[DISCLOSURE: At the time of writing I am not affiliated with not have been hired to promote the FlexIt company or any of the other companies or services mentioned in this article.

Any exercise program or regimen carries with it an inherent risk of injury. Consult a doctor before beginning any physical exercise program or regimen.

Read and follow any and all safety instructions on any exercise product that you purchase for your use.

All advice presented in this article is presented as is with no liability to #FrugalCongressLife or the author.]

Welcome back. This is the final part of our special three-part series for National Physical Fitness and Sports Month on fitness resources for the traveling dancer.

So you need to work out for an hour at the congress, the resistance bands and the bodyweight workouts aren’t cutting it, you need to work out in a gym, but the hotel gym sucks. What do you do? You can get on the phone with the local gyms, see who offers day passes, and pay $20-40 for a day pass to work out and shower for 1.5 hours — or you can fire up the FlexIt app for an easier and less expensive way.

Think of FlexIt as kind of an UBER for gyms: you download the app, sign up, enter your payment info, then you can use the app to locate a participating gym near your location that you want to use. Once you’ve chosen your location, the app brings up a QR code for that gym location that is scanned at the door of the location via a QR code reader, and your workout time begins, giving you full access to the gym’s facilities including the workout equipment, locker rooms, showers, and other facilities. FlexIt charges by the minute, with most of its participating gyms averaging around 15-30 cents per minute, or around $10-20 per hour. Once you leave, scan the QR code again to check out and your time stops.

For the extreme frugal commuters driving 30 minutes or more back and forth between home and the congress, FlexIt does double duty, helping dance congress commuters possibly find a relatively inexpensive place to shower and save them from having to double back home to shower in between workshops and party. This use of FlexIt will be particularly powerful for dancers attending one day of any dance event in NYC using my go-to strategy of coming up Saturday morning and leaving on the 6am MegaBus Sunday morning, as many fitness facilities in Manhattan a short subway ride away from the majority of dance events there are FlexIt participants.

Note: shower shoes are highly recommended for showering at commercial gyms.

Major gyms participating in the FlexIt app at press time include, but are not limited to: Balance Gym, Retro Fitness, Green Fitness Studio, Tribeca Health and Fitness, Compass Fitness, Youfit Health Clubs, Charter Fitness, Mountainside Fitness, BeFitNYC, Absolute Power Fitness, and Body Elite Health & Fitness Center. A full list of participating gyms can be found at https://flexit.fit/network.

At press time, the above page claims that the FlexIt company is bringing in as future partners Crossfit Rittenhouse, Goose Island Crossfit, and most notably, Gold’s Gym. The addition of the legendary Gold’s Gym chain (including the storied Venice Beach location where Arnold Schwarzenegger and Lou Ferrigno trained in the 1970s) is potentially a huge, game-changing turning point for the FlexIt app and its general business model.

With that said, the main drawback to FlexIt currently is the limited number of participating gyms. For example, the closest FlexIt partner to the upcoming DC Zouk Festival’s Dulles hotel is the Retro Fitness in Manassas, VA, a 22 minute drive away. How usable the app is for you as a traveler really depends on how close a participating gym is to wherever you are. Additionally, being as FlexIt’s business model is potentially disruptive to the commercial gym industry, I expect many gym chains will resist coming on board for some time yet. However, there are many upsides to commercial gyms becoming FlexIt partners, such as increased revenue from travelers and casual gym users using the gym on an as-needed basis, having been given a convenient, streamlined way to do so via the FlexIt app.

CONCLUSION

Not much else needs to be said. This game-changing, potentially industry-altering app offers an excellent resource for the traveling dancer looking for inexpensive, as-needed access to local gyms in town.

We hope this three-part series on fitness resources for dancers on the go helps someone look and feel their best in their dance travels! Happy National Fitness and Sports Month!