The best fitness classes and studios to try in Metro Manila 2024: Spinning, pilates, rowing, and more

45 minutes to 1 hour

Rather than sparring with a boxing partner, group boxing classes have you toe-to-toe with your heavy bag. Some classes incorporate shadowboxing and weight breaks as well. It is a serious endurance challenge, both mental and physical, with pumping music and moody lights to get you in the zone. 

Once you’re wrapped and gloved up, the instructor will demonstrate some key boxing techniques like jabs, hooks, ducks and weaves, which form the foundation of the boxing drills you’ll be doing throughout the class. Though many may think of boxing as an upper-body exercise, you’ll soon discover that this high-intensity workout uses the core and legs to drive every punch, making boxing an effective full-body class.

Boxing studios in Metro Manila

• Flyweight Boxing – Forbestown (BGC)
• Electric Studio – The Podium (Mandaluyong), live online classes

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45 minutes to 1 hour

Get all the burn, with minimal impact—reformer pilates and megaformer classes are highly accessible workouts that require slow but precise movements. The reformer and megaformer are two distinct but closely related exercise machines: the reformer is a contraption designed for pilates, with a sliding carriage, resistance springs, straps, and other accessories; the megaformer, designed for “Lagree” classes, is an evolution of the reformer with some additional attachments and heavier resistance. 

Reformer pilates and megaformer classes emphasise posture and form, training your mind-body connection while strengthening your muscles, improving your balance and stability, and encouraging flexibility. While both workouts are challenging in their own right, megaformer classes are more intense, with even slower, heavier exercises that focus on time under tension with holds, pulses, and other small sustained movements. These target your slow-twitch muscle fibres and specific muscles often overlooked while testing cardiovascular endurance, too. 

Reformer pilates studios in Metro Manila

Group classes:

• Fit to Live – Park West Building (BGC)
• B+B Pilates Studio – Menarco Tower (BGC)
• XO Pilates Studio – Southbend Building (Alabang)

One-on-one classes:

• One Life – Citiplace Building (San Juan), Plaza One Hundred (Legazpi Village, Makati), Estancia Mall (Pasig), Bonifacio High Street (BGC), Molito (Alabang; coming soon)
• Tru Pilates – Missouri Square Building (San Juan)
• Options (also offers small and private group classes) – OPL Building (Legazpi Village, Makati), One Uptown Residence (BGC), GEMPC Building (Diliman), Power Plant Mall (Rockwell, Makati), Greenhills (San Juan)

Megaformer studios in Metro Manila (group classes)

• Elev8 – The Podium (Mandaluyong), The Finance Centre (BGC)
• Ultra Lagree – Estancia Mall (Pasig)

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45 minutes

Indoor rowing classes are a fun, unique workout (there’s only one studio for it in the metro) that trains cardiovascular endurance and builds muscle. While it is a high-intensity workout that gets your heart pumping, rowing is still a low-impact exercise, making it safe for people of all fitness levels to try.

The rowing machine has four main components: the sliding seat, the foot holds, the handle, and the water tank (or flywheel, if using an air rower machine). The water tank is what gives you resistance throughout the workout: as you pull back on the handle, you will activate the mechanism, mimicking the resistance of rowing on water. But don’t be fooled—much of the workout is a leg and glutes exercise, as you must first push against the footholds before pulling back the handle with your core and upper body, making this another full-body workout.

Similar to spin classes, rowing classes may incorporate various challenges throughout the session, such as short sprints or prolonged endurance tracks. These can be monitored on the display screen before you, so you can measure the distance you’ve “rowed”, your speed, your pace, etc. Classes may also incorporate off-rower exercises as a quick break or even a circuit workout.

Indoor rowing studios in Metro Manila

• Saddle Row – Power Plant Mall (Rockwell, Makati), High Street South (BGC)

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45 minutes to 1.5 hours

Whether you’re after an intense cardio workout, want to improve your moves on the dance floor, or simply wish to let loose and release stress after a long day, these dance fitness classes are well worth a try. While some classes have a greater focus on genre and choreography, others are designed to target cardio and muscle toning for a more effective workout—be sure to read the class descriptions so you book the class that’s right for your needs and your level. Nevertheless, these dance classes promise to be a liberating and inclusive experience, free of judgment.

