I love a good workout, whether I’m working up a sweat in spin class or bouncing off my lunch with rebounding I’m there. My favourite workouts take place in a dark room with a very loud, very fast playlist, basically I want to feel like I’m in a club.
In the past few years the rise in boutique gyms has been meteoric, some gyms such as Frame and Blok offer a wide variety of classes whereas others such as 1 Rebel and Another Space focus on a few disciplines. There are some studios in London that focus primarily on one discipline, these include Barry’s Bootcamp, Barrecore, Boom Cycle and Kobox, the subject of today’s post.
Self professed ‘Fight Club meets Nightclub’, Kobox is the destination for a sweaty, difficult but rewarding boxing workout. Each day focuses on a different body part; full body, bodyweight, core and upper body and lower body. Jadie and I took advantage of their Introductory offer which consists of 2 classes and a pair of wraps (£25), we decided to go for lower body and full body (body weight).
Once we had descended into the studio (yep, that’s 2 flights of stairs to climb post workout) we were greeted by industrial decor, changing rooms stocked with REN products, micellar water and GHD styling tools.
If you’re a first timer it is easy to be intimidated by the studio, it’s dark, loud and each station has an alarming amount of equipment, but the trainers are all so friendly and happy to answer any and all questions you may have. If it’s your first time you are taken through an induction to show you how and when to punch the bags (they have a numbers system for each jab, cross, uppercut and hook).
The workout itself was gruelling but satisfying, the floor exercises ranged from push ups, squats and planks to, my personal favourite, resistance band jump squats (I’m sure there is a technical term for this). The boxing portions of these classes are very fun, it is fast, it is furious and who doesn’t love to freestyle?! We emerged red faced, feeling strong and ready to attack the week.
The lower body class included more floor work that I preferred, mountain climbers and the aforementioned jump squats are far better for me than push ups and side planks. That said, I got a huge amount of satisfaction from both classes. Next time I go I will try the upper body class but I reckon it will take me a while to get ready for the (dreaded) core class.
You can find Kobox in the City, Marylebone and Chelsea. Classes are usually £20 a go, it’s pricey but I’d say definitely worth it. Happy sweating.
What are your favourite workouts? Let me know in the comments!
(All pictures come from the Kobox Instagram page.)
The Pickled Gingers 