SIX months. I reckon that’s the average time it takes me before it sets in: gym fatigue.
It always starts so well: all the sweaty sessions on the treadmill, earphones in, telly on, running, always running (but to where?). But, after a while, the gym somehow loses its appeal. It’s no longer any fun – if, indeed, it ever was.
Thankfully though, I have found something to save me from a flabtacular, gymless existence – a means of avoiding the sad and crushing fate of all that hard work being undone quicker than you can say '2 for 1 voucher'.
It’s called Street Fit.
If you’ve always wanted to try street dance but have been put off – perhaps, like myself, by worries about not being cool or coordinated enough – then it’s a perfect introduction.
Street Fit is the first dance fitness program in the UK based around the phenomenon of street dance, meant to fuse 'edgy dance moves' and 'intense fat-burning exercise'.
Now, I like dancing, but I hardly fancy myself as the next head-spinning, back-flipping Ashley Banjo or Aston Merrygold. I’m also hopelessly uncool. I think if I tried those kinds of moves I’d probably injure and humiliate myself in equal measure.
But, on the other hand, I love hip hop and R&B, and dance flick “Step Up” remains a guilty pleasure…
So, although I was initially put off by the potential for public mortification, it was the fitness part of the class which eventually swayed me.
Turning up at Studio 25 on Church Street, I had no idea what to expect, but instructor Laura-Anne quickly put us all at ease.
The class itself was split into four main sections of roughly ten minutes each, top and tailed by an obligatory warm up and cool down.
First off: cardio. A gentle succession of easy-to-grasp dance moves to music (lots of bounces and jumps and side steps, nothing too taxing).
Laura-Anne told us that starting off with a cardio session maximised on the fat-burning for the rest of the workout, which would focus more on toning. I, and the other ladies in the room, shared an approving glance. We definitely liked the sound of that.
Having worked up a bit of a sweat, we then moved on to upper body: the same formula of simple moves built up gradually into a short routine.
Then, lower body. “Get low!” we were encouraged, so we did. “Feel the burn!” After the fourth grapevine/lunge combo I was definitely feeling it.
But that was nothing compared with what was to come. Core.
“I can do this,” I thought smugly to myself, “I am prepared!” I thought back to all those gym sessions on the resistance machines, all those sit ups and lower abs and planks. Yes, I thought, I was ready.
What a fool I was. “Don’t forget to breathe,” we were reminded, “breathing is very important.”
It might sound obvious, but as I was huffing and puffing my way through a particularly gruelling repetition, my face turning hot and red with the exertion, it was not a bad piece of advice.
I reached for my water. What dastardly form of torture was this?
But the pain was a sweet kind of pain. The pain of feeling like something was actually happening; that my body was really working. The pain of achievement.
“I don’t know about you, but I’m knackered!” Laura-Anne exclaimed, delicately wiping the beads of sweat from her forehead.
Given that she has danced with the likes of Gwen Stefani, Pink, Kanye West and Katy Perry, I’m not sure if she really meant it or if she was just saying it to make us feel better, but we all appreciated it nonetheless.
I left the class feeling a heady combination of knackered and energised simultaneously.
If you’ve always wanted to try street dance but have been put off – perhaps, like myself, by worries about not being cool or coordinated enough – then it’s a perfect introduction.
But equally, it’s an excellent hour of high intensity aerobic exercise and muscle toning, in an informal and friendly atmosphere, with a brilliant (and lovely) instructor. No-one will judge you and, best of all: it’s a lot of fun.
I don’t think I’ll be donning a sideways cap or baggy pants any time soon, but I’ll definitely be back. The gym is already a distant memory.
Street Fit with Laura-Anne (@lauraannegill)
Mondays 6pm to 7pm / £4 for members; £5 for non-members / Studio 25 Manchester. http://www.studio25manchester.com/
Studio 25 Manchester, 25 Church Street, Manchester, M4 1PE
Follow Alaka on Twitter @EchoingBronze
