Fashion: New Freddy Purchases

My Freddy obsession seems to be continuing as I recently took full advantage of their mid season sale and purchased two more pairs of super comfy and flattering trousers.

The first was an eco leather high waist legging with a metal zip closure. I'm not really the kind of girl who wears leather trousers, but these are so easy to wear! I love the high waist as it makes them super comfortable and flattering.  The eco leather is also really stretchy so it moulds  to your shape, without feeling restrictive. If you are not a fan of the high waist style they also have a low waist version or a fun patterned style.

The second pair was from Wr.Up Sport. These are technically made for working out, but they definitely fit within the realm of sports luxe activewear as they are structured enough to wear outside the gym. Although they feel just as comfortable as leggings the proper seams, pockets and zip closure ensure that they can be worn alone. The white stripe down the side is also a fun little detail that helps to elongate the legs.

I love the innovative Freddy designs and their use of super stretchy fabrics, which makes them extraordinarily comfortable. As I have become more interested in fitness over the last few years I have found myself becoming somewhat of a lazy cliché wearing workout clothes most evenings and weekends (even when not working out). However, I do find Freddy to be a good compromise as their activewear is structured and a little smarter so it can take me from running errands and seeing friends to Pilates comfortably and looking like I have made more of an effort (and actually got dressed rather than putting on yoga pants again)!

Have you tried any Freddy Wr.Up styles? Which would you recommend?

Fitness: Exerceo EMS Review

Apologies for the lack of posts in the last few weeks! After 2.5 years of looking for our forever home we are finally moving this weekend! Very exciting, but it has also been very stressful with builders  (not) working and putting holes in the wrong wall, missing furniture deliveries, packing... and still working full time. I am forever grateful to be lucky enough to have a house in London, but just a little frazzled!

Keeping in mind how time starved our generation is with long working hours and never ceasing FOMO I thought it would be useful to speak about time saving ways of keeping fit. With so many moving parts and evenings filled with transporting boxes (kinda exercise right?), chasing builders and trips to Homebase I have found it really difficult to keep up with my usual fitness routine. Instead I have been squeezing in lunchtime EMS training sessions at Exerceo. 

The studio near Liverpool Street. With the EMS machine ready to go.

EMS stands for ‘Electro Muscle Stimulation’. From a technical point of view, it’s a full body training exercise using impulse current. During traditional exercise, the brain sends signals to the muscles to bring about contractions. EMS mimics the action of the central nervous system, activating muscles in the same way, but using external impulses delivered via electrodes onto the skin directly above the muscles. The impulses reach deep muscle layers which are hard to activate through conventional training. Your muscles will not tell the difference, but work out much more effectively.
 
I had heard about EMS training before (think Slendertone), but never in combnation with actual exercise, so I was excited to be given the opportunity of experiencing it for myself! It's not nearly as complicated or technical as it sounds. Each session starts with you putting on the black t-shirt and leggings provided (fantastic if you are in a rush as you don't need to bring anything for the sessions!). You are then strapped into a vest and cycling shorts style suit with electrodes. When the suit is turned on you can feel the electric pulses contracting your muscles. This is not at all painful, but can feel a little strange and quite intense until you get used to it. The best way I can describe it is like a light internal vibrating or prickling sensation. The strength of the pulses is adjusted to your comfort/ tolerance for different muscles. Somehow my abs and legs were always at max, but my arms were barely on! During the session you work with some very basic exercises eg. squats, lunges, shoulder press for about 20 seconds at a time with a rest of 8 seconds. The weights are very light (2-6kg). Though, trust me, while it sounds super easy holding a plank while your body is pulsing can be quite the challenge, even for just 20 seconds!

Trying to take a photo of the activewear provided at each session, while being photo bombed by Head Trainer Nooroa (who is very camera shy).

The best thing about EMS at Exerceo for me was the time and convenience. No gym bag to drag around and knowing that a 25 minute session was enough to get my muscles really firing and challenge myself. It's amazing that I could work out, shower and eat lunch within the hour and be back at my desk!

 

The trainers are great in customising the workouts for you so it really depends on your goals, whether that's generally toning and losing fat or improving speed, strength, endurance, mobility, balance or posture. Mine was to strengthen and stabilise my back as I have multiple spine issues and using simple exercises and light weights I could really work deeply and effectively without overloading my back. EMS also works amazingly for rehabilitation as you only need very light resistance so you do not put strain on your joints or tendons. It's also great for those suffering from other problems such as osteoporosis or even for ladies who have recently given birth as the pulses target deep muscles that help to rebuild pelvic floor strength.

