Flex 'em young

As regular readers of our blog and Twitter will know, we've become veritable yogis recently (well, wannabe ones) and I've been particularly taken by Hot Bikram Yoga. With a bit of tenacity and lots of sweat I've really noticed an improvement in my flexibility and I've come to almost enjoy it. I certainly look forward to it.

I always struggled with my flexibility, even when I was little, and so I notice with interest that my local SW6 bikram studio, Hot Bikram Yoga, are offering yoga classes for kids. Bikram yoga teacher Naomi Clark explains on the HotBikramYoga blog, that Bikram Choudray took himself (the founder of Bikram yoga) started yoga at the age of 3 and how her yoga classes in local schools have been a remarkable success, with kids learning to concentrate more deeply and to blow of steam in a fun, expressive yet non-competitive way.

Naomi has been teaching Bikram Yoga for 10 years and kids yoga for 5, and next week she'll be teaching her first few yoga classes at the Fulham Hot Bikram Yoga studio.

Date: Thursday 16th February

Place: Hot Bikram Yoga, Parsons Green: 25 Heathman's Road, London SW6 4TJ

Time: 2.15-2:45pm for 4-8 year olds
         3-3:30pm for 8-10 year olds

Parents will be asked to wait in the reception area and have a cup of tea whilst your kids enjoy the class. Please bring a bottle of water for your child.

Classes cost £7.50 and you booking details are here.

New Year's Resolutions: Getting into shape in 2012

Happy New Year porky pies! Did you all have an indulgent Christmas? Every year, despite our best intentions, we always manage to overdo it during the festive season. There are the parties, the mince pies, and plenty of bubbly... not to mention days worth of gluttonous dinners, cheese, wine and pudding. So it's pretty unsurprising that fitness and weight loss seem to top the New Year's resolution list each year. Along with quitting smoking, becoming less profligate with money and generally being a nicer person... but I'm afraid we can't help you with that!

So here is our local guide for getting yourself lean, fit and healthy in 2012. Whether you love to break a sweat, or gradually tease yourself into shape, the borough will have something for you.



Judging by the crowds itching to get into local nightspots, I'd hazard a guess that us Fulhamites are fairly fond of a boogie. Zumba is a really fun way to dance yourself lean and healthy, and classes with the amazingly enthusiastic Rebecca Rogoff of ZumbaFunk London are more fun than most. The classes are held at the studio at Eddie Catz, Putney in a small, friendly group, and I promise you'll leave with a grin on your face. Even if you can't get certain Shakira songs out of your head for days afterwards. Full review here.

ZumbaFunk @ Eddie Catz. Monday's 7pm
68-70 Putney High Street
London SW15 1SF





We've blogged about the gorgeous studios at Cupcake Mum before, but with the addition of Club C and the amazing personal training services of The Body Professionals, they've really upped their offering for young professionals (sans kiddies) too. Sarah and I were raving about our session with Gen of The Body Professionals for ages afterwards. She really took the time to get to know us, our goals, and -unfortunately- our wobbly bits, before creating a bespoke workout that is easily recreated wherever you happen to be working out. She's incredibly upbeat and her enthusiasm is infectious - she's even got me regularly using the rowing machine, previously my absolute nemesis. Full review here.

The Body Professionals @ Cupcake Mum
11 Heathmans Road
Parsons Green, London SW6 4TJ





You may associate boxing with burley men and black eyes, but I promise one session at the Sands End Ladies ABC will change that. Set up by two local ladies, and part of the Mayor of London's FREESPORT programme, classes are totally free and take place at the sports hall at Hurlingham and Chelsea School. The sessions are non-contact (the emphasis is on self-defence, awareness, fitness and being quick on your feet), the group incredibly friendly, and the coaches hugely encouraging. And my goodness - it is quite a workout. After learning the various types of jabs and blocks, you'll be put through your paces on a floor routine of crunches, squats and stretches that will make the muscles burn, but in a good way! Full review here.

Sands End Ladies ABC. 2-3:30pm Saturdays.
Hurlingham and Chelsea School
Peterborough Road, London SW6 3ED
*Please see Sands End Ladies ABC website for more session details, as some classes may take place at a different venue whilst refurbishment works take place at H&C School.