Dance studios in Metro Manila

• 808 Studio — The Podium (Mandaluyong)
• The Breathing Room PH (fitness-focused only) – Icon Plaza (BGC)
• Nude Floor (choreography-focused only) – Ayala Malls Circuit (Makati)

Related: How women can exercise their way to a longer, healthier life

1 hour to 1.5 hours

Mat classes like yoga and mat pilates are accessible low-impact workouts that require minimal equipment—however, the two are very different.

The discipline of yoga has a rich history rooted in spirituality. While yoga is indeed physically challenging, its ultimate aim is to find a state of liberation and inner peace through movement. The practice involves many holds and/or flowing through these positions at a much slower pace than pilates, and will often incorporate set flows and breathing patterns throughout the class. Many yoga poses are also thought to have different health benefits, both mental and physical. In addition, there are special “bikram” yoga classes held in a heated room, which are said to boast many additional health benefits.

Meanwhile, pilates follows a quicker pace, and the aim is to get your muscles burning through fast exercises in high repetitions, holds, and pulses, effectively toning the target areas. Like yoga, pilates may also challenge balance and flexibility, but much of the focus is on strengthening the body, particularly the core. Some pilates classes may also incorporate a ball, blocks, light weights, and other props, though it remains largely a bodyweight exercise.

Many studios in Metro Manila offer both yoga and pilates classes, with various schedules week by week—some even have meditation and sound healing sessions!

Mat class studios in Metro Manila

• Soulspace – Verve Tower 1 (BGC)
• The Breathing Room PH – Icon Plaza (BGC)
• Sun Space – Prince Tower (Salcedo Village, Makati)
• Torre Yoga and Wellness – Cityland 10 Tower 1 (Salcedo Village, Makati)
• Nada Concepts (yoga, sound baths) – Six Axis Center (Poblacion, Makati City)
• Bikram Yoga Makati (yoga) – Aguirre Building (Salcedo Village, Makati)
• Treehouse Yoga (yoga) – RGM Center (BF Homes, Parañaque)
• Nude Floor (yoga) – Ayala Malls Circuit (Makati)
• Open Mat (yoga) – Country Space 1 (Salcedo Village, Makati)
• Saddle Row (yoga) – Power Plant Mall (Rockwell, Makati)

More from Tatler: 5 silent retreats in Hong Kong where you can practise meditation and mindfulness

Typically 1 hour

Drawing from principles of ballet, barre takes its name from the ballet barre or handrail. Like pilates, this low-impact workout places emphasis on form, holds, and controlled movements, strengthening your mind-body connection. After a few sessions, you should notice an improvement in strength, as well as enhanced balance and flexibility.

During barre classes, you may spend some on the mat as well as standing with the eponymous barre as your tool. In addition, some classes may incorporate accessories like balls, blocks, and light dumbbells for an added challenge.

Barre studios in Metro Manila

• Barre3 – The Podium (Mandaluyong), Shangri-La Plaza (Mandaluyong), Power Plant Mall (Rockwell), Bonifacio High Street (BGC)
• The Breathing Room PH – Icon Plaza (BGC)

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Typically 1 hour

These functional training workouts incorporate weighted exercises you may usually perform at the gym, but in a fun, guided group class both on the floor and on the treadmill—a very dynamic, high-intensity cardio and strength challenge.

While each studio will have its own format, you can expect to use equipment like dumbells, barbells, medicine balls, resistance bands, and boxes when on the floor. Likewise, you may encounter different sorts of exercises on the treadmill like speed variations (jogging, running, or sprinting at different speeds), and resistance or incline exercises for muscular endurance. Throughout the class, you will move between the floor and the treadmill, completing the designated sets and reps specified by your instructor. If you’re unfamiliar with specific exercises, worry not for the instructors will demonstrate each move, and keep an eye on form to prevent any injuries.

Functional training studios in Metro Manila

• Bare – Forbestown (BGC)
• The Movement Studio – BGC (temporarily closed, relocating to a new branch coming soon)

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