Let’s face it, the 90s was the heyday of dance music, and what a way to work out – to the pumping beats of some of the decade’s finest anthems.
An hour spent with the Awakening Club during one of their rave fitness sessions must be one of the highest intensity workouts I have ever experienced – but also one of the most enjoyable.
Time sailed by as I was engaged by the nostalgic music and put through my paces by the high-energy instructor. There was no boredom and no clock-watching going on in this class.
Each session the club’s DJ Mel takes the class on a journey of back-to-back pumping 90s classics, such as Snap’s I Got The Power, Born Slippy by Underworld, You Got The Love, What is Love, Ride On Time – the list goes on.
But it’s not just about enjoying the music. The challenge is to keep up with and follow the moves of the super-energetic, super-enthusiastic instructor, Marta. And if you manage to do so, you will burn many, many calories.
A student of zumba, boxercise and aerobics, she keeps the class buzzing and moving in all directions, while working on their dance steps too.
There’s a great atmosphere in rave fitness, with all of the participants grabbing glowsticks to liven up the experience, others wear face paint and there’s a general feeling of everyone being there to enjoy themselves.
The dark environment of the nightclub and loud, pumping music evaporates any sense of self-consciousness among those taking part.
So how did I feel at the end? Sweaty, panting and pumped, but ready for more – and wondering where the time went. Rave fitness is a brilliant and fun way to burn calories, get your heart racing and stretch those muscles.
So get your glow-sticks out, whack on the face paint, get your shell suit out of the closet (ok, maybe don’t go that far) and get down to the Havana Club for a nostalgia trip and a great work out.
- Wake up to rave fitness
The Awakening Club Rave Fitness is the brainchild of events organiser Laura Rosser, who has gathered inspiration from similar events that she has been running under the umbrella of the Awakening Club.
The all-girl rave fitness team includes Laura, the events organiser/marketer, DJ Mel and Marta Szyman – the high-energy fitness instructor.
Sessions take place at the Havana nightclub on Tuesday and Thursday nights from 6 pm. It costs £15 for two sessions and complimentary glow-sticks are provided.
The girls say that you can burn more than 600 calories every session and recommend that you bring a fit bit to keep track of how much energy you burn.
- For more information email theawakeningclub@yahoo.ca.
