With so many classes to choose from and each one claiming to be the ‘best’ it’s hard to know where to spend your hard earned cash these days. We asked Personal Trainer and Fitness Influencer Emily Hartridge who is also an avid fan of boxing, to give us the low down on what’s hot, what’s not, and why you should wrap up and get your box on.
My heart will always lie with 1Rebel’s Rumble class because it was the place where I discovered my love for boxing and I’ll be honest…it changed my life (for realz people!) The trainers are not only knowledgable and will correct your technique but they are also really friendly which really makes such a difference. The Rumble room is dark with pumping music and there is a great mixture of boxing and HIIT training, which I guarantee will leave you DRIPPING with sweat when you leave. I could go on but I think you get my point…..10/10! (Also ladies, the changing rooms are all you could dream of and more).
Now make no mistake, Blok is a seriously cool gym and I really enjoyed the boxing class there. It has a similar ‘cool’ vibe to 1Rebel but the rooms are far lighter with less loud music, so depending on your taste you might prefer it that way. The class itself was very technique based which I really liked and despite the fact I am not a fan of sharing my bag, it was actually totally fine and to be honest, I needed the rest time! If you are a total beginner this may not be the one for you but if you already vaguely know how to box and fancy doing some pad work and perhaps some light sparring, I totally recommend this class.
Doghouse is a new gym on the scene in Balham South London which is a very welcome addition to the South since all the boxing gyms seem to be located in East London. The boxing room itself is pretty small and only holds 9 people per class (personally I like smaller classes so that was fine with me). You will take turns to box on the bag and then do HIIT/Cardio on the floor. You will definitely get a sweat on, I really enjoyed the class. The only negative for me, is that there wasn’t enough time spent on the bags and if you want to learn how to box, there isn’t enough time in the class to have proper feedback or ask for help. Other than that, does what it says on the tin so I can’t complain.
The arch nemesis of 1Rebel and to be fair, on the outside these gyms are pretty similar. Nightclub style atmosphere that takes no prisoners. You go between boxing (the bags at Kobox are water based which I don’t particularly like but some people love them) and HIIT based cardio that will certainly have you sweating in no time. However there are some fundamental differences that I noticed. Kobox go by numbers (for example, jab is 1, cross is 2) which isn’t how boxing works in reality so I don’t think that’s helpful to people when learning to box. Also if you are doing something wrong, the chances are that you wont be corrected which seems a shame. Overall Kobox has it’s own devoted army and I can see why, the classes are hard and good fun – you just might not learn much about boxing and technique if that’s what you are looking for.
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