There are about one million variants of yoga, by my best estimates anyway, but for a strand that stretches both body and mind you should definitely check out Power Yoga. Luckily for us, Parsons Green plays host to London's first power yoga studio. Set in a beautiful old glass works on Lettice St - all exposed floorboards and brickwork, large victorian windows, candles and incense - this practice is fast moving and dynamic, and you'll definitely break a sweat. With emphasis on strength, balance, endurance and flexibility, Power Yoga is a great fusion between a traditional cardio workout and the more holistic benefits of yoga practice. Full review here.

The Power Yoga Company
The Glasshouse, 11-12 Lettice Street
London SW6 4EH






Safari Kickboxing will give you a hard-hitting work out that is both social, effective and educational. Men's and women's classes are held separately, so you can let you guard down and forget about how you look, and a whole range of levels are made really welcome. Not only will you punch your way to Mobama's triceps, and kick your thighs down a size, you'll learn some pretty useful lessons in self-defence and have a lot of fun.
Full review here.

Safari Kickboxing
347 North End Road
SW6 1NN




For those of you who prefer a bit of personal attention, and to work out in the lap of luxury, Karl of Williams ¦ De Vera may just be your man. Karl offers a bespoke personal training service that promises incredibly time-efficient results, as he places emphasis on correct technique and metabolic training methods to help you get the same results from half an hour as you would have done 60 minutes. His holistic approach means you'll go away armed with nutritional advice, and a between-class exercise regime to keep you on the straight and narrow. Since our last review Karl has expanded his business and set up his own gym in Brook Green, so keep an eye out as the service continues to get bigger and better. You can contact Karl via Twitter on @karlWDV
Full review here. Please note, Karl no longer trains at 37degrees and M.A.D.E PT is now registered as Williams ¦ De Vera.





Just because it's technically yoga, don't be fooled into thinking that Bikram is an easy way to get in shape. Much endorsed by celebrities and professional sportsmen alike, this 90 minute practice essentially takes place in a sauna, and you are guaranteed to sweat by the bucket load! The heated room really allows you to go deeper into the postures, meaning your flexibility is rapidly enhanced, whilst you strengthen, tone and detoxify and leave the room feeling awesome. Full review here.

Hot Bikram Yoga (Parsons Green studio)
25 Heathmans Road
London SW6 4TJ






If you're looking for a workout guaranteed to make the muscles burn, and an encouraging but uncompromising task master, Nick Finney will be the man to take you from squishy to svelte. With some celebrity clients and a hole host of flexible workout options, from individual to group sessions in SW6, weight lifting training and boot camp classes in Hyde Park, Nick's routines are simple and effective, so you'll definitely be able to train between sessions as well: willpower permitting. Full review and Nick's top tips here.




For the discerning yogi, a class at Manuka, with its elegant little studio and tiny class sizes, may be just the thing. Situated just underneath their Parsons Green store, where you can pick up some pretty stylish and comfortable workout gear, there is a full timetable of Hatha and Vinyasa yoga. Our class comprised of just three people, meaning you get plenty of personal attention, and the studio is low lit and luxurious - you even get free green tea at the end! Full review here.

Manuka Yoga
275 New Kings Road
London SW6 4RD




If pilates can be said to be responsible for P.Middy's bottom, it's definitely worth giving a go. And you might as well do it in surroundings fit for a princess (almost). Bootcamp Pilates boasts a small but incredibly sleek studio with top of the range Reformer machines and small class sizes. Based around strengthening and toning without putting too much pressure on the joints, the practice is perfect if you are going for the long and lean look. Classes at Bootcamp seem positively luxurious but you really feel the burn in your thighs and stomach afterwards, and judging by the svelte bodies surrounding me, it's a form of exercise that really gets results. Full review here.

Bootcamp Pilates
Marvic House, 30 Bishops Road
London SW6 7AD

So there you have it - now there really is no excuse not to keep it healthy, and keep it local, in 2012. Let us know where you end up!

Feeling Hot Hot HOT

Sarah and I have noted our previous experimentations with the world of yoga here, and I have long struggled to get into the practice due to a complete lack of flexibility, despite knowing that for that exact same reason I really ought to stick it out. Bearing that in mind, I have to admit that I was apprehensive at best about trying out Bikram Yoga. In truth, I was wondering what the blimmin' hell I had signed myself up for.

