It has been a week, like a WEEK. And the gym has been a refuge. I’m joining Running on Happy and Fairytales and Fitness for the Friday Five 2.0 linkup. But man, favorite spaces is such a subjective, personal topic! And so dependent on what your area is like! For me, where I currently live, it’s hard to even stretch and foam roll inside. But some of you may have incredible home gyms or workout spaces which makes it a great place to work out! Here are my 5 best/favorite places to workout (outside of home).

  1. Outdoors. I love running, and I run all year long. I do all of my long runs outside, and many of my shorter runs as well. I’ll run in the dark (with a lamp), in the day, in the sun, rain, snow, ice, cold and heat. I’m lucky that the DC area has a variety of quiet trails, urban streets and neighborhoods that gives my running a ton of variety. I particularly love running the quiet hills of my neighborhood, the paved Capital Crescent Trail, and around the DC monuments.
  2. Functional Fitness VA. I’m spoiled and I know it. FuncFit is such an awesome place and great little community. I learned all of the kettlebell things I know there. They taught me how to deadlift. My balance, strength (in both big and little muscles) and confidence has definitely increased in the past three years. And, I’m still learning new things! Gotta love a gym that has dogs and monthly happy hours too!

    Short run + 1hr kettlebell class + bells&beer night #mixnmatch #funcfit #bells&beer

    A post shared by Christina (@runtraveladventure) on

  3. Standard gyms. This could be Gold’s, Lifetime, Planet Fitness, a hotel gym, an apartment complex gym. When the weather is terrible or you want to add some strength training, a standard gym is fantastic. I keep my membership at a standard gym so I can run early/late, use the stair machine to prep for Peru, go to a spin class sometimes, do some strength training.

  4. Parks. For a few months FuncFit didn’t have an indoor space so we met in parks. It kind of opened my eyes to all the ways that you can use public spaces. A lot of parks and trails also have little exercise stations to help with balance, bodyweight exercises, etc. This is definitely on my list for when spring arrives- take even more advantage of parks for stretching, exercising, having fun.
  5. Lincoln Memorial. Again, I know that this is super location-specific and I’m a little spoiled. The views from the Lincoln are amazing. You can run up and down the stairs and along the reflecting pool. You can do bodyweight exercises and catch your breath while reading the quotes inside the memorial. It never fails to inspire me.

What inspires you when life is rough? Do you have any refuge workout spaces?

3 Thoughts on “Friday Five: 5 Best Workout Spaces/Places

  1. You have just inspired me to plan a DC weekend with my husband! We have gone before but I want to hit up some museums again!

    • Christina on February 4, 2017 at 5:51 pm said:

      Yay! The museums are always changing, and the monuments are always moving to run by. If you want running route recommendations or a group to run with over the weekend here, let me know!

  2. I love DC. It’s so beautiful and by far my favorite city.

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