These days, financial types are finding a new way of bonding with one another—fitness training, or more particularly, spinning classes. From bankers to hedge fund managers, they’re aiming to build relationships that begin with a workout and go beyond that.

John Abularrage, head of Tullett Prebon Plc’s Americas unit, takes his clients to SoulCycle, a Tribeca fitness center, for morning sessions. “Some of them are more eager than you would imagine to trade a heavy dinner or drinks for a workout,” he told Bloomberg. “When there’s a lot of entertaining to do for your job, you can get out of shape pretty quickly.”

The usual way of entertaining comes at a price that can easily become a burden for the health-conscious individual; drinks, dinners, and tickets to games that sell primarily fatty foods, may leave you feeling good, but the long-term affects are questionable.

Eric Posner, former HSBC Holdings Plc salesman, and Chelsea Kocis, former equity saleswoman, formed the cycling studio called Swerve Fitness, was created as a haven for banker outings and funded by traders they used to take classes with.

There’s a bond you can form with someone through fitness that you can’t at a bar,” Posner said.

Justin Sliney, head of currency and rates trading for the Rabobank Groep, told Bloomberg last week that he planned to take his former boss to an early morning Barry’s Boot Camp class in Tribeca.

A lot of people who work on Wall Street, every hour of free time they have is precious and they want to maximize it,” Sliney said. “It’s a nice alternative to dinners or drinks. It’s a 6 a.m. alternative.”

Still, not everyone would agree. Others prefer the tried-and-true method of entertainment. From Bloomberg:

Some bond salesmen, who requested anonymity because of company policies, said that the old way of entertaining is more effective. One said he suspects a co-worker uses client workouts as an excuse to leave the office early for triathlon training. A saleswoman, when told of the trend by a reporter, cursed and put down the phone to express her disbelief to colleagues. She said she prefers to take traders to Yankees games and then Sin City, a nearby strip club.”