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!

Powering through the poses

Yoga is an ancient practice, and all those centuries have allowed plenty of time for a plethora of varieties to develop and gain traction all over the world. Most people have heard of Hatha and Ashtanga, and the celeb gang seem to be doing dotty for Bikram, but Power Yoga was one we hadn't heard of before. Luckily, Parsons Green plays host to London's first Power Yoga studio: The Power Yoga Company. Set up by a group of friends from France, the company has a very open and friendly ethos, and being local, we couldn't wait to check it out.

The building and particularly the studio itself is really gorgeous. Set in the old Glasshouse, it's all Victorian architecture, high ceilings, large windows, painted brick and old wooden floorboards. The dressing room was colourful and replete with towels, mats and books whilst the studio was decked with dozens of tea lights for our evening class, conducted completely by candlelight.

The practice is certainly tough: it's not called Power yoga for nothing. We "flowed" (or at least tried to!) quite quickly between the different postures, some of which require quite a lot of muscle and concentration. The emphasis is just as much on the movement as the stretches: although you certainly feel supple when you leave there's no doubt you've had a workout. For those of you who've struggled to justify yoga as "proper exercise" (you know, the kind that makes you break a sweat and gets the pulse racing), you may have met your match. However, the emphasis on stretching, correct alignment, breathing and balance central to traditional yoga practice remain, it's just that elements of strength and endurance are added. Oh yes, we forgot to mention: the studio is also heated. It's not exactly Bikram heat, but enough to get the sweat flowing from the outset and really warm the muscles to allow you to push yourself deeper into the poses.

All that said, exercise is supposed to be challenging after all, we thoroughly enjoyed the class. All the mats, towels, blocks and seating pads are provided, and the setting in the candlelight, with the exposed floors, gentle music playing and the beautiful scent pushed out into the room contrived to make the experience feel almost luxurious. Almost! Special mention to our teacher, Zoe, who had a beautifully relaxing way about her, and encouraged us all to push ourselves whilst giving us various levels of difficulty to choose between and taking the time to correct our (many) incorrect postures. I confess I sometimes fall into the "yoga is great, but don't forget to hit the gym too" camp, so I did relish the slightly more strenuous elements as well.

It's also worth mentioning that we did go straight in with the standard Power Yoga class. There are also 5 foundation level classes each week for those of you who'd prefer to ease yourself in. Classes are operated on a drop in basis, although the Monday evening class seems to get very congested: there are obviously a lot of Fulhamites trying to repent heavy weekends!

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

Photos 1 and 3 are kindly "borrowed" from http://www.thepoweryogaco.com/index.html

Namaste P.Green!

With summer basically already here and holiday season also well underway, Sarah and I decided it was time to stop using the blog as an excuse to drink and eat constantly and see what the area had to offer in terms of stripping off a little excess 'wobble'! We both try our best to hit the gym regularly but had realised we weren't really flying the local flag in our exercise choices. So, as part of our new local 'sweat and tone' SW6southwestsix initiative, we were pretty smug when we stumbled across Manuka, on the New Kings Road.

Those of you who have already discovered your inner yogis might recognise Manuka as the brand that has been selling yoga and pilates gear in John Lewis (and many other retailers) for the past few years, and their products have developed a healthy following. Sarah and I were fairly oblivious to all this (I'm a bit more  Primarni than Peter Jones) but we were drawn to the shop for it's simple but comfortable designs. Everything looked easy to wear and flattering and the fabrics were soft to the touch. I also love anything with an eye catching layout, and the mannequin in the window doing gymnastics in a suspended hula hoop certainly got my attention!

Manuka's flagship store at 275 New Kings Road also offers yoga and meditation classes (timetable at the bottom of this post) and so we decided it was time to discover a little local inner Zen and signed up for an hour's class. Like I say, I do try to exercise regularly but I must preface this post by saying that I have always been hideously inflexible - even my Grandmother can touch her toes, but I seem to have stretch and physical range of an ailing elephant. Hence, I've always found yoga it's own slow, aching, special kind of torture and only remotely considered it after reading in the Daily Mail (don't judge!) that Gisele Bunchden does it daily!

However, I can honestly say that whilst I still ached and strained throughout the class, this time I really enjoyed it. Manuka's studio is small, softly lit and intimate - Sarah and I's class only had one other participant. All the products, from the mats to the seating blocks (actually plush thickly stuffed cushions) and stretchy bands felt pretty upmarket and the relaxing playlist hit all the right notes. Colby, our teacher for the class (you can follow her on Twitter at @kineticlondon), was hugely upbeat and enthusiastic about all the benefits of yoga, and she was constantly on her feet correcting our postures and encouraging us to stretch that little bit further. She was really involved, totally down to earth, oozed personality and made the class really fun. It all meant that I got so much more out of it than I have when I've tried yoga before and I definitely found myself stretching more - even during those painful 'hip opener' exercises! Previously I have found yoga classes all too serious (and perhaps a little preachy on the whole accompanying philosophy thing) but Colby was great on explaining the physiological benefits, which do all make sense - I even found myself Ohhmming without feeling too silly!

Anyway, we left feeling really relaxed, a little longer, a little leaner and totally refreshed - we even skipped the planned recovery glass of wine in the White Horse (very virtuous), and picked up a few Manuka products to get our little yoga bunny on back at home. I thought the yoga towel (a thinner textured yoga mat) was really cute (great colours too, with good grip) and the wooden massage roller and eco hand massage balls came home with me too. A percentage of profits from everything in the Manuka eco range go to help plant clean bio-fuel producing Jatropha trees in Mozambique (and Manuka currently has a sale on!) so all these gains were totally guilt free!

Whilst the classes at Manuka certainly aren't bargain basement, I think paying a little extra for the smaller class size, the extra attention, and the beautiful, relaxing surroundings is definitely worthwhile. Yoga is all about relaxing, getting the postures right and coming out feeling stretched yet totally content, so I think all those things really count to getting the most from the experience - at least, it really made a difference for me. I'll definitely be going again - Gisele Bunchden watch your back!