It was
only a couple days ago (Day 29 Frame Method in fact) where I first professed my love for Sweaty Betty.
Bright, trendy and darn good-looking sports kit had been a long time coming and
it sure arrived with those little grey and pink circles. But it wasn’t just the
clothing (which, let’s be honest, is more in the Michelin-star restaurant price
range for clothing rather than a Greggs sausage roll (which I also love and was
distraught to hear may be gone for.ever.)), it was the whole message of Sweaty
Betty – empowering women to take control, be fit and look good doing it.
Telling the World that if they want to be your lover, they have to get with
your friends and all that.
So when I
found that Sweaty Betty had various dance, pilates, yoga, boxing clubs and
bootcamps organised through their branches, it made sense. Build a community,
encourage people to get moving and what excuse do people have when it’s free!
Now, I've
said before that I think working out on your own can be incredibly boring hence
why it's hard to motivate yourself to go for a solo workout. The advantages of
classes (or working out in a group) are the moral support, the encouragement
from the rest of the group and the unspoken competitiveness (resulting from the
natural human instinct to not want to be the worst), which together inevitably
leads to you working harder than you would have done on your own.
But, if
you happen to have a group who are not really feeling it on the day, the group
effect goes the other way. It's easier to slack off if others are and it’s
harder to really push yourself if you’re in the minority who are counting to
the full 20 reps. I actually blame it on the weather(man) – it was too sunny an
evening, Hyde Park was pretty full of picnicers and young lovebirds, pretty
much everyone had thought of blowing off the outdoor bootcamp in favour of
alfresco drinkies and so the mindset was messed from the beginning. Most of the
girls looked very good – and I mean make-up artist styled good. Now, I am
pretty sure this was leftover make up from the day (and not applied
specifically for the bootcamp) but my point is nothing to do with looking good
– I’m all for looking good while you work out but practically, it’s a bad idea.
Foundation mixed with sweat running into your eyes (stingy!), streaky marks on
your face where you wiped your forehead, mascara and eyeliner running down your
cheeks – no siree. Not to mention having a smoke on way to the park…
So, the
bootcamp itself. Solo exercises involved jogging round trees, your standard
walking lunges, jumping forward squats, planks, push-ups and side body lifts
etc. The paired exercises were new (to me) - squatting while facing each other,
holding hands and leaning outwards was the first and a pleasant enough
ice-breaker if you didn’t know your partner. Then squatting back to back with
arms linked shattered any remaining bits of ice as your derrieres essentially
rubbed together for the whole exercise (but aside from that, a very good squat,
co-ordination, teamwork exercise!). Not necessarily sweat inducing but pretty
good in the calorie-burning department (see below)!
Respect
to Instructor Iwona, who also looks like definition of fit, tried her upmost to
motivate the class and keep us going but one teacher can only do so much. If
the class doesn’t want to climb the mountain of 20reps and only want to do 14, what
can you do? The heckling from the nearby group of lads perhaps did not assist
in the matter much either.
Nonetheless,
as the class came to an end, everyone seemed in good spirits anyway and it was a fun evening in any case. And the stats don’t lie – it
was a good calorie-busting workout! Maybe the atmosphere was a Knightsbridge
thing…maybe I should try another Sweaty Betty class…
The Need To
Know:
- Where: Sweaty
Betty, Harrods branch (Bootcamp in Hyde Park)
- Nearest Station: Knightsbridge
(10mins)
- When: Wednesdays
7-8pm
- How Much: Free!
The Want to
Know:
- Who’s it For: For those who are pushed by others slacking a little.
- Sweat Scale: 5/10.
- Strength / Cardio / Flexi / Tone: Light toning
- Complexity: 5/10
- Fun Factor: 6/10. Fresh air helps!
- Changing Facilities: None
- Instructor Inspiration: 8/10.
The Stats:
- Total Time: 46mins
- Calories Burnt: A very decent 255
- Average Heart Rate: 131
- Max Heart Rate: 161
 |
| Sunny Hyde Park! |
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