Sweating and Smiling, what’s not to like?
A couple of weeks ago, Adidas hosted a ‘Spring into Summer’ event at Westfield London, where you could try out new fitness classes for free. They had set up a huge fitness area on the ground floor where you could try out treadmills, Powerplates, rowing machines and a boxing ring.
The studio itself was a contained space with wooden floors, large mirrors and the new adidas range displayed. Their new campaign #mygirls, is similar to Nike’s, encouraging women to get out with their friends and exercise. Check out their website for some serious fitspiration.
The class I tried was Swedercise, a concept originating in Sweden and brought over to the UK By Friskis and Svettis, a not for profit organisation, aiming to make exercise accessible and affordable for everyone, as well as fun!
Class started with a warm up in a circle- infact most of the class is done whilst in a circle facing inward. The aim of this is to get you to smile at one another, rather than focusing on yourself. This is fun, but a little awkward, if like me you struggle to get the moves right. You move round to the left, right and into the centre- often with your arms in the air (remember to shave your armpits!)
Most of the cardio moves are pretty simple, so if you are co-ordinated you will have no problem. Sadly I am not blessed with the ability to dance, and can safely say that for some of the ‘bum shaking’ moves, I was the worst in the class. Ok, for almost all of the moves, I was worst in the class.
Each cardio section is performed to some amazing pop classics, such as Cotton Eye Joe, which definitely produced some smirks. Combined with the whoops of joy coming from our teacher and some of the other participants (I’m afraid to say I’m too British to whoop), the class was definitely a happy one.There was one girl doing her own thing in the corner for most of the class and this seemed to be totally acceptable!
The cardio is broken up with a couple of minutes of strength moves, and it’s here that beginners may struggle. Plank was held for a full minute- with no instruction on how to modify it. Infact, there were limited instructions throughout the class, mostly you are expected to watch the instructor and copy.
This class would be great if you love Zumba, are looking for something different and not too serious! However, if you’re easily embarrassed, mal co-ordinated or looking for something a bit more structured, you might want to give it a miss.
You can try a Swedercise class in London for free- have a look at the website for classes and locations.
Check out my review of a Swedercise class on Handbag.com
Apologies for the poor quality photos- they were taken on my new camera but I must have done something wrong when uploading as they’ve gone all blurry! Any advice will be gladly taken!
Have you tried a new fitness class recently? Any that you would recommend?
Looks like fun! I’ve never really taken a fitness class before. I would like to try one someday (when I can afford it!)