Day 53 ! Frame Camp

Cancellation policies are a necessary evil. No consumer likes them but any business can’t not have them. In the world of fitness class booking (in which, I daresay I am becoming somewhat of an expert), quite a few places have 24-hr class cancellation policies. This is annoying, to say the least. Surprisingly, the ever-popular Barrecore (Day47) adopts a 6-hr policy (maybe it is because it is so popular that it can afford to), Crossfit (Day 25 for Level 1.3 and Day 39 for Level 1.2), an 8-hr policy and the lovely Frame? A 12-hr policy.

A 12-hr cancellation policy makes a huge difference vs. a 24-hr policy. In the most plausible scenario where you’ve booked an 8am class, the chances of you thinking of bailing the morning before is slim. If you miss the class, you’ll feel burned (financially, not physically. Obviously.) But, in the scenario that you feel like going for spontaneous post-work drinks that evening  (bad afternoon at work, one of London’s handful of sunny evenings, random Monday afternoon, who’s judging) – there is an appreciation for being able to cancel the class, go for your drinks and be merry. And ultimately, I think the chances of someone going back to a place where they cancelled without losing money is much greater than someone going back to a place where they cancelled once within 24-hours and lost out.

And this is all relevant because today was Frame Camp, another of Frame’s signature classes (in addition to Day 29 Frame Method), and Frame Camp was a class that I had booked a couple times before but cancelled (with more than 12-hrs notice of course) – one time due to spontaneous drinks and one time due to waking up with a bit of sniffles(/lazy-itis). So, I thank Frame for having a decent cancellation policy because Frame Camp is one of those 30-minute classes which cost more than an hour-long class and I would’ve been upset if I’d lost my precious pounds in either of those cases. But, today was the day.

I had tried Frame’s aptly named Sweat Factory class (Day 42), for which they recommend you have tried 3 Frame Camps before trying (I hadn’t but figured 41 days of daily exercise of some sort should have stood me in good stead). Anyways, after Sweat Factory – which was i.n.t.e.n.s.e and jumped to the top of the calories-burnt-per-minute and average-heart-rate leaderboards, I was thinking that Frame Camp would be half of Sweat Factory. I was not entirely right – led by Instructor Jermaine, Frame Camp had a 13-minute (very precise when every minute counts) treadmill section, a 13-minute body conditioning section and 4 minutes to have some water and a quick stretch.

The treadmill section was much like that for Sweat Factory – alternating base speed at zero incline with intervals of increasing incline (up to 10 by the end) and increasing speed (up to base + 5 km/hr). When you set your base speed, if you tell yourself its only 13-minutes (and you can survive almost anything for 13 minutes right?), you’re more likely to push yourself. And, if you’re going to pay extra for a 30-minute class, you should want your money’s worth! It is a programme that you could replicate easily at the gym but whether you would have the discipline to without Instructor Jermaine shouting you on, is another matter.

The conditioning section was also much like that for Sweat Factory but

not on the power plates (surprisingly) – handweights were used for lunges, star jumps, squats and the final few minutes were floor-based core exercises.

Ah, but the important question, how did it fare in the leaderboards? Well, guess who’s the new leader in the calories-burnt-per-minute category! 30-minutes, efficient exercise, bam! Done.

The Need To Know:

- Where: Frame Shoreditch

- Nearest Station: Shoreditch High Street (4mins)

- When: Pretty much daily Frame Camp classes

- How Much: £10off-peak/£12peak if you have a top-up card, else all-inclusive memberships available.

- Special Note: You can purely pay as you go but it’s worth having a to-up card to benefit from slightly cheaper per class fees.

  

The Want to Know:

- Who’s it For: For those time-poor, cash-rich people who want maximum calories-burnt-per-minute.

- Sweat Scale: 8/10.

- Strength / Cardio / Flexi / Tone: Cardio and toning

- Complexity: 6/10

- Fun Factor: 7/10

- Changing Facilities: A few showers and toilets in the changing rooms. Try to avoid showering at peak time, if you can.

- Instructor Inspiration: 7/10. He looked cool, man.

The Stats:

- Total Time: 29mins

- Calories Burnt: 240 (New leader for calories burnt/minute!)

- Average Heart Rate: 150
- Max Heart Rate: 171 

With Instructor Jermaine

13 mins & 13mins (latter drop is floor core exercises!)