Be:Fit London in review

Be:Fit London – a bird’s eye view

Last weekend saw Be:Fit London take over London’s Business Design Centre for three days, and I went along on Saturday to see what it was all about. Having scoured the website beforehand and booked myself in for a class, I went with pretty high hopes – and they weren’t disappointed.

For anyone who didn’t make it there, here’s why you should definitely make the effort next year – it’s already announced it’ll be back 29 April-2 May 2016 – which is excellent news!

There was a really chilled out, friendly atmosphere around the place, with stalls you could wander around to chat and find out more about new products, give them a taste. Plus, as it’s set up by women, for women, there’s none of the male bravado that you might find in the weights room at the gym.

The brands all seem to have been carefully chosen to fit with the event’s message – all promoting eating well – yet tastily, having fun with exercise, and living healthily to feel better. It’s not about being skinny, or pressuring yourself to live on lettuce.

Pre-Elimin8or by Equinox

I only made it to one of the classes, but it was a brutal one! The Elimin8or class by Equinox was half an hour of circuit-style high intensity training, with about 100 other women in the room. It was tough, sweaty and also pretty hilarious. As Equinox is such a premium gym, it’s unlikely I’d ever have a chance to have tried one of its classes, so it’s a great way to see what exercise is out there. Then, there’s nothing stopping you from trying it yourself at home or the gym.

Purchases and freebies – there’s no such thing as too much healthy stuff

I left to go home with a slight case of sweat-hair, having met some really interesting people, new ideas and knowledge about how to better take care of myself – along with a couple of bags laden with samples, goodies and reading materials that I can’t wait to try out. Guilt-free shopping! Better than sitting at home watching another Netflix marathon, right?

Be:Fit London Preview

Be:Fit London, 1-3 May

The bank holiday weekend is nearing and, therefore, so is Be:Fit London. ‘What the frig is that?’ you may be asking your screen – well, it’s a three-day health and fitness event for women in London’s Business Design Centre from 1-3 May. And, luckily, there are still limited tickets left.

If you’ve found yourself reading this blog, presumably it’s because you’re interested in health and fitness – even if you don’t quite know where to get started with it all. Well, events like this are a fantastic way to get clued up – all the brands, classes and fitness professionals you might have (or haven’t) heard of are all in the same place, and you can scope them all out in one go.

Be:Fit London talks. Photo courtesy of Instagram.com @befitlondon

For starters there’s a host of inspirational talks from Olympic greats Rebecca Adlington, Victoria Pendleton and Denise Lewis, as well as experts such as nutritionists Madeleine Shaw and Amanda Hamilton, while Melissa White takes on the sadly-relevant topic of how to embrace your body for what it is, and not the media’s depiction of what it should look like.

Then there’s all the classes you can book onto from BOOM Cycle, Barry’s Bootcamp, Les Mills, Equinox, Insanity and FRAME, plus lots of yoga. You can book tickets online for just £2 for guaranteed entry – which is a lot cheaper than booking their normal classes. So, turn up in something sweat-friendly and make the most of it.

And then? Well, it’s just a case of perusing the 125 premium brands – think Withings, British Heart Foundation, Bounce Balls and Abel & Cole – that will be pitched up showing off a load of products and advice, with discounts and (if you’re lucky) samples.

It’s looking like there are only normal tickets left to buy now – but, for the future it’s worth bearing in mind that there are also Luxe Experience tickets that come with a 30 sports massage, a luxury goodie bag and access to the Luxe Lounge that has champagne in it. Yeah, we wish we’d got one, too… There’s always next year.