While Miami is known for its ‘endless summer,’ there are plenty of opportunities to stay active throughout every season, whether it’s 80 degrees out or hurricane season. From swimming in the ocean to organized workout classes, it is no question that the people of this city love to be active. Regardless of your skill level, Miami offers all types of workout opportunities. It’s all about finding what works for your body, your mind and your life.

Bump, set, spike and serve!

What some may think to be a fun game at the beach with friends, beach volleyball can double as a full body workout sesh. University of Miami first- year student Olivia Hoy was tired of the gym, but still looking for ways to keep active. 

“It’s a good workout,” she said. 

Interested in resistance training? Playing on sand does just that. 

I really feel like you use everything in volleyball, but mostly your legs are what gets tired the most from jumping and moving in the sand.” Hoy added. 

At the University of Miami, you can play beach volleyball at any level; recreational, intramural and club. 

 Splish Splash

When students answer the question “why did you come to the University of Miami” most people choose the most obvious option: the sunny weather. Students at the University of Miami have the benefit of basking in the sun in the heart of campus at the university pool. 

Whether it’s swimming around in the pool with friends or simply soaking up the Miami heat, a trip to the pool has several health benefits that most college students do not have access to. 

Try it out: grab your beach towel and head to the middle of campus for your next authentic Miami workout!

Take Your A** To Class

If you are someone who feels guilty for skipping the gym because you can’t squeeze a workout into your busy schedule, the benefits of walking to and from class should put your mind at ease. 

Walking to class is a basic daily task, but it also gets your heart rate pumping. Just walking to and from class once a day makes a half hour of moving your body seem simple, and in the hot weather, might actually make you break a sweat. In addition, the wildlife and nature on campus makes this walk far more enjoyable than the view of racking weights at the gym.

So, next time you feel guilty about not going to the gym, remember that walking also provides benefits to your health, and better yet, is already incorporated in your daily routine. 

Stretch it Out

It seems pilates studios are popping up on every block in Miami, but is it worth it, or is it overpriced stretching? Junior Michelle Novak went to TREMBLE, a Pilates studio with locations across Miami-Dade and Broward county, because she “wanted to see if it was worth the hype.” In the beginning, Novak was intimidated, but as the class went on, she felt more comfortable. 

At the class’s end, Novak felt it was “very worth it.” She was able to try a new type of exercise, and it gave her something to do. She described this workout as a “slow burn.” The weight was low, but the reps were high, so it made her feel very strong by the end, and it was different from what she typically does. Despite not being able to trust everything on TikTok, you can trust that Pilates works. 

SolidCore

SolidCore is a low-impact strength training class that works by exhausting a person’s muscles to failure. Despite being on a Pilates reformer machine, it is not considered Pilates. As the class begins, the lights go down, and the music blasts, and you know it is time to start. 

Each 50-minute class works two big muscle groups: core and obliques. Some days, it is the chest and center glute, while other days, it is the biceps and outer glute. As a student, you can get a membership discount, so try it out!

Home Away From Home

During a rough week at school UM’s Herbert Wellness Center on the Coral Gables campus has the perfect solution for your needs: organized workout classes. Whether you are looking to increase your energy with some Zumba or relax your body with yoga, the Herbert Wellness Center has it all. UM students’ workouts can be planned out for them in just a click of a button, using the UM Wellness app. After you book your session, all you have to do is show up and the instructors will take it from there!

Yoga to Bark About

If you miss your pets from home and want to destress with yoga, you can do both at once by attending Puppy Yoga. This is a time for you to cuddle with puppies while doing soothing postures and breath work. 

After talking with Harper Smith, a freshman at the University of Miami, she said “Overall it was a great experience. The yoga instructor was fun, and the puppies were adorable!” 

Hot Girl Walks

With beautiful scenery everywhere and hundreds of parks around the city, there are plenty of fun places to get your steps in. 

Brickell Key, the island frequently featured in many Miami-based influencers’ videos, offers great views of the ocean, Miami Beach, and Brickell. The perimeter of the island is a 1.3-mile paved footpath that is perfect for a walk and pictures.

 The city of Miami has also been working on a 10-mile-long park called the underline for the past decade, and is set to be completed in 2026. With a bulk of the park completed in Brickell and surrounding areas, it offers foot trails, bike paths, recreational areas, and “urban gyms.” 

However, with great weather most of the year, any walkable area in Miami can be the site for a hot-girl walk.  

Get Ready to Rumble

Although working out often feels like a chore, its sole purpose is to help maintain your health or achieve some unrealistic physical expectation (especially in a city notorious for superficiality like Miami), can be something exciting, or, in the case of kickboxing, a valuable self-defense skill. 

Rumble Boxing, a Miami-based company, combines boxing with strength training, and, well, their mission says it all: “We hold these truths to be self-evident that working out doesn’t have to suck.”

Gaby Del Rey, a former PhD student at UM, attends weekly Rumble classes, which she calls “the SoulCycle of boxing.” She’s been kickboxing on-and-off for ten years, and finds it to be very cathartic, stress-relieving, and holistic.

“You get to let out that steam and hit something really hard, which you don’t get to do every day. You’re also using every single muscle in your body, even ones that you don’t even realize you have, Del Rey says.”

Miami’s year-round agreeable weather — most of the time — and diverse landscapes are conducive to unique and less gym-centric ways of staying active. From playing beach volleyball on campus or attending classes at the Herbert Wellness Center, to scenic walks in Brickell Key and kickboxing classes in Coral Gables, there’s an activity for everyone, everywhere. 

words&photo_becky rodriguez,  elena fallow, lily wendorff and julianna del rey

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