at Riverview Martial Arts, South Portland
Conquer obstacles
Maine Warrior Gym in Westbrook offers classes that train students on many of the obstacles you might have seen on American Ninja Warrior (salmon ladder, warped wall, monkey bars, rope climb, quad steps). Classes include Beginner Ninja Fitness, Upper Body Strength Training, Intro to Obstacle Fitness, Parkour, Tae Kwon Do, Ninjitsu, and personal training. You can also hit an open gym and try things out on your own. Also, totally check out The Axe Pit.
Maine Warrior Gym
865 Spring St, Westbrook. www.mainewarriorgym.com. $10 if it’s your first time, memberships available.
Read more about it: Train like a ninja: Beginner Ninja Fitness at Maine Warrior Gym
Get your Jazzercise on
The Jazzercise music of yesteryear has been replaced by modern dance tunes (no joke, Jazzercise is more up-to-speed on popular music than I am). And the classes are a blend of cardio, resistance training, Pilates, yoga, kickboxing and dance. The Jazzercise studio in the Dana Warp Mill in Westbrook offers classes daily. No Spandex leotard necessary.
Jazzercise Westbrook Fitness Studio
90 Bridge Street, Westbrook. jcls.jazzercise.com and www.facebook.com. $12 drop-in
Read more about it: Jazzercise in Westbrook. Yes, Jazzercise! No legwarmers needed #thenewjazzercise
Sprint, sweat, strength
At Orangetheory, it’s all about the heart rate. That number will be your guide during the hour-long group workout, letting you know when you’re right on target and when you need to amp things up or take them down. Each workout includes equal parts cardio and strength.
Orangetheory Fitness
195 Kennebec St, Portland. portland-me.orangetheoryfitness.com. First class free
Read more about it: Sweat your heart rate out at new Orangetheory Fitness in Portland
Learn to swing dance
Thursday Night Stomp in Portland include a half-hour beginner lesson at the beginning, followed by a couple of hours of open dance, where beginners can try out their newly learned moves and more experienced dancers can do what they like to do: swing! Even cooler, the crowd is really welcoming and those more-experienced dancers (some who’ve been dancing for months, some for years) are happy to show us newbies a thing or two.
Thursday Night Stomp
7-9:30 p.m. Thursdays. Maine Ballroom, 614 Congress St., Portland. www.portlandswingproject.com. $8 DJ Nights/$10 Band Nights
Read more about it: Learn to swing dance! Thursday Night Stomp with Portland Swing Project
Go line dancing
DeeDee Allen, who also owns The Silver Spur, teaches line dancing classes in the dance hall on Monday nights from 6 to 7:30 p.m. The cost is $5 and new dances are taught every week (so you can keep coming back to build up your repertoire). The lessons are open to all levels. (And it’s BYOB, too.)
Line dancing at The Silver Spur
6-7:30 p.m. Mondays. 272 Lewiston St., Mechanic Falls. www.thesilverspurclub.com. $5
Read more about it: Kick up your heels at The Silver Spur: Line dancing lessons every Monday night
Hang out during aerial yoga
Aerial yoga (which is also sometimes called “anti-gravity yoga,” which sounds like something that requires a spacesuit and top secret security clearance at NASA) has found its way to a handful of studios around Maine in the last year or two. Several studios around the state host classes, and while it looks like a daunting exercise, many of the poses are much easier to do than you’d think (but they look super badass, right?). Check out classes at:
Metta Studios
40 Main Street, Bldg 13, Suite 136, Biddeford. mettastudios.me. $15 aerial fitness. $120 10-class pass
TULA Studios
146 Ocean St., South Portland. www.tulamaine.com $16 drop-in, $150 10-class pass
OM Land Yoga
72 Center St., Brewer. www.omlandyoga.com. $18 drop-in
Do yoga in a brewery
Enjoy an hour of all-levels yoga and follow it up with pour of local beer. There’s a reason these classes are popping up all over Maine – it’s a combination that welcomes beginner yogis and it allows for post-yoga hanging out and socializing. You get a workout and a good excuse to have a beer at noon.
Downdogs at Dirigo
10:30 a.m. to noon Sundays at Dirigo Brewing Co. in Biddeford. www.dirigobrewingcompany.com. $15 includes one hour of yoga and a beer. BYO mat.
Read more about it: Downdogs at Dirigo: An hour of yoga followed by Dirigo beer in Biddeford
Hit the dance floor
SHiNE Dance Fitness combines moves from jazz, hip hop, and ballet into simple choreography set to upbeat dance music of the modern day. In other words, it’s dancing! The hour-long dance workout is comprised of movements that are simple enough for a beginner to pick up, but that more-experienced dancers can modify, so everyone in the room can move to her own ability.
