FITNESS: 1Rebel, Liverpool Street

I am currently on my flight back from Paris when this post goes live, so hopefully it actually appears on screen!

1Rebel is one of London's hottest fitness studios, despite the fact it only offers two classes - Ride and Reshape. 1Rebel was founded by James Balfour, the son of Fitness First owner Mike Balfour. Determined to create something completely different to Fitness First, Balfour junior made 1Rebel the gym for people who hate gyms. From its luxury changing facilities to state of the art equipment, 1Rebel is an experience not just a work out. 

Image from GQ.

I have experienced both classes and trust me, they kick your ass. There's no calming yoga or low intensity exercises here. 1Rebel is about getting the most bang for your buck and achieving results quicker than you could have imagined. Classes range from 30 to 45 minutes of what feels like torture and always end with a sweat drench stretch off to help heal your muscles. After that you can wander on over to the stunning changing rooms and indulge in GHD hair dryers and straighteners, complementary hair spray, cleanser, toner, moisturiser and body lotion and even manicures once a month.

But before we all start dreaming of the spa-like changing rooms, lets get down to the classes. For £10 a session you can chose from Ride or Reshape. Ride is essentially a spinning class on crack. Using state of the art bikes and clip-in shoes for added support, the 45 minute session is perfectly timed to the curated playlists. From hill climbs to speed races, the class feels like it ends so quickly but there is always a next-day burn. 1Rebel also offers Live Rides, where you spin to live music - i.e. its like being at da club but on a bike. 

Reshape on the other hand is a full-throttle bootcamp experience. I compare Reshape to Barry's Bootcamp but smaller. Although I am torn between which class I prefer, 1Rebel definitely has the upper hand when it comes to their lunchtime Reshape classes. These 30 minute sessions and broken into six 5 minute segments, swapping between treadmills and Rebel Boxes containing weights. I generally start on the treadmill working through hill climbs (they are hell), sprints and dynamic mode racing. The floor section of the workout features heavy weight lifting, planks, crunches, burpees, frogees and so many more torture-like moves. Although this all sounds very painful it really does go by so fast and the results are amazing - just make sure you hit the showers after your workout!

Let me know if you head to 1Rebel anytime soon. Lunchtime classes also come with a complementary juice or smoothie from the in-house Roots & Bulbs bar.
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