Places we are loving to workout and what we are loving to do...
Lose the heavy clothing, grab your yoga mat, and turn up the heat.
Actually, keep turning up that heat until you get to 38 degrees. Oh -- and there's humidity too, typically 40% humidity -- are you hot enough yet?
Hot box yoga follows The Barkan Method is a style of hatha yoga that originated in Calcutta, India. The Barkan Method is form of Hot Yoga and finds its roots from the Bishnu Ghosh lineage, but also integrates postures from other styles of yoga to create variations and even greater range of motion.
We strengthen and stretch all areas of the body, which helps to quiet the mind, and nourish the soul. The movements of The Barkan Method reach deep into the tissue, relieve tension and stress, revitalize and assist in overcoming many physical and emotional problems, such as sciatica, back and neck problems, and depression.
So what’s it actually like…
I hadn't done a yoga class in about 5 years when I went to Hot box with my girlfriends. Not only did they have mats and towels on offer for the newey’s, the class was structured so well it allowed people like me (amateurs but flexible), like Ollie (the most amazing yoga man I’ve ever met) and like the young girl next to me (most uncoordinated person ever) fit right in. I made the rookie error of wearing my “yoga clothes” (read: pants and t shirt) and literally had to wring the sweat out afterwards. I would recommend a pair of tight shorts and singlet/crop and an extra exorbitant towel and about 1L of water. I was amazed at how well my body adapted to the class and the heat. I can definitely say I’ve never sweated so much in my entire life but I’ve also never felt so good. I walked out cloud 9 both mentally and physically, which is a win win for someone like me who trains most days and could definitely feel their flexibility getting away from them.
Virgin Active
The gym we are members of is Virgin active. Reasons we love it...
- Great membership prices
- We can freeze our membership for up to 3 months a time which is perfect over Christmas when we head down to the beach or duck to the tropics in winter.
- They have soooo much space and by that we mean.... 25m lap Swimming pool, aqua lounge including spa, sauna, iced plunge pool, 12m self weighted rock climbing wall, pilates studio (including reformer), yoga studio, RPM studio, power plate studio, zen lounge, gym floor with a ridiculous amount of bikes, treadies and cross trainers (you never have to wait), All machines are hooked up to TV with most having a built in screen (they have foxtel so you can sweat it out to the kardashians), always have PTs on the floor to lend a hand, and 2 top studios set for Kick boxing, pump, dance, aerobics etc. VA also offers amazing change rooms kitted out with hair dryers, ghd's and plenty of lockers, a Delicious cafe for healthy treats and to top it off a set of sleeping pods perfect for a powernap.
- An iphone and android class app so you can lock yourself into torture.
- Guest passes for your friends.
- 20% off at the Adidas store.
- And to top it off a all round positive vibe, whats not to love!
As you can see its pretty much a great place to sweat it out so check them out if you are feeling a change is in order!
Xtend Barre Melbourne
Xtend Barre
As we all know summer is here and as usual we are not quiet where we thought we would be in the quest for our perfect bikini body (read: we decided to have a meaningful winter relationship with food and again don't have the Gisele Bündchen body). So instead of accepting our failure we have rallied. Last night we headed down to Xtend Barre Melbourne and got the workout of our lives.
Xtend barre you ask...? Basically it is a system that sculpts the body proportionally so that all body parts are equally challenged. This total body workout serves to strengthen, lengthen, and stretch the body from top to bottom, from inside out. Think a hybrid of ballet, pilates, yoga and a core workout (my abs are still burning) plus we did it to Madonna songs, whats not to LOVE.
It's only the day after but my core already feels so much more activated which is always a sign of a good workout. We did a combination of plies in the centre with arm weights, abs and triceps on the floor, then we moved to the barre and did glutes, calves and quads which involved alot of plies and leg raises and finished with another round of abs and plank... phew! (See below for glutes and triceps workout pics)
Now as I've said this class is amazing and will give you a new idea of pain so if you are planning on heading down I suggest you don't do what I did and do a full gym workout before hand. Also don't forget to take a pair of method socks, we wore our NICE SHAKING socks by Lululemon but xtend bar also sell socks too.
So if you are looking for a new workout for toning (read: chiseled abs, arms and buns) with the friendlest teachers going around we suggest an Xtend session. They also do classes for yummy mummies and yummy mummies to be!
Yoga 213
Biggie Biggie Biggie can't you see sometimes you Yogi just Hypnotizes me...
So as you have probably guessed we're a group of weirdos at Nourishing focus and like to do things that are different.
Continuing are weirdness last night we headed down to Yoga 213. Now although we do appreciate the meditative and healing principles of traditional yoga we would be lying if we didn't say this was the BOMB (insert sizzling emoji).
Think snoop dog meets peppermint tea.
Yoga 213 has created classes that are set to your favorite hip hop and RnB tracks. We find this mix perfect as during normal yoga (silence) we struggle. We love a good belly laugh, to tap our feet to the bass and to be honest can't concentrate to the sound of our own thoughts.
The 2 main styles are:
Chill:
Perfect for beginners, this class focuses on a Vinyasa slow flow sequence with emphasis on breath and alignment. The music is set to a quiet beat of uplifting and relaxing reggae, acoustic, folk and old school r’n’b. Think the Marleys, Fleetwood Mac, Jurassic 5, Jill Scott and James Vincent McMorrow. We leave the last 10 minutes of this class for inversions like the headstand and the handstand. This is a great class to learn the basics as well as the trickier poses
Hip Hop:
This class focuses on fluid Vinyasa flow holding postures set to loud Hip Hop music and is recommended for advanced Yogi’s but welcome to all levels. Highlighting the Flow, this class works the entire body with an emphasis on arms, legs and core. The music is set to a loud beat ranging from old and new hip hop, acoustic, electronic and reggae. Think Notorious B.I.G, Jay Z, R.Kelly and Frank Ocean. In the last 10 minutes we turn the music down and start to relax, finishing with a 5 minute Savasana. The teacher is there as a guide for your personal practice and we encourage all variations and extensions that you may like to take!
Last night we checked out the Hip hop lead by the incredible Tarin Calmeyer, who can drop it like its hot into any yoga inversion you can think of (wowzers). We really enjoyed this class and even got to have a few minutes freestyle (trying headstands and balanced poses that tickled our fancy).
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| Tarin ^^^ she rocks |
We are definitely keen to head back (745am tomorrow to be precise) and would definitely recommend it to anyone new to yoga, old to yoga, loves a beat or fears the potential of silence.
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