Entertainment

Let’s make a deal!

Working out in the cold, cruel winter is already a challenge, and the high price of gyms in New York City is an easy excuse to spend the season on your couch, admiring the physique of the actors on “Grey’s Anatomy.” Chains like New York Sports Clubs can exorcise $100 a month from your wallet, while boutique fitness centers like Pure Barre will have you feeling the burn for $325 each month.

But you can still get slim on a slim budget, if you know the tricks.

In January, most gyms will waive initiation fees to encourage people with get-fit resolutions to actually join up.

But with membership prices never really set in stone, The Post asked fitness experts from around the city to share their secrets of how to break a sweat but not your budget.

Be super-attractive

Ripped, sexy bodies help bring in the customers. If you are a model or are particularly good-looking (or just have a healthy dose of self-confidence and a willingness to get shot down), ask the desk if the gym has a model discount. Bring a portfolio, if you’ve got one, and look the part.

“Throw on some lipstick and some short shorts,” says Kiyomi Fuller, a former employee of the upscale David Barton Gym, who now works in p.r.

Flex your haggling muscles

Aching for a free training session or body-fat assessment? Just ask. Many gyms will throw you this little bonus to help pump up the deal.

New members, says Crunch spokeswoman Christina DeGuardi, “can get that on the day that they join.”

Carlos Frias, a personal trainer with the Mercedes Club, says he’ll offer some bonus sessions, which usually cost an extra $100 or more, or throw in passes for friends and family. Steve Schum, a onetime manager at New York Sports Clubs and Bally, says you can pit gyms against each other for a better deal. (But don’t get too outlandish and claim you got six free years and a free Bowflex machine from another spot.)

Bet it all on a full year

Paying your whole year’s worth of membership costs at once can seem like a huge weight to lift: An annual Crunch membership can cost more than $1,200, while a year of climbing at Brooklyn Boulders can run you $849. But paying it all upfront leads to big savings versus paying monthly. A full-year paying Brooklyn Boulders member would save $339 per year, while a Crunch member gets six months free.

Let the salesperson sweat

If you’ve got an annual membership, spin your wheels a bit before you re-sign. “If you pretend to leave, they’ll definitely throw a bone at you and see what they can help you out with,” Fuller says. A salesman “wants to meet his quota. He’ll give you some leeway with renewal prices or throw in a free session or two.”

Senior savings

This is one for the more well-tread gym goer: Members of AARP get discounts on personal training sessions, usually about 20 percent off. Seniors such as the in-shape Betty White can also flex their muscles and score cool discounts on memberships and fitness DVDs from fitness centers such as Gold’s Gym.

Go in groups

Forget personal training sessions; grab a team of buddies and make a party out of it. Mercedes Club’s Frias says this works best at big fitness chains, where you usually pay a fraction of the cost of personal training sessions and get a five- to eight-week course for between $100 and $400 per person.

Grab a pass

In recent years, gyms have kicked the habit of offering special discount days. Instead, they’re just giving away full-day guest passes. “The best way is for people to get in there and ask for a trial,” Crunch’s DeGuardi says. The New York Sports Clubs offers discount passes on its Web site, where you can get 30 days for $30 credited to your membership.

Go on a marathon deals binge

Group-deal sites have bulked up their offers with gym memberships, which are becoming a staple of sites like Groupon and Living Social. Deals are typically at least 50 percent off the regular price for a month or two at a time. “Those are really awesome for the average everyday New Yorker who can’t afford those really high-end gyms,” Fuller says.

Use the calendar

Sprint to the gym on the last day of the month, when salespeople are desperate to fill quotas. “They’ll do pretty much anything to get your business,” says Schum, who’s waived initiation fees or awarded free first months when he’s been looking to fill his numbers.

Get some help from Gilbert

Why not find motivation in other dieters’ misery? “The Diet Show,” co-written by comic actor Gilbert Gottfried, features true-life stories and other fitness-related performances, starring former cast members of “The Biggest Loser.” After the show ($44 at Stage 72, 158 W. 72nd St.), the audience gets free seven-day passes to Anytime Fitness.

tdonnelly2@nypost.com