Montreal: Top 5 healthy date spots

Source: Adapted from ourfaves.com, June 2009

Lululemon Athletica

1394 Greene Avenue, Montreal, QC, H3Z 2B1 (and other locations)

Sign up for weekly emails from your local Lululemon location to learn more about yoga/Pilates/dance classes, or events in your community. For example, the Greene Avenue location offers yoga or fitness classes every Sunday morning at 9:30 and Wednesdays at 9:00 am, with a once-per-month session of "Bring a Man to Yoga" for your adventurous beau.

Sharx

1606 St. Catherine West, Montreal, Que., H3H 1L7

Located in the basement of the Faubourg shopping centre, Sharx features 36 pool tables, a Bubble bar, classic arcade games, and my favourite: glow-in-the-dark ‘cosmic’ bowling lanes. Warning’arrive early or give your name and take a seat at the bar, as Sharx is a popular place on the weekend. Rumours as to whether Justin Timberlake had his birthday here during his last visit to Montreal continue to circulate, but regardless, it’s a great place to relax, host a party or encourage some team-building with your coworkers. In addition, it makes a great first date/blind date spot. It’s fun, a little embarrassing and low-pressure. The booming top 40 soundtrack and the sound of crashing pins allow you to cleverly avoid awkward silences, and the booze and dorky bowling shoes act as a social lubricant. In addition, it may give you some perspective on your date that you otherwise might not have had the chance to consider’the way a person reacts to losing or winning a casual, social sporting activity can be a enlightening indicator of their personality.

Parc Mont Royal

1260 chemin Remembrance, Montreal, Que., H3H 1A2

Mount Royal Park is 101 hectares of terrain, beautiful scenery and sporting activities for the whole family. It features leash-free dog trails, inner-tubing, cross-country ski trails, snowshoeing, hiking, outdoor skating on Beaver Lake, bird-watching, pedal-boating, and more. Rental equipment is available for many activities, and there are guided tours for tourists or school groups. Arrive on foot by avenue du Parc at rue Rachel, Avenue du Pins at Peel, Côte-des-Neiges via the Trafalgar stairs, or by bike via picturesque Olmsted Road. It’s also a wonderful place to spend a sunny weekend afternoon. Nothing welcomes summer like a checkered picnic blanket, a baguette, a bunch of grapes, some cheese (maybe even a hidden tetra-pack of wine), a shady spot, and your date.

The Running Room

4873 Sherbrooke Ouest, Montreal, Que., H3Z1G9

The store features a variety of gear, snacks, water bottles, pedometers, accessories and running wear for whatever condition Mother Nature throws at you. Experts will fit you with the perfect pair of shoes to help you meet your goals, and to correct any number of postural inconsistencies. In addition, The Running Room offers fantastic clinics like Learn to Run, Survivor Clinic (for walkers and/or runners who are breast cancer survivors), Triathlon, Personal Best and Ironman as well as marathon and half-marathon training programs. For those whose schedules don’t allow them to join a group, sign up online to access route maps and running guidelines. Best bet: sign up with your partner to help keep up your motivation, and challenge each other’s personal best.

Allez-Up Climbing Gym

1339 Shearer, Montreal, Que., H3K 1G6

I recently read an article that suggests couples who exercise together build better, stronger relationships, and are more likely to stay committed. What better way to test the limits of your relationship than to place potentially 48 feet of wall space (or, for the more experienced, rocky cliffs) between you? Allez-Up is a great way to mix it up for any sporty or adventurous couple. Tone your arms, legs and buns (along with many other muscles you never knew you had) and encourage relationship-building values such as trust, partnership, goal setting, commitment and fun. Start off indoors on rue Shearer, and you never know where it might take you. Rates are $13/day for accredited members and $8 on Friday nights. If you do not pass the accreditation (safety) test, you pay $17.50 per climber couple. However, if you are planning on returning it might be worth your while to splurge on a $45 beginner’s course so you can ‘belay’ each other. There is a joke in there somewhere’

Jennifer Charlebois contributes to ourfaves.com under the name jennyc. She’s also the Montreal correspondent for Toronto lifestyle blog shedoesthecity.com.

Did we miss your favourite healthy spots, or do you have more to share? Create a list on ourfaves.com and we may feature it on besthealthmag.ca, or submit your top picks in our forums.

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