Natalie Tries: BEAT

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It’s no secret that Fitness First has had a serious rebrand – with new logos, visually exciting ad campaigns and inspirational slogans plastered all over the major cities of the UK.

But the best element of their reinvention is their brand new heart-rate based training concept, BEAT. With innovative equipment, a focus on body weight training and movement as well as top-of-the-range heart rate monitors, Fitness First’s BEAT concept club at Charring Cross really is rewriting the rules of fitness.

What’s it all about?

We’ve heard it all before. We get hooked up to a heart monitor with our heart rates on the screens for everyone to see – the aim of the game is to get your heart rate up as high as possible for as long as possible. How is it any different to Speedflex or David Lloyd’s Orange Theory?

The key difference is in the level of enjoyment. The music, the lights, the atmosphere – BEAT just ticks all the right boxes. A fantastically diverse soundtrack keeps you motivated for the entire class, and the low lighting fools you into thinking you’re somewhere fun like a nightclub. And at just 40 minutes long, the class ends just as you’re about to hit that first unpleasant wall. It’s an incredibly challenging class, but for only 40 minutes you can really feel safe to push yourself without too much concern for your stamina.

Unlike Speedflex, BEAT uses a fantastic range of the latest gym equipment designed to get the optimum results from your body. The Curve treadmill is entirely man-powered. You get on and start running. No buttons, no incline, no electronic help. Much more effective than traditional treadmills, the Curve forces you to do all the work, and it mimics natural running much more closely. So just make like a hamster and get that wheel turning!

Another fantastic machine is the vertical climber, mimicking the action of climbing up a vertical wall – the more you put into it, the more you get out of it. That’s the beauty – you never have to stop, if it’s hurting, you can slow your pace and reduce your resistance so you can keep going and keep your heart working.

Alternating between the machines and floor work, the instructor leaves no muscle unworked. From burbess to press-ups, squat jumps to walking lunges – you utilise your own body weight in a huge variety of ways. Just as you feel like your legs can’t take the burn, we move on to arms… always teetering on the edge of your limit.

At the end of the 40 minutes, panting, sweating but feeling as though we had deeply bonded, my small class and I huddled around the screens to look at our analysis from the session. As soon as I was home I had an email waiting for me telling me that I’d burnt 516 calories in the 40 minute session – which was truly fantastic news as I was about to go out for a curry.

The Positives

Endorphins: There is a serious pleasure in getting your heart rate up into the right level and maintaining it. It’s like competing against yourself. My instructor was fantastic at saying just the right thing to appeal to my competitive nature.
Variety: With five different levels of class to choose from there’s an option for complete beginners and hard-core cardio nuts. It’s great to see your progression.
Effective: Not only do you burn ludicrous amounts of calories and strengthen your body, this kind of interval training promotes a metabolic ‘after-burn’ so even after the class is over your body will keep working for hours.

The Negatives

Tech issues: As with any new technological system there were a few kinks. With heart rates dropping off the screen for a few moments or the heart sensors not synching correctly – but this will be ironed out as the classes become more widespread.

For more information of Fitness First’s BEAT training centre head to www.fitnessfirst.co.uk/beat.

Natalie Morris, Sportsister
The Women’s Sport Magazine

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