I love fitness but I have to hold my hands up and confess that I’ve taken some time off from training recently due to illness and so I’m a little soft around the edges and my stamina isn’t quite up to scratch. So what better way to get back on track than to take part in a sweat-inducing high intensity fitness class with Intencity in Southgate London!
Each thirty-minute class is designed to push you to your limit and track your progress with the use of heart rate monitors to achieve maximum effort and zero excuses in achieving your personal best in the 80-100% heart rate zone. With a selection of nine classes to suit every fitness goal, Intencity is a brand new concept in High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) that will increase your metabolism to still have you burning calories hours after the class has finished. The routines focus upon providing a psychological boost to the mind and mental senses, increasing metabolic rate and a healthy sense of wellbeing, enhancing vascular function and lung capacity, reducing the risk of cardiovascular disease and increasing life expectancy, providing core stability and body toning, burning fat, defining muscles, increasing strength and flexibility and keeping you going stronger for longer.
I took part in the Intencity Max HIIT class which was literally thirty-minutes of huffing, puffing and sweating and I left with my head in the clouds feeling lighter than air and on top of the world. My instructor Marlon was amazing and showed me into the studio a few minutes before the class began so that I could have a look around. As it was my first time at Intencity I didn’t know quite what to expect; below the bright and airy Southgate Leisure Centre you enter into a funky urban basement with industrial lighting, dark walls and pumping music on the surround that gets you hyped and ready to workout. Fitted with the latest equipment and weights, the Intencity zone is infectiously motivational and I love how personal and private it feels. As a mother of two I know first-hand that not everybody wants to have a whole gym full of people watching your wobbly bits bounce about, so being out of the sight of the public in a low level lighted room with loud music and several other people I felt safe and fearless to earn my sweat.
I was first fitted with a heart rate monitor so that Marlon could track my performance on screen throughout and I could see first hand if I was hitting my personal best or needed to up my game. I gave it my absolute best shot and by the end of it I would have loved to jump head first into an ice bucket; we covered a total body workout in intervals of various repetitions from lifting kettle bells to jumping off of steps, planking, cycling, lifting bars, twisting, stretching, jogging and jumping. Just as I felt I’d hit my maximum the next move would begin as we moved from arms to legs, cardio to stretching, core and floor work so that individually we all achieved our best. The upbeat music throughout feel like a night out and it was such a positive and vibrant atmosphere that made me want to try harder because I felt like a part of a team rather than just a number in a room full of strangers.
I had a fantastic time and loved every sweat-soaked minute of it; today my muscles feel as hard as rock, I’m standing taller and feeling great about my body, and I’ve also banked a great deal of calories in time for Christmas. If like me you need a health kick and motivational force to get you on track to achieving your fitness goals, or if you want to try something new and test your limits whilst meeting likewise individuals then Intencity is definitely the place to be!
www.intencity.club
Twitter: @IntencityFusion
Facebook: /Intencity
Southgate Leisure Centre Winchmore Hill Road, Southgate, London N14 6AD
020 8882 7963