SHiNE Dance Fitness
6 p.m. Tuesdays and 10 a.m. Saturdays. Aquarius Ballroom, 202 Kennebec Street, Portland. Also 9:15 a.m. and 5:45 p.m. Mondays at NXGen Fitness in Scarborough.
First class free, $10 drop-in, $50 for 6-class pass. www.facebook.com/shinefitnessme
Read more about it: Dance, sweat & have a ball with SHiNE Dance Fitness in Portland
Climb silks, get to know a trapeze
For anyone who’s ever watched performers gracefully climb and swing and dangle and dance on an aerial hoop or silks and thought, “holy wow, that looks amazing, I want to do it but I could never…” I say: Yes. You can. You must. The two-hour weekly session is held at the Breakwater School Gymnasium on Brighton Ave. in Portland from 6 to 8 p.m. Tuesdays, and there are all kinds of apparatus hanging from the ceiling – silks, trapeze, a lyra (aka an aerial hoop) and ropes with harnesses. You can try them all.
Aerial Improv
6 to 8 p.m. Tuesdays at Breakwater School, 856 Brighton Ave, Portland. www.facebook.com/apparatusdancetheater. $16 drop-in
Read more about it: Try the silks at an Aerial Improv class in Portland (and trapeze! And aerial hoop!)
Climb the walls at an indoor climbing gym
Whether you’re an experienced climber or brand-spanking-new, the indoor climbing gym is a perfect place to spend a crappy day. Weather doesn’t matter in here! Both Evo in Portland and Salt Pump in Scarborough are large, stunning gyms with tons of climbing for all levels, classes, fitness equipment, yoga, and more.
Evo Rock + Fitness
65 Warren Ave., Portland. www.evorock.com/portland-me
Salt Pump Climbing Co.
26 Haigis Parkway, Scarborough. www.saltpumpclimbing.com
Read more about it: You can climb at Evo Rock + Fitness in Portland even if you’re afraid of heights
AND: Get climbing: Salt Pump Climbing Co. in Scarborough
Work out with TRX
My quads ached after my “Takeoff to TRX” class at FitWell in Portland in November. (I think it was the single-leg squats and plyometric jumps that really did my legs in.) FitWell opened several months ago as a dedicated TRX studio and let me tell you, those suspension trainers don’t look threatening, but they will work you out like nothing else. I’m looking forward to checking out more classes here in 2017.
FitWell in Portland
49 Dartmouth St., Portland. www.fitwellme.com. $10 per class, $80 for 10-class pass
Read more about it: Give TRX a try at FitWell in Portland
Bounce on a Trampoline
While the first minute or two of bouncing feels like pure childhood joy, you’ll quickly discover that your endurance for the trampoline arts isn’t what it used to be. Giana offers modifications for most of the exercises, so you can work out to your level, but your heart rate will be up and sweating will happen.
Trampoline classes
The Fitness Factory, 512 Warren Ave., Portland. www.fitnessfactorymaine.com.
“Total Trampoline” (9-10 a.m. Mondays) and “Trampoline & Tone” (5:15 p.m. Mondays and 10 a.m. Saturdays). $7 drop-in, memberships available.
Read more about it: Bounce around: Trampoline workout at The Fitness Factory, Portland
Work out with drumsticks
Founders call it a “full-body cardio jam session, combining light resistance with constant simulated drumming.” There are squats and lunges and plyometrics and the rhythmic banging of drumsticks – on your mat, on the floor and overhead. It’s a little weird sounding, yes, but actually a load of fun. It feels good to whack stuff.
PoundFit & Zumba with Christine Bishop
Locations in Waterville and Fairfield. www.facebook.com/ZumbawithChristine2013
Pound at Maine Pines
120 Harpswell Road, Brunswick. 10 a.m. Sundays. $15 drop-in, $100 for 10-class pass
www.mainepines.com/fitness-schedule
Read more about it: It’s a fitness class with drum sticks: POUND classes have come to Maine
Dance your arse off
Choreographed dancing does not come naturally to me. (In fact, I’m lost a good portion of the time.) But the energy in this class is so good, the music is loud, everyone’s moving and sweating, and all that focus on remembering the choreography means your noggin gets a bit of a workout along with the rest of you.
Dance classes at Hustle and Flow
155 Brackett St., Portland. hustleflowstudio.com
Read more about it: Bust a move: Dancehall Hip Hop at Hustle and Flow in Portland
