Class review: Blokcore at Blok Shoreditch

A circuits class to improve core values 
Middle ground: Blokcore workout at Blok Shoreditch
8 April 2019

Where and when

Thursday morning at 7.50

What’s the drill

45 minutes of circuit-style drills designed to strengthen the core and build stamina. Stations include floor work with weights, gruelling sessions on the hanging bars and dynamic planks made more agonising by the addition of TRX stirrups. Extra legwork follows. There’s also a cardio-intensive warm-up. The class is tough but offers plenty of room for improvement. There are also lighter weights and more accessible options for those who are without the strength to compete with the seasoned attendees, ie those training for Iron Man competitions (true story).

The skinny

It’s challenging. A heart-raising workout that uses imaginative techniques to find you strength where you never knew you had it.

Sweat count

You’ll build a sweat but this isn’t a cardio blast.

The social network

It’s a relatively young, switched-on crowd but not in the way that haters of happenings in the Shoreditch/Hackney vicinity might like to think. There’s a lovely, friendly vibe.

Instructor

A quick Google confirms instructor Lotti was a classical dancer and trained in heavy-weapon stage combat before being appointed head of fitness at east London’s chicest sweat spot. Her class is informative and loaded with options for newcomers. Even when delivering the cruellest of blows (one more round on the hanging bars), she was warm and encouraging.

What to pack

Standard gym kit including trainers and (for women) a good sports bra.

The sounds

Vibesy beats, but you’ll have no time to think about those.

Locker room chat

With its poured-concrete floors, innovative set-up and café that doubles as a stylish place to down a restorative oat milk flat white, Blok is intimidatingly cool. But it’s also highly functional. There are plenty of showers (with Malin+Goetz products) and space to get ready for the day ahead. There’s also a very chic water fountain that is arguably the prettiest in London.

The afterburn

Actual agony. I felt pain in places I didn’t know I had muscles. But I left with a renewed sense of confidence in my own strength

£17 for a single class, Bloklondon.com

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