It’s October, and that can only mean one thing: Halloween is coming! While Halloween is only on one day, many are happy to spend the entire month leading up to October 31st celebrating. Why not draw on the excitement and fun of the holiday to have a Halloween-themed class at your studio?

There are many ways to leverage holidays at your studio to do special classes and events that will bring your clients together and promote a sense of community. So whether you have a spooky spin class or a ghoulish yoga session this month, get creative and enjoy it—if you and your staff are having fun, your clients will get into the spirit of the Halloween holiday, too! Here are our tips for hosting a Halloween-themed class.

Set a Spooky Ambiance

First things first, set the scene for a Halloween-themed escape. Break out your best Halloween decorations to spook-ify your studio. Light some paper jack-o-lanterns (if it’s safe…otherwise try battery-powered candles) and get out the spider web cotton to string around your reception desk or in the classroom. This could work especially well for an evening class with low lighting. Decorated or carved pumpkins, fake spiders, rats, and scarecrows are all nice touches to make your space feel like Halloweentown.

Use Halloween Props in Class

Why not swap a medicine ball for a pumpkin just to shake things up? Ask clients to bring in a 5-10lb pumpkin for class. They can do a twist lunge or squats holding their pumpkin instead of the usual weight. The person with the biggest pumpkin could win a small prize, or just glory rights. You could even set space aside for people to stay an extra twenty minutes to paint their pumpkins after class and decorate the studio. Either way, Halloween props are a great opportunity to showcase your fun and creativity with clients and share it on social media, as well.

Do A Halloween-Inspired Workout

Whether you are a Pilates studio, yoga studio, or a gym, there are plenty of ways to bring in your best Halloween-inspired moves for your class. Think of a punny, clever spin-off for the name of the class—spooky spin, get R.I.P.’d, hocus Pilates, dancing with the dead…you get the idea.

For Pilates, consider building a class with poses like the neck pull, scissors, cork-screw, jack knife, spinal twist—at the very least the names evoke some Halloween horrors! And for yoga try postures like the cat cow, cobra, wild thing, mummy pose, crow, locust, and of course, corpse pose. For a strength training class or spooky warm up for any class, you can do mummy kicks, Frankenstein walk, spiderman planks, vampire v-sits, etc. to help clients get in the spirit.

Break a Sweat to a Wicked Halloween Playlist

If decorating or using pumpkins while you work out is not your thing, it’s worth at least creating a custom Halloween-mix of spooky songs to set the tone for your spin, strength training, Pilates, yoga, rowing or dance classes. Just be sure to include it in the class description beforehand so clients know what to expect beforehand.

There’s so many to choose from, but we’ve brainstormed a handful of our favorite Halloween-y songs below:

  • Thriller (Michael Jackson)
  • Monster Mash (Bobby Pickett)
  • Ghostbusters (Ray Parker Jr.)
  • Somebody’s Watching Me (Rockwell)
  • Pet Cemetery (The Ramones)
  • Super Freak (Rick James)
  • Disturbia (Rihanna)
  • High for This (The Weekend)
  • Mad House (Rihanna)
  • Yellow Flicker Beat (Lorde)
  • Go (Grimes)
  • Time Warp (Rocky Horror Picture Show Soundtrack)
  • Black Magic Woman (Santana)
  • Enter the Circus (Christina Aguilera)
  • Nightmare On My Street (DJ Jazzy Jeff, Fresh Prince)

Invite Clients to Come Dressed in Costume

Nothing draws a group of people together faster than the opportunity to let loose and have fun, especially while getting a workout in! Invite your students to come dressed in  costume, either for class or a special event at the studio. There are plenty of exercises that can still work while your clients are dressed as Harry Potter, Superman, Wonder Woman, Darth Vader and so on. To encourage people to come dressed up, you could offer a prize for best costume—the prize might be a free personal training session, a discount on a class pack, a free t-shirt—whatever you want to give! And if you really want to promote bonding, make it a whole ordeal with a potluck dinner or light refreshments after the class so that people can keep that sense of community going even after they’ve broken a sweat.