The Fit House

I mentioned some time ago that I was about to cancel my current gym contract and sign up to a few different places that offer more flexible membership options. Let me introduce you to The Fit House, a fairly new gym that has opened up in Chalfont St Peter.

I first heard of this place through a friend of mine, Dean lives locally and said he was going to HIIT at a gym close to home. Upon looking into the website I saw that they offer a free trial in the hope that they get you hooked. I was a little cheeky and asked to come along to both a HIIT and Strong class before I made my mind up. Now that I’ve been to both classes let me give you a little review in case you’re wondering what the place is like and whether to head down.

The gym is based at a cricket club and has a hall on the 1st floor, the hall is mixed between half wooden floor and half rubber mats. They offer a variety of classes (at the bottom of this post), I will be reviewing two different types but may well try to get down to others to check them out. The gym has all the essentials for classes with a row machine, bike and ergo ski machine (always wanted to have a go at this). So therefore it is more setup for classes than it being a gym where you would go for individual sessions with lots of weight machines. It’s not a pretentious place at all and in the couple of classes I have been to, members of all shapes and sizes were there, all putting in their own effort and all enjoying themselves. The owners Rachel and Frazer are creating a family feel to the place, it’s the little things that go a long way. Frazer reaching out to me after my first class to see how I liked it and if I was going to come back was a nice touch. They also make a real effort in remembering everyone’s name, don’t think you can say that about many classes at the big establishments. Offering classes for families, teens, kids, Mum’s and Babies they are creating a gym that covers all ages. You have the option of either pay as you go or direct debit, If you are likely to go several times a month then the direct debit option may well be best for you. As for me I like the idea of pay as you go. They also offer personal training sessions throughout the week, which is ideal for those of you that have never been to a gym, or prefer to have someone coaching you through your effort on your way to your goals. There is no booking system, you simply turn up and join in whenever you want!

HIIT

High intensity interval training (circuits as my Dad says), is a class that offers 45 minutes of hard work. Like any class or any form of exercise, you only get out what you put in. This class had me sweating big time! I think I might have been able to wring out my shirt and fill a small cup with the amount I sweated. The class starts with a little warm up to get everyone ready. My class seemed like a busy one, there were at least 20+ people in the class and every station was pretty much taken. I’ve actually been to a couple of the HIIT classes and they were also different both times. The first class was a selection of stations where you spent around 45 seconds performing an exercise with a little rest, repeat the exercise before everyone rotates round to the next. A mix of exercises, press up’s, lunges, sit up’s, plank, battle ropes, rowing, ergo ski, bike, medicine balls, shuttles and more. The second class I went to was slightly different, offering exercises where everyone performs them at the same time. We did a 7 minute circuit of walk outs, burpee’s, sit up’s and squats, building up from 2 then 4, 6, 8 and so on until you reach 7 minutes. We then moved onto other varieties of this model whilst always having someone from the class on the bike and ergo ski machine hitting 15 cal before moving on. The class ended with a team effort of total amount of burpee’s in a set time, you rest whilst your partner works. Both sessions were really good, I was aching for days after the first class as I was beginning to use all those muscles that I don’t get to work out when I swim, cycle or run.

Strong

I went to this class three days after HIIT, I nearly bailed out as my body had’t fully recovered. I decided to go along and check it out, as I said before, you only get out of a class what you put in. So I could always ease off a little if I was feeling it. I realised during this class how weak my core is, I was struggling a lot on the core based exercises, well mainly the v sit up’s. I was also struggling a little with press up’s, although I blame my arched back for that. It just means I have to work a bit harder to pull my tummy in and flatten my back. This class didn’t seem to be as busy as the HIIT class but still managed to get around 12-14 of us. Some of the exercises were similar to HIIT and some were new, introducing TRX row and weighted squats, lunges and shoulder press. I feel like it was a good blend and difference from HIIT and enough that you would want to introduce both into your routine to keep variety and build a good base of fitness with strength conditioning.

The verdict…

I really enjoyed my first couple of classes and decided to sign up to more, I went for the £90 for 10 sessions as I want that flexibility to be able to miss classes and opt for a run or a cycle should the weather pick up (fingers crossed for a repeat of 2018 weather). Not being tied into a contract gives me this, I am hoping that over the course of a couple of months my decision to cancel my old gym and sign up to more of these credit based classes works out more cost effective.

So if you’re looking for something new, something different or something with a little more flexibility, run by a couple of lovely people and friendly atmosphere. Then get yourself down to one of the classes below and enjoy yourself!