For those who don't follow celeb fitness regimes in the Daily Mail as avidly as I do (double shame here: yes, I read the gossip section of the Daily Whale, and no, I tend not to follow the regimes myself depsite all my best intentions!), Bikram Yoga has been getting a lot of press recently. It is a 90 minute session of 26 set postures, each repeated twice, and in 40.6 degree heat! The DM assures me that Jen, Gwyneth, GaGa and several more (equally gaga) celebrities are all devotees, and hey, if it works for them it's worth a go, right?

After a quick Google for Bikram in the local area I came across Hot Bikram Yoga, Parsons Green and was delighted to see that they offered a £15 10-day taster pass for the curious (and downright frightened) like myself. Taking along a friend for moral support, I arrived at the Parsons Green studio for my first class at 7pm on a Monday evening. I have to say, this might not have been the best time to have my first Bikram experience. It seemed half of SW6 had decided to start their week right, and the small studio was absolutely packed, and the smell than emanated from the studio from the class that had just finished was fairly overwhelming. The heat was certainly enhanced by performing the routine shoulder to shoulder with about forty others, but to honest, everyone was so sweaty that all inhibitions were lost fairly quickly!

I'll admit, it was sheer bloody mindedness that got me through my first class. As mentioned, the studio was a little overcrowded (although I only experienced this at the Monday 7pm class, so a tip from me - avoid this slot like the plague as the others aren't nearly so popular and the experience is much more relaxed) and I have never sweated so much in my life! I would never normally stay in a sauna this long, let alone exercise in one, yet the heat certainly allows you to stretch into the postures much more easily, and I found myself pushing myself much further than I have managed before, and with surprisingly little resistance from my previously inflexible muscles. However, the first experience is one you certainly just have to push through. Dizziness and nausea (although never extreme) are common, but the teachers always have newcomers identify themselves and never force anyone to push themselves through postures when they are feeling the strain too much. I even saw one teacher fetch a dizzy student a bottle of electrolyte enhanced water - so they do really look out for you!

For all the struggles of the first class, I was determined to come back and follow through. Not only did I feel AMAZING just a short while after the session ended (really relaxed, calm and cleansed - my skin was glowing), there was something incredibly satisfying about making it to the end of the 90 minutes, and having pushed my body into stretching much farther than I had previously managed. Right from the start, you do see a marked increase in your suppleness, even a few days after the class.

From class two and beyond, I found my flexibility noticeably increasing with each session, and I managed to almost enjoy the heat, acclimatising quicker and quicker each time. As the sweat flows, the toxins rush out, and my stomach muscles became markedly more toned after session three. It is bloody hard work, yet also relaxing and satisfying - I'm sure in great part because you can see yourself improving each time. I've always had trouble sleeping, and exercising in the evening can often exacerbate this. However, after each session (I'm afraid I never made the 6:30am ones!) I fell quickly into a deep and happy sleep. Just remember to drink as much water as you can manage before hitting the hay - there were a couple of mornings when I woke up very dehydrated indeed!

The studio is small, and very very busy, so it is important to work out which sessions work for you. As mentioned before, I'd avoid the Monday 7pm class but the others I visited (Monday 8:45, Thursday evening and Saturday 12pm) were not nearly so busy, so you get a little more attention, more space and breathing room! All the teachers have very different characters too, and my favourites were Veronika and Dom for their sense of humour, and attention to all their class mates - they both gently cajoled you into pushing yourself further, and made sure to correct you where you were going wrong. I'm not really into the more philosophical and meditative aspects of yoga (although I know some people are) so preferred classes with a little less emphasis on this, although it has to be said that with such a physical practice none of the classes can ever really end up being too "hippy". There is a lovely atmosphere in the class. Nobody tries to compete (although some of the others were really VERY flexible and I couldn't help feeling a twinge of jealousy) and I'm sure basically sweating all over your neighbour helps break down any barriers. Indeed, there is a real community around the studio - after tweeting about my experiences I found several readers eager to compare notes!

I really enjoyed my sessions at Hot Bikram Yoga. Although tough, it's also incredibly satisfying. And with unlimited yoga for 10 days priced at only £15, you don't have much to lose by trying out.... Just make sure you visit more than once to see all the benefits!

Hot Bikram Yoga
25 Heathmans Road
London
SW6 4TJ
020 7384 4454


PS Excuse the lack of pictures - it's not really appropriate to take a camera into the studio, and I certainly looked far too much of a state to feature!!