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305 Fitness Turns Boring Workouts Into a Night at the Club

By Heather Holland | February 6, 2013 10:17am

FLATIRON — The only difference between a 305 Fitness class and a Miami nightclub are the yoga pants.

305 Fitness, a new fitness program named after the Miami area code, tries to recreate a club-like atmosphere by bringing together a non-stop cardio workout inspired by familiar dance moves, with live DJs and strobe lights.

Before each class, Sadie Kurzban, the instructor and founder of 305 Fitness, turns off the lights except for a disco ball, and signals the DJ.

As Pit Bull’s song “Krazy” starts blaring from the big speaker, Kurzban begins leading participants through a high-energy workout inspired by dance moves you’d see at any club scene.

“My best friend and I came up with the idea at a nightclub,” said Kurzban. “Everyone is drenched in sweat, it’s three in the morning and they’re letting loose and having a blast, and we thought, why can’t working out feel like this?”

There’s no fixed choreography or routine, said Kurzban, a 23-year-old graduate of Brown University, who wasn’t formally trained to dance.

Instead, the point is to do high intensity movements that make you sweat, she explained.

“The dancing is really fun and easy to follow,” said Ariel Algus, 29, who regularly attends 305 Fitness classes. “I was just saying to my friend that we went to a club this weekend, and we got to use the moves we learned from class.”

During each class, which lasts for 55 minutes, a live DJ plays club-style music, including pop, hip-hop and house.

The DJ works from a makeshift booth at the front of the studio and she uses her laptop to browse through a prepared playlist that includes artists like Madonna, Britney Spears and Rihanna, among others.

Like Zumba, the class centers around familiar dance moves, but 305 fitness is more hip and young, said Kurzban, who said her classes are mostly filled by women in their 20s.

“So many girls in college get on the elliptical and it’s so miserable and boring,” said Kurzban. “[In a 305 Fitness class,] you feel like you’re at a concert, jumping up and down.”

Aside from scheduled fitness classes, which are offered seven days a week, 305 Fitness also offers pop-up fitness classes once a month in lofts and nightclubs all around the city.

Many of them are themed, said Kurzban, and during the event, a bartender will be available to mix up fruit and vegetable smoothies for guests on the house.

The next pop-up class will take place on Feb. 12 at Fitography Loft, located at 550 Broadway. The event will have a Valentines Day theme and a special discount: “Bring A Straight Guy For Free.”

Each class costs $24, and bulk packages are available. For more information, visit www.305fitness.com.