5 Alternative Ways To Keep Fit This Summer
As the weather gets warmer, parks get busier and evenings get lighter, chances are you’re inspired to take advantage by getting active. Not only is it great for your body and mind, but getting involved in a new sport is the best way to meet new people in adulthood.
Don’t enjoy the monotony of running or sweaty atmosphere of your local gym? Looking to add another way to get active to your summer rotation? No matter, London has so many weird and wonderful ways to keep fit outside the mainstream, from embracing the padel hype to trying yoga floating on a paddle board. Here are five alternative (and fun) ways to keep fit this summer.
1. Aerial Yoga
Not just for circus performers, aerial yoga classes are the most fun way to give your core a workout unless you happen to love doing the plank.
There are lots of places in London offering aerial yoga classes, from the most inexperienced of beginners to one notch off a circus performer, but for the most variety, head to The London Dance Academy.
The Basement, 49-51 Central St, London EC1V 8AB
2. Community Sauna Baths
Keeping fit is not just about the exercising – recovery is just as, if not more, important. The cold plunge and sauna combo is a great way to help sore muscles recuperate, which, try as you might, can’t be replicated by flicking the shower knob from steaming hot to ice cold.
Community Sauna Baths turns getting into a bucket of ice cold water into a group (and actually fun) activity. With community centres in Hackney and Peckham, go with a group and make recovery a combined effort.
Hackney, Stratford and Peckham
3. Padel
If there’s one sport you might have heard about from your friend, housemate, colleague or new acquaintance you met at the bar twenty minutes, it’s padel. The cross between tennis and squash is all the rage at the moment, boosted by the fact that it’s much easier to play than tennis, and not bogged down with the same accusations of stuffiness that plagues squash.
Interested? Why not try The Padel Yard in Wandsworth. They have six full-sized padel courts, both indoor and outdoor. As a bonus, they also have a bar where you can toast your new found sport with a post-game pint in the sun – which is the main reason we do exercise, after all.
2 Armoury Way, London SW18 1SH
4. Paddleboard Yoga
We all love yoga, but lets be honest, it’s lost the fear factor. Too many of us can fail at the downward facing dog safe in the knowledge there’s a soft mat for us to fall onto should we fail. The icy waters of St. Katherine’s marina? Now there’s inspiration to nail your form.
We jest – the paddleboarding yoga sessions are actually very welcoming and not intimidating at all. Suitable for all levels, their SUP Yoga sessions are a mixture of Hatha and Flow Yoga, with a bit of play around time at the end to explore your own edges – all from the vantage point of a paddle board.
St. Katherine’s Docks
5. Kobox
No matter how many times you might hear that boxing constitutes a ‘great workout’, there’s always one problem: Boxing gyms seem like incredibly intimidating places.
However, Kobox is seeking to reinvent boxing training and simultaneously make it more welcoming for all. Branded as ‘Fight Club meets the night club’, it combines 50-minute high intensity boxing classes for all fitness levels with disco vibes. The Bee Gees’ Stayin Alive works just as well as a boxing rhythm as it does for CPR…
Chelsea, Marylebone and Whitechapel
