Speedflex London Review

I think it’s time I come clean: I’m not a fan of the gym. Sorry. I tried, many times. Yet, every time I went there’d be a dude of the size of The Rock getting me to squat and lift like there’s no tomorrow (nothing against The Rock btw, I’d date him, but I’m 5’6ish tall and literally have no room for all that muscle). I always felt like gyms weren’t very well targeted to small Sardinian girls with biggish thighs, broad shoulders and a short attention span. Enter Speedflex London, a new fitness concept based in Bank, introduced to me by the lovely Action PR team.

What Is Speedflex?

Speedflex is a high-intensity, low-impact 30-minute workout like few others. At Speedflex, instead of using your average gym machines, you use new inclusive equipment that responds to your strength as opposed to the addition of weights. This results in no damage to your muscles and little to no muscle soreness post-session. So it’s the perfect workout both if you’re a gym rat and if you go to the gym once a month when you feel guilty.

The workout happens in small groups, led by an experienced trainer. I tried the Speedflex London studio in Bank, a boutique gym with gorgeous change rooms, showers and lockers. For my session, I teamed up with the lovely Fran from Action PR. We were given elastic bands with heart-rate trackers from MyZone which broadcast our workout on the screens, showing us how much of our strength we were using.

Frequent Speedflex London members can use MyZone’s tracker to keep track of their workout and store their progress on the Speedflex app. The machine logs all their achievements and, even if they reach 100 per cent of their strength, it pushes them so that they train a little harder next time. Plus, through the Speedflex app they can even train and challenge Speedflex members from all over the world and do a bit of competitive HIIT.

Memberships start at £45, with access to Speedflex London’s functional studio, and cost a maximum of £99, which gives you unlimited access to the gym. It’s on the pricey side of fitness if you’re a student, but as a pole dancer used to pay much more for pole, I guess you’ve got to pick your battles. If you want to try something different, chances are it won’t be super cheap.

Body Scan

Speedflex London also gives you a dexascan, a body scan I’ve been dying to get since before leaving Australia, under my friend Emma’s suggestion. Through the dexascan you find out your muscle and fat percentages, showing that your weight is not always a good indicator to tell you you’re fit and strong. For me, this was life-changing. Growing up being told “You’d look great if you lost a bit of weight on your thighs” has really shaped the way I see myself. I was always Xena, too big, not too feminine compared to other girls. Having my dexascan and a chat with the Speedflex team showed that my body fat is on the low end of normal, that my core is really strong and that my left side is a tiny bit musclier than my right – good excuse to start training my bad side at pole. So bring on Xena and #thickthighssavelives – if 2018 is the year in which you want to challenge yourself and forget boring workouts, Speedflex is probably the right place to start!

Speedflex London
Plough Court
33 – 36 Lombard Street
City of London
EC3V 9BQ
Membership Info: Here