REVIEW: PSYCLE - CANARY WHARF

On Monday night, my friend Ade an I headed to Psycle at the Crossrail complex in Canary Wharf, both of us a combination of excitement and nervousness. We were Psycle newbies taking advantage of a promotion to try out a free class.

We'd both tried Spin before, in fact Ade was the one to convince me to give Spin a go and we loved it, so we thought why not give Psycle a go and see what the hype is about. You need to register and book classes online and one thing I have to give you a heads up on, is you have to enter your shoe size when registering as you have to wear the cleated shoes provided by Psycle unless you have your own. I wasn't sure about his bit, but I needn't have worried as all the shoes are handed in for a deep clean after each class.....phew! 

Psycle classes are a full body workout, a combination of cycling and weights, using music as a key motivational tool. The workouts are designed to strengthen your core muscles and tone targeted areas whilst raising your heart rate and burning maximum calories through movement out of the saddle. Hand weights are used to tone the upper body and you can chose a weight that's suitable to your abilities. The cleated shoes, lock your feet into place, increasing the connection between the leg and the bike which engages the hamstrings and glutes resulting in lean and toned muscle.

On entering the class there was a friendly face showing us how to adjust our bikes, how to lock our cleats in place and importantly how to unlock yourself from the bike. Our instructor Natalie got the class started and I very quickly learnt that these classes are very different to Spin. I struggled a little at the beginning to get into the rhythm of the class and moves and I wasn't used to the cleated shoes, but I got into it as I got caught up in music and just followed the beat. The class is definitely a full body workout, it's like a combination of cardio cycling with lunges and press up actions all on the bike and then the weights session. I really had my sweat on, that's for sure but it was an incredible workout. I have to admit it was tough, but admittedly I haven't been to the gym in ages and when I struggled I just felt even more determined to try Pscyle again as I wanted to improve.

Psycle recommend that after trying your first class you should start finding out which class best suits you. All their instructors have their own individual style and playlists so you're encouraged to try out as many different classes as you can in the early days. I think I need to pop along to the Intro class but after that I really want to try out the Timberland vs Pharell or the Missy Elliott Theme Ride class.

The Psycle studio itself has a great look, a white converted warehouse style interior with bursts of mint green and pink. The changing facilities are impressive; nice and clean with good sized lockers which don't require padlocks or money. When classes are fully booked, it can get pretty crowded in the changing rooms so it's worth arriving a little early if you want a bit more space. Complimentary towels, Ila products and Bumble and Bumble shampoo and conditioner are all provided as well as ghd hairdryers and straighteners being at your disposal.

Overall my Psycle experience was hard work but I really enjoyed it and I came away with the buzz of having had a great workout. I'd recommend giving Pscyle a go, it's suitable for all fitness levels and Psycle have an intro offer where you and a friend can go along for the price of one.

Have you tried Psycle? What did you think?

Jx