Fighting the festive flab? Grab a Slice of the action!

If you're anything like me, at this dreary time of year you'll be mid-way through a half-hearted January detox and an inch away from binning the 'green juice' and reaching for the nearest biscuit tin/wine bottle/fag packet (delete as appropriate).

And let’s face it; that’s totally understandable. The weather is miserable, we’re back at work, and the annual influx of not so fair weather fitness fans is making the average gym class studio feel more like a sardine tin.

Having narrowly avoided a black eye from an over-enthusiastic neighbour’s energetic ‘Superman’ leaping, it was after a packed out Body Attack class at my local gym that I set out to find a fun and fresh new way to exercise in SW6.

Like Sarah and Jess before me, I trundled off to discover the brilliant local business that is Slice: an innovative group-exercise concept housed in a beautiful, bespoke building in the heart of Parsons Green.

Tucked away round the corner from Waitrose, Slice offers an enormous range of exercise classes to suit every taste, whatever your fitness level.

Launched last year and growing all the time, Slice is a breath of fresh air when it comes to exercise classes. From your more traditional Yoga and Pilates, to Barre Conditioning (a Slice speciality) and Fighting Fit, there’s something for everyone.

Scanning the list, there was one particular option that I had to try: 80s Aerobics.

I don’t care what anybody says, I know it’s tacky and well renowned as ‘the decade that taste forgot’, but I LOVE the 80s. Leg warmers, Wham!, big hair. I love it all.

So it was with a spring in my step and my leopard print leggings in my gym bag that I headed in to meet the impossibly smiley Colby, our instructor for the evening.

The beauty of Slice is – as Colby explained to me - that, unlike other gyms, you get rewarded for going. Slice starts with the “Slice and Dice” card – which works as an Oyster card – giving you discounts as you do more classes.  You come because you want to! Plus, this month, you can sign up for 30 days unlimited classes for the bargain price of £40.

The studio that the class took place in was spacious and warehouse-y in feel. Obviously not alone in my 80s fandom, I was joined by about 15 other ladies all ready to strut their stuff to some of the decade’s cheesiest tunes and work up a sweat in the process.

Apart from a disappointing lack of leg warmers and not a Richard Simmons sweatband in sight, it was an excellent turnout.

A deceptively loud portable stereo in the corner blasted out a series of the 80s finest musical masterpieces. We jumped to Journey, lunged to Lionel and pranced to the Poynter Sisters in a fun, high energy cardio workout for half an hour, before it was time to hit the mats and channel our inner Jane Fonda with some good old fashioned floor work.

We leg lifted, squatted and there was hip thrusting that the girls in that Eric Prydz video would have been proud of; though in my case it was more Eric Pickles than Eric Prydz. (I blame the mince pies).

A frequent albeit reluctant attendee to Les Mills torture sessions like Body Combat and Body Attack, I was expecting 80s aerobics to be fairly tame in the difficulty stakes. What felt like several hundred sit-ups and crunches later, though, and I stood very much corrected. My stomach muscles ached good and proper the next day – always a sign of a proper workout.

So, if you’re on the hunt for something to freshen up your workout routine that’s fun, different and a great way to get fighting fit for 2014, head down to Parsons Green and grab a Slice of the action!

SLICE URBAN LIFESTYLE STUDIOS
11 Heathmans Road
London SW6 4TJ
PH: 020 7186 6007
Email: hello@slicefitness.co.uk