Ways to Work Out in Chicago

Plenty of Chicagoans are fitness fanatics. When your city's signature food is deep-dish pizza, you kind of have to be if you want to keep the pounds off. That makes it easy to fit a workout into your visit, and the best options are outdoors and free. Most of this page is about the warmer months, from about May to October. There's a section on winter at the end.

Run the Lakefront Trail

The Lakefront Trail is the reason runners like this city. It runs along Lake Michigan from Ardmore Avenue on the North Side to 71st Street on the South Side, past beaches, harbors, playgrounds, volleyball courts and the skyline. It used to be one shared path, and on summer weekends it was a slalom of strollers, bikes and rollerbladers. In 2018 the Park District finished splitting it into two, an 18-mile bike trail and an 18.5-mile pedestrian trail, which made running on it a lot more pleasant. Stay on the pedestrian side. Early morning is still the quietest time, especially near Navy Pier and North Avenue Beach, where the crowds are thickest.

From downtown, the easy loop is north from the river to North Avenue Beach and back, or south past the Museum Campus to the Adler Planetarium, where the view back at the skyline is the best in the city. The Park District has maps of every section on its trail page.

If you'd rather run with company, Fleet Feet Chicago hosts free weekly runs through its running club. The Chicago Hash House Harriers, "a drinking club with a running problem," are still at it too. Their motto is "every week of the year we run for beer," and the schedule is on their hare line page. If you're here on a Sunday in October, you can watch the Chicago Marathon, one of the largest races in the world by number of finishers. It starts and ends in Grant Park and winds through 29 neighborhoods, so you can cheer from almost anywhere.

Take the 606

The 606 is the other great running route, and it's nothing like the lakefront. It's an old freight line along Bloomingdale Avenue, turned into a 2.7-mile elevated trail in 2015, running from Ashland Avenue west through Wicker Park, Bucktown, Humboldt Park and Logan Square to Ridgeway Avenue. It's open 6am to 11pm every day. You're up above the traffic the whole way, and the out-and-back makes an easy 5.4 miles. It's shared by runners, walkers and cyclists, so go in the morning. See our Bucktown page for where to get breakfast afterward.

Ride a Divvy

Divvy, the city's bike share, has docks all over town, and it's the simplest way to ride the Lakefront Trail. A single ride on a classic bike costs $1 to unlock plus 20 cents a minute. If you're riding for more than an hour, get the $19.90 day pass, which covers unlimited classic-bike rides of up to three hours each for 24 hours. E-bikes cost more and defeat the purpose here. Scooters aren't allowed on the Lakefront Trail or The 606. Our transportation page has the rest.

If you'd like a better bike, or a guide, Bike & Roll, which ran the bike tours this page recommended in 2010, still rents bikes and runs guided rides from its shop at Navy Pier. The lakefront ride south to the Museum Campus and back is a good first loop. Our sightseeing tours page covers the guided rides.

Paddle the river

Kayak Chicago is still running rentals, classes and tours for every skill level. Its river base is at 1220 W. LeMoyne Ave., on the North Branch, and in season it also rents from Montrose Beach and North Avenue Beach, so you can paddle on the lake as well. The tour list has grown since 2010, with an architecture tour, sunset and city lights tours, a skyline paddle, fireworks tours, stand-up paddleboard tours and a big voyageur canoe. Check the site for current prices and the season. The ways to get out on the water page has other boats.

Swim in Lake Michigan

Chicago has 22 public swimming beaches along 26 miles of lakefront, and they're all free. Swim season runs from the Friday before Memorial Day through Labor Day, and swimming is only allowed from 11am to 7pm, when lifeguards are on duty. Look for the flag before you go in. Green means swim, yellow means be careful and red means stay out, whether because of waves or bad water after heavy rain.

If you want to swim laps rather than splash around, go to Ohio Street Beach, just north of Navy Pier. It's where the open-water swimmers go, since you can swim half a mile along the seawall toward the Oak Street curve. The water stays cold well into June. Our beaches page covers each beach and the rules.

Join a free class in Millennium Park

If you're missing your gym, this is the fix. On Saturday mornings from mid-May to early September, Millennium Park Summer Workouts run free 45-minute classes back to back on Wrigley Square or the Great Lawn: Pilates at 8am, yoga at 9am, cardio kickboxing at 10am and Zumba at 11am, with live music for the first two. Classes skip some dates, including the Fourth of July, so check the park calendar. See free summer events in Millennium Park and Grant Park for the rest of the season.

At Navy Pier, the Wellness Way is a 1.5-mile loop around the pier with distance markers and fitness stations at the far end. The east end of the pier has one of the best free skyline views in town.

Gyms and drop-in classes

The Chicago Park District runs 69 fitness centers in parks across the city, and many parks also hold classes like yoga, Pilates, kickboxing and circuit training. They're cheap, but they're set up for locals. You need a membership, and the shortest one lasts a month, so they only make sense on a long stay.

For a short trip, a hotel day pass is simpler. The Fairmont Chicago, Millennium Park sells non-guests a $20 day pass to its 24-hour fitness studio, which runs toning and yoga classes and includes the locker rooms, a eucalyptus steam room and a relaxation lounge. If you already use ClassPass at home, it works in Chicago too, and plenty of studios sell single drop-in classes on their own sites. If you want a massage afterward, see the best spas in Chicago.

In winter

You can run the lakefront in January, and some people do, but you probably won't want to unless you're a hardcore fitness fanatic (and if so, go you!). The wind off the lake is brutal, and snow and ice make the footing worse. Most Chicagoans move indoors to the gyms and studios. The Skating Ribbon in Maggie Daley Park is the most fun winter workout downtown, and it stays open into early March. For more, see winter activities in Chicago and what to wear in Chicago in winter.

Photos by: Bernt Rostad, recycledfilm