According to recent research from Shark, 44% of women worry about others staring at them while sweating at the gym. And honestly? I'm shocked it's not more.
I enjoy working out at my own (gentle) pace, but I turn cherry-red within minutes on the treadmill, and it can take me hours to stop looking flushed and flustered. And while I'm not proud of it, feeling self-conscious has definitely stopped me from pushing myself to the limits at the gym.
So when Shark invited me to join a workout class, ominously called SweatBox, I wasn't so sure it was the event for me. Then, I heard that I'd have my own HydroGo misting fan to cool me down throughout the event, and I knew I had to try it for myself.
Here's how it went.
Let's get physical
I thought I might be quite good at boxing. It's just punching a bag, so how hard could it be? As it happens, very hard.
The first thing I noticed was that the workout involves a lot more than just your arms. You need to be agile and on your toes to keep up with the sets, and to top it off, we were tasked with burpees and push-ups in-between, so this was 45 minutes of pure cardio.
None of us started the workout with our fans on, but after the warmup almost all of us had discarded a glove to set the fan on full blast. The HydroGo can't oscilate, but it does have a flexible base that allows you to point it up at you, or face you directly from a table or desk.
After 30 minutes, my legs felt like jelly, so I broke out the big guns and turned on the HydroGo's misting function.
As I've said, you need to be on your toes in a boxing class, so I was slightly concerned that the mist might make the floor around me a little slippy. And while I can't recommend you do this if you're in a public space where you could trip others up, I didn't experience any slips throughout the rest of my class. I was able to burpee and plank without losing my grip on the floor. In truth, without the fan pointing directly towards my face, I don't know if I'd have managed the last few sets.
And that sheen on my face after the workout? Who's to say whether that's sweat, or the refreshing mist from my personal fan.
My verdict
As I said in my Shark FlexBreeze HydroGo review, the misting feature on this fan is incredibly fine. I've happily used it with makeup on without worrying that it'll melt the mascara off my face. But despite how gentle the misting can feel, it is incredibly effective at cooling you down.
Combined with the multi-speed fan, the mist provides an instant cooling effect on impact, and its reach is pretty direct thanks to its single outlet at the front of the fan.
I was also pleased that the fan lasted the full 45-minute workout without running out of charge. If you put us head to head — what will last longer in the gym, Millie or her misting fan? — I'm pretty sure the HydroGo would win by a mile.
I can't say I'll be rushing back to SweatBox any time soon (in truth, I was more limping than rushing for a couple of days after the workout) but if I do, you best believe the HydroGo is coming with me.
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