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Hong Kong has become a truly exciting place when it comes to fitness. Gyms and fitness studios seem to open up every day bringing classes and trends from the world over, including some incredibly unique and seriously cool options. Below, Green Queen introduces three exciting new ways to get your sweat on in the first part of our Coolest Fitness Workouts series. Slogging it out on the boring old treadmill is so 2015. This January, challenge your body, build muscles you never knew you had and have a really good time whilst doing so! Bring it on!
Surfset Fitness HK
It’s no secret that surfers are known for being both good looking and cool. Could this be because they have found a workout that combines the peace of yoga with the toning of pilates and the heart-racing of a cardio workout? Surfing is a sport that requires incredible amounts of balance, agility, and strength. Sadly, we can’t all live in Malibu (sigh) and where in your Hong Kong flat could you even store a surf board anyway? Enter Surfset Fitness, a US based fitness concept created after the founder, also a professional hockey player, realized how much he loved the workout he got whilst surfing and felt strongly that others would too. Classes are taught on custom surfboards that allow the studio to re-create the instability and feel of surfing waves, offering your core a gnarly challenge, the results of which are a lean and athletic physique. Surfing requires all of our postural muscles, as well as your small stabilizing muscles, giving you improved poise and balance. Surfset offers four programs: Balance, which leans more towards yoga; Burn, designed to burn more calories through a high-intensity workout; Build , structured to increase your strength and define your muscles; and Blend, which uses internals to incorporate all three workouts into one. Classes are offered two to three times a day and you can find the schedule here. They offer a trial for HKD 100 and single classes are HKD 250, with discounted packages available.
Surfset Fitness: 13/F Unit A, Kaiser Estate, Phate 1, 41 Hung Hom, Kowloon. To Book a class, WhatsApp +852 6972 2084.
BounceLimit
Ever wish that working out could be a little more fun and feel a little less like a chore? Or do you simple miss being a a kid in the playground? BounceLimit might be your answer. This 3, 000 square foot rebounding studio in Sheung Wan is equipped with built in rebounders a.k.a. trampolines! Rebounding, for those that remember, was a fad in the 80s and is poised for a comeback. There are a ton of reasons to get behind rebounding including an often-cited NASA study from 1980 that points to the benefits of rebounding over running thanks to the fact that it is low-impact on the joints- all while still delivering impressive results. Many in the health community also point to rebounding’s health: getting your lymphatic system moving, encouraging blood circulation, boosting your immune system and helping your body to detox. BounceLimit offers a variety of classes combining moves from various workouts such as pilates, yoga and TRX. They also offer DanceBounce, BootCamp and even their sweat-fest CombatBounce class, which uses weighted gloves. Also worth trying, their LED Night session where you can jump along to a mix of pop music and glow sticks. They offer between four and six classes every day of the week. There is a discounted first time trial at HK 580 for two sessions, and after that individual classes are HKD 400, with package options available.
BounceLimit: 13/F, The Pemberton, 22-26 Bonham Strand, Sheung Wan. +852 2441 0021. Book a class here.
Hydro 1.0
Life is full of tough choices such as: should you go cycling or go swimming? A lap around the block or up and down the pool? At Hydro 1.0, you can actually combine some of your favorite above-water sports with all of the benefits of being submerged. Aqua cycling was originally created as a way to help rehabilitate athletes in Italy but has become a fitness craze across Europe and in New York City. Aqua Cycling is said to burn calories whilst helping to actually eliminate cellulite (due to the friction of the water). It is also excellent for those with joint pain since it is low-impact. Because the water adds so much resistance, even down-peddling takes work, so you get a truly full body workout with no to low strain on your joints. Hydro 1.0 offers a variety of aqua-based classes such as Aqua Fitness, Aqua Crossfit, Dragon Boat Paddling and Underwater Treadmill. The classes are ideal for people of all ages (not something that is obvious with many fitness trends). The studio also boasts a complete aqua fitness center where you can train with a private coach. For those looking to bring their strokes to a whole new level you can even use their SWIMPRO system to see recordings of your underwater moves. Classes are offered every day of the week and start at HKD 450, with package options available. If you prefer to go it alone, for HKD 250 you can use their facilities and their underwater bikes and even their underwater treadmill on your own time- great triathlon training for the uber-motivated!
Hydro 1.0: Shop No. 6 Brilliant Court, No. 28 Praya, Kennedy Town, Hong Kong Island. +852 9475 0737. Book a class here.
Photo credits: BalanceFitness, Hydro 1.0, whatGym.
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