The Blurb:
The Befit4 workout is nothing if not various. Broadly a mixture of personal training, yoga and pilates, the team tailor their classes to the goals of the people they train. So Befit4cycling has proved popular over the summer and Befit4skiing is expected to pick up before the snow starts to fall in the Alps. They offer strength and conditioning in different forms and have 18 trainers under their wing, with different specialities and locations around the city. They work with all kinds of unusual requests too. Vivi, the second of two trainers in our hour with them, tells us that she’d recently been working with some rugby players wanting pilates.
The Process:
Saturday morning at the Tabernacle and I’m wondering why I can’t stand upright and circle my arms at right angles to my body for any longer than 15 seconds at a time. Sweat runs off my forehead, my shoulder muscles seem to have nothing left to give and consequently, my arms drop. Could it be because of the eight rounds of 30 second boxing sequences I’d been doing only five minutes before? Or was it down to the exercise we’d just finished, switching between a starting press up position and a plank position on my elbows?
We were asked about injuries before warming up by jogging around in a circle, switching direction and haphazardly being asked to touch the floor. A big hunk of smiling muscle called Babs then lead us through a series of exercises that combined cardiovascular with balance before subjecting us to the plank and boxing combo that left me puffed out. I consider myself slightly fitter than average and I’ve tried yoga and boxing before, so the exercises were familiar. It’s the mixing it up that proved challenging and, over a series of weeks, would definitely have improved my all round fitness.
The second half of the class was Vivi’s combination of pilates and yoga moves. This was when my circling arms dropped. As she watched us adopt various positions, she offered helpful insight into our posture and alignment. Correcting us where necessary, she also offered some good humoured teasing as encouragment.
The Result:
There was definitely sweat, but there were also more than a few laughs. Writing this the day after, the stiffness and aches I’m feeling vouch for the effectiveness of the class.
Prices depend on the size of your group and the kind of exercise you want to do – generally the more of you, the less you pay. Signing up for 10 sessions will get you a discount but temptingly, if there are seven or more of you, you get to try before you buy so if you don’t like the class or the trainer for any reason, you’re not committed to those 10. As an example, for six people, it’s £20 per person. However, 10 sessions costs £165 per person with one additional session free, which works out at £15 per person. So if you can get a group of your mates together, you get a trainer to yourself and they’ll come to you. Who needs the gym?
