Pilates, like sword ownership and sleeping, is an age-old practice whose benefits are just now being appreciated. Reap the rewards of tried-and-true ways of life with today's Groupon: for $49, you get one month of unlimited mat and Reformer/Tower classes (a $145 value) at Spencer Pilates Arts, located in Forest Hills, Queens.

Pilates pros and newbies alike head to Spencer to fortify their cores with both mat- and machine-based regimens. Experienced instructors lead students through calorie-charring exercises designed to shave pounds, build body awareness, and ease injury recovery. Beginners internalize the fundamentals of the Pilates approach to fitness during mat classes and Essentials machine sessions, mastering the basic principles of precision and motion control that allow expert benders to flirtatiously wink a single ab. Allegro machine sessions challenge more advanced exercisers to execute moves from a broad range of the Pilates spectrum. Clients stretch and thrust in a sunny studio equipped with both Reformers and adapted Cadillac machines called towers.

As indicated on Spencer's most recent schedule, mat classes meet on weekend mornings and afternoons, with Reformer/Tower classes running all day strong throughout the entire week.