 

Even though I try to work out 4/5 times per week after each short Exerceo EMS training session I could definitely feel the DOMS the next day. After my first session concentrating on lower body my quads and hamstrings were more sore than they are after a 150kg leg press or 100kg deadlift, and I think the max weight used was 6kg! As much as I love my weight training for building lean muscle and strength the EMS method is truly effective for strengthening, endurance, core work and really rounding off your training. It's great for any fitness level or age so whether you are a beginner or a seasoned gym bunny it can be customised to your needs.

 

Have you heard of EMS training before? I would love to hear your thoughts! If you are interested do check out Exerceo. The first trial session is FREE so there's nothing to lose!

Fitness: Psycle Review

In my quest to keep fitness fun and exciting I am always looking for new classes to try out so last week I popped into Psycle to see what all the hype was about! First of all I must mention that I am not a spinning pro. I attended a few sessions at Cyclebeat two years ago and the odd spinning class at my gym, but I have never been a hardcore spinner as I was concerned about overdeveloping one muscle group and just building my (already sizeable… thanks mama) thighs. Psycle, however is a totally different approach to the spinning sensation!

The Psycle workout is specifically designed to strengthen the body's core and tone key body parts whilst burning maximum calories. Light hand weights are used to tone the upper body whilst movement out of the saddle increases the engagement of core muscles and raises the heart rate. Everyone is given cleated shoes to wear, which promises to increase the connection between the leg and the bike, engaging the hamstrings and glute muscles resulting in lean, toned legs - and no big thighs (hooray)!

The music in the class is also a major element. I always listen to music when I workout so I loved it when the lights were turned down and the tunes turned up as it really helped to just get lost in the music and forget how hard you were working. The playlists are tailored for each different class making sure they are suitable for the time of day and week. As my session was on a Thursday night it was very much a club soundtrack - pushing us faster and faster into the weekend.

One of the things that makes Psycle stand out from other spinning classes is there is no competitive element or performance measurement. There isn’t even a resistance gage on the bikes! At Cyclebeat there is a leader board that plays to everyone’s competitive natures and the instructor gives recommendations of resistances for different tracks, but at Psycle novices and conditioned athletes can ride side by side, getting what they personally need from their workout experience. I would say that I fall somewhere in the middle… there are certain things I am not competitive about, but when it comes to sports I think a little competition is very healthy, especially when competing with yourself! Therefore, I do like to know my resistance and wear a heartbeat monitor to see how hard I have worked and try to use this to push myself further next time. Others may be happy feeling like they have done their best and not worrying about the stats and Psycle works perfectly in this case!

I really enjoyed my first Psycle class, despite the simple fact that I found it so much harder than I thought I would! Most of the 45 min class was spent out of the saddle with a lot of pumping in the arms, which was not something I was used to. It really helped to work my arms, shoulders and core and I truly felt like I had an allover body workout afterwards. As I normally do weights and a bit of cardio the repetitive pulsing and holding a lot of weight on my arms for longer periods was definitely a challenge. However, the music really helped with my endurance and I found that as long as I stayed with the beat it was easy enough to follow! The instructors (I had Becky) are super enthusiastic and really motivational, which was another big help!

The studio itself was great. The changing rooms were clean, with good sized lockers and lovely ila products. Though if I’m completely honest as mine was a full capacity evening class I could have done with a little more bench space to get myself sorted, so it’s worth arriving a few minutes early if you can. I loved the fact that the cleats are provided as it saves you lugging around trainers all day and I felt so much more secure on the bike (especially with all the movement out of the saddle) knowing that my feet were not going to slide off. The cycle studio is crammed full of bikes and does look a little intimidating, but with the lights down low it’s easy to forget about everyone else. Despite everyone working away the studio still felt cool and air conditioned and even had a fresh scent (lemon grass maybe), which definitely made a change from my normal gym and I very much appreciated! Though this may have been aided by the class being 90% ladies too…

Overall, I really enjoyed the Psycle experience and would recommend it for anyone looking to add variety and fun to their workout. My silly heart rate monitor decided to die half way through, but I estimate I burned at least 500kcal in the 45 minutes session.

Have you ever been to a Psycle class? Are you a fan of spinning! I would love to know your thoughts!!