I have a complicated history with cult fitness classes. When the spin craze boomed in the mid 2010s I left my first bike workout totally spent, legs like jelly — and later realised I’d torn a muscle in my thigh while trying to obey the instructor who had screamed at me to “pushhh it”. Needless to say, I never went to another.
And while I’m in awe of anyone who has become a reformer Pilates devotee — with the long, lean physique to match, and the skills to gracefully slide the carriage through the class’s flow — the £30 average price tag per session at my nearest studios meant I fast fell of the bandwagon after wobbling through a couple of sessions.
This is not to say I’m a couch potato. I weight train weekly, am an intermittent runner and attend regular Pilates classes. So how would I fair in what looks to be London’s next fitness craze — could it get me hooked?
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Hot Pilates classes are beginning to spring up across the capital, with a few gyms offering sessions which use the same electric heat as hot yoga classes. Though newly-opened YOURS in Hackney Wick is the first London studio with infrared Pilates on its schedule. The practice has already gained a cult following at its sister location in Marbella, and a second studio is set to follow in Shoreditch in Autumn. While Studio Anatomy in Islington (which opened this weekend) will also offer infrared mat Pilates classes.
It’s slated to have myriad benefits. The YOURS team explain that: “Infrared works deep into your muscles for higher calorie burn, increased flexibility and faster recovery, reducing the risk of injury. It’s safe, natural and non-invasive, meaning it’s the perfect environment for a deep, detoxifying sweat.”
Plus, unlike the sticky, close-feeling heat created in conventional hot workouts, they explain to me that “infrared heats your body from within (not just the air around you!), so you can feel your body detoxify as the infrared heat boosts circulation.”
A low-impact workout with palpable results? Sign me up, I thought.
YOURS is a convenient 30-minute walk from my flat, in an area where there’s a dearth of vibey or boutique studio options. The stripped-back studio is a stone’s throw from its Queen’s Yard clubs and bars, and when I arrive I decide it definitely fills the trendy gym void.
As I turn onto Prince Edward Road, I am greeted by a reception with painted white brick walls and a marble desk, seen through floor-to ceiling windows that flood it with light. A Mario Bellini-inspired sofa adds an organic touch to the décor. It has that elusive feel of a ‘lifestyle destination’ over a cookie-cutter gym.
The team provide me with a towel (essential for the level of sweat that will shortly leave my body) and a rehydration sachet by LMNT (ditto for the sweat-factor).
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The studio itself is low-lit by the infrared, with mats at a comfortable distance — even though the class is full — and each station is decked out with chic ergonomic Bala-esque weights (if you know, you know) designed especially for the studio. I have high hopes already.
Before we start working out, we’re told to have a quick chat with our neighbour. Mine is smiley, friendly — and has already been to two classes in the three days the studio has been open so far. I’ll be looking to her for pointers on form, I tell her.
Our instructor is Sarah Mariko, who is also a Barry’s coach, and is as warm and energetic as my classmate. After a quick dynamic stretch she leads us into a first set, promising it will tone our butts and abs, while we simultaneously detox, thanks to the infrared.
Hot Pilates may feel like a wild concept to introduce right now, given we are living through a summer punctuated by extreme heat — but integrating warmth into our exercise and recovery routine has become increasingly en vogue. Saunas have become one of Londoner’s favourite pastimes in the last couple of years, while a growing number of standalone contrast therapy destinations, with saunas and cold plunges, have thrown open their doors lately (from Rebase in W1 to Sauna and Plunge, Shoreditch). Plus it’s become almost mandatory for boutique gyms to have an infrared version on-site for recovery purposes.
So, incorporating heat into one of London’s favourite forms of exercise feels like a no-brainer. As London life is so hectic, combining recovery benefits with your workout makes sense.
The class runs the gamut with the usual pulsing, donkey kicks, bridges, and planking you’d expect from a Pilates session designed for London’s fitterati.
It’s not for the faint-hearted — as your body heats up to between 35 – 38°C you are sweating an inordinate amount while Mariko puts you through your paces.
After several sets I balk internally when Mariko tells us to do the flow we have just completed “one more time”. Though somehow, I wasn’t as close to spent as I usually would be — I feel surprisingly calm and soothed by the infrared, even though I can tell my body is beginning to catch up slower with my brain than earlier in the class.
Sweat is dripping onto my mat from places I didn’t know I could even sweat from
My movements feel smoother and they seem more achievable than in a class without infrared, presumably due to the muscle relaxation. A set of lunges with overhead weights feels euphoric rather than exhausting.
Though there’s an obvious unflattering side-effect of the heat: sweat is dripping onto my mat from places I didn’t know I could even sweat from, and my gym-bunny looking neighbours had the stuff coming off their brows, shoulders — you name it.
It’s a relief that as my surrounds were not sticky and stifling, I could feel my own tepid breath when I attempted a cooling exhale.
Plus, Mariko is sure to cheerlead us with a congratulatory “So good!” each time we finish a set of repetitions and to flatter us about how “strong” our form is.
After 50 minutes as I felt the tank begin to run empty, we were eased into a well deserved lie down. The room is cooled down, infrared switched off. Mariko hands us all an icy towel scented with eucalyptus — which I take hold of as though it’s a bottle of water in the desert.
I left the studio drenched, but my classmates and I observe, that we’re not red-faced in the same way you would be after your average killer class — everyone has a healthy-looking, lit-from-within sort of glow.
Plus, the next couple of days, aches don’t kick in with any force, and I felt more relaxed afterwards, once I had caught my breath again, rather than with the tell-tale cortisol of a hard class running through my veins.
So yes, I think I may have found my new workout addiction.
YOURS is offering three classes for £39. yours.space
