At the risk of sounding like a nag, it’s important to maintain your strength and fitness year-round to boost your chances at living a healthy, long life. While the wind, rain and chill rage against us and our outdoor exercise ambitions, we have found the perfect places to remain dry and warm while getting a heart-pumping workout in (then we do couch and Ugg boot time, promise). So, lace up your sneakers and go get sweaty.
BODY ATTACK OR GOLD DANCE
Lords Recreation Centre, Subiaco
Lords has been dishing out quality fitness classes since the 80s, and it’s hard to choose favourites between the yoga-style offerings, strength circuits and cardio-blast cycle classes. As this is a winter fitness guide, I went with the classes guaranteed to give you a good burn. The Les Mills Body Attack is a HIIT-style class with a mixture of athletic aerobic, strength and stabilising exercises. If you want to experience true joy in an exercise class, try the low-intensity Gold Dance 9.30am at The Palms Community Centre, which is 45-minutes of booty-shaking, throwing your arms in the air like you just don’t care and so much laughing.
HIIT / STRENGTH CLASS
Bodies by Ryan, Jolimont
After six years at the Claremont Showgrounds, Bodies by Ryan has expanded to Jolimont (and further afield at Perth Airport) where head trainer Ryan Devereux brings his community-vibe HIIT and strength training to life. The BBR sessions transform physiques, creating stronger, leaner, and fitter bodies, with a big focus on healthy lifestyles and mindsets, too. Over one-hour sessions, you’ll cover between eight to 15 stations while your form is corrected, you’re pushed to your personal limits and guaranteed you’ll leave feeling pumped and ready to conquer the day. Try leg day and enjoy feeling like a baby giraffe learning to walk the next day.
RUMBLE BOXING
Rumble Studio, Subiaco
US fitness brand Rumble landed in Subiaco a year ago and has built up a loyal membership who love the pinging vibes in the challenging 45-minute workout. Over 10 rounds, each class covers a cardio-intense mixture of boxing drills and skills, before moving to resistance training for strength building. Rumble has members who are first-time boxers to pro and amateur fighters, all training together with novices getting plenty of coaching from the upbeat trainers. The boxing bags are water-filled so if you have delicate hands, they won’t take a battering.
FLOORBALL
Revolution Sports, Shenton Park
I’m not afraid to admit that I’m a floorball addict. This fast-paced game with a plastic stick and ball (which is hollow, so it only stings a little if it hits you) runs over two 16-minute halves and is like indoor hockey with fewer rules. Grab five friends (five on the court, but you’ll want a sub or two) and radically increase your cardio fitness this winter, safely indoors, while you belt that lightweight ball around the court and, ideally, into the net. Play on Monday and Tuesday evenings at varying times with a team or try the Thursday evening skill sessions run at 6pm or 7pm. Will it be your next addiction too?
REHAB EXERCISE
Perth Sports Chiropractor, Subiaco
When outdoor exercise is less appealing, it’s the perfect time to fix any niggles that have plagued you over the warmer months. Perth Sports Chiropractor in Subiaco not only provides the usual readjustments expected from a chiropractor, it also offers a sports chiropractic service that evaluates your injury and biomechanics and fixes the cause. The Subiaco space has a small gym where the chiropractors take you through rehab exercises to build your strength, leaving you top shape for summer.
PERFORMANCE
CycleBar Subiaco
You need nerves of steel riding outdoors on wet roads on those freezing, dry mornings that turn your nose into an ice cube. Instead, roll up on a Sunday morning to CycleBar’s 45-minute Performance class that uses CycleStats technology, group challenges and competitions to pump the pedals faster than your neighbour (or yourself, from last week). With the disco vibes of lights down and a curated playlist turning up, the instructors will motivate you to dial up the resistance and keep you warm for the rest of the day.
SCULPT
Pillar Chiropractic and Pilates
Pillar’s 50-minute reformer class Sculpt uses all the Pilates torture devices to improve strength, balance, endurance, and coordination from your head to your toes, and all the big and little muscles in between. The class only fits seven participants so there’s nowhere to hide, just embrace the burn and do what the instructor says. You don’t even need sneakers, just a pair of grip socks, so you can come and go in your Uggs.
