Every well-established gym out there has its own version of a month-long bootcamp or fitness and nutrition challenge, but Kara Martin thinks she’s found her match in The Room’s iCHANGE programme. Here’s what happened when she undertook the 28-day regime…
Twenty-