Nude exercise happens at scheduled sessions, not at permanent venues: a pool hired for a Sunday afternoon, a yoga class on a Tuesday evening, a hike on the solstice. Once you know that, finding it is easy, because sessions have organizers, calendars and rules, and all three are visible before you turn up.
Naturist swims
The naturist swim is the oldest form of organized social nudity in cold countries, and it has a longer history than most people realize. From the late nineteenth century until the 1960s, and in some places into the 1970s and 1980s, boys and men were required to swim nude in American indoor pools, including YMCA pools, on hygiene grounds; the American Public Health Association's 1926 guidance called for it at men-only indoor pools, on the theory that wool suit fibers clogged filters. The APHA changed its guidance in 1962 and the practice faded over the next two decades. Mixed naturist swims replaced it: a club hires a pool outside public hours and members swim, sauna and talk without costumes.
In the United Kingdom, British Naturism's directory lists more than thirty regular swims. Typical examples are a club that meets on alternate Sundays at a municipal pool, or Glasgow's Sunday Swim with a pool, Turkish suite and saunas. In the United States and Canada, non-landed clubs rent YMCA, swim-school and university pools the same way, usually monthly through the winter, and post the dates in their group and on the events calendar. Rules are consistent everywhere: shower before entering, towel on every seat, no cameras, ID at the door at many sessions, and children only with their parents at family swims. Expect to pay what the pool charges the club divided by the attendance, usually $10 to $20.
Naked yoga
Nude yoga is a fixture in big cities. New York has had it for two decades: Bold & Naked offers men's, women's and coed naked classes weekly, and Naked in Motion runs nude yoga and Pilates where nudity is mandatory (with an option for women and transgender participants to keep bottoms on), at drop-in prices in the $15 to $25 range. London, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Toronto and Melbourne all have studios or regular pop-up classes. The studios are clear that the classes are non-sexual; arousal is handled the same way it is at a beach, with a towel and a moment, and anyone who makes a show of it is asked to leave. Bring your own mat and a large towel to cover it. Most classes start with a short talk for first-timers, and the first ten minutes are the hard part for everybody.
Nude fitness classes and gyms
Permanently nude commercial gyms are rare, and the ones that get press tend to be a gym offering a scheduled naked session a few times a week, as one New York gym did with men's, women's and coed naked workouts three times a week. The stable version is the gym at a naturist resort, where nudity is as normal as at the pool, and the club workout: a non-landed club booking a studio or a hall for a nude circuit, Pilates or dance evening. The towel rule is absolute on equipment, wipe-downs are expected after every machine, and shoes are usually required for anything involving weights. Search the events calendar for "fitness" and "yoga", and check the resort listings for gyms on site.
Naked hiking
Naked Hiking Day is June 21, the summer solstice, and it is the one day of the year when naturist organizations on both sides of the Atlantic promote hiking clothes-free. British Naturism has run official walks of six to nine miles in several English counties with dozens of walkers; AANR promotes the day in the United States and also calls it Nude in Nature Day. It is an unofficial holiday, so the usual laws apply: in US national parks nudity can be cited as disorderly conduct by rangers, which is why American nude hikers use national forests, Bureau of Land Management land, state land where the law allows it (Oregon's does, within limits), and private trails at clubs and resorts. The practical rules are the ones hikers already know, plus three: carry something to put on when you meet other walkers, pick trails with low traffic and plenty of sightlines so nobody is surprised, and use more sunscreen than you think you need, in places you have never put it.
Germany has gone further. The Harzer Naturistenstieg, an 18-kilometer marked trail between Dankerode and the Wippertal reservoir in the Harz mountains of Saxony-Anhalt, opened in May 2010 as the country's first official nude hiking trail, after a local campsite owner campaigned for it and the regional objections were overcome. Signs at the trailheads warn walkers that they may meet naked people; clothed hikers are welcome. It is a loop through forest and along the reservoir, and it is the model other German regions have followed. The Germany listings cover it alongside the FKK campsites in the Harz.
How to find all of this
- The events calendar. Swims, yoga and hikes are events with dates. The calendar is the first place organizers post them.
- Groups. Every metro area with a naturist scene has a group, and most have a dedicated hiking or swim group. Join, read, then ask.
- Non-landed clubs. They are the organizers of most indoor sessions. Our guide on finding nudists near you explains how to get into one.
- Resorts. Many landed clubs host yoga mornings, 5k runs and volleyball leagues for members and day visitors. Check the resort directory and the resort's own calendar.
- Ask a regular. Members in the directory who list hiking or yoga on their profile will tell you which sessions are good and which have folded.
The rules, wherever you go
- Towel between you and anything shared: mat, bench, seat, machine, pool deck.
- Shower before water. Wipe down equipment after.
- No cameras, including the phone on the mat next to you.
- Non-sexual, always. The organizers will say it, the sign will say it, and the room will enforce it.
- Shoes where there is weight, broken ground or a hot surface. Naturism does not mean barefoot.
- The resort and club etiquette rules apply indoors; the beach etiquette rules apply on a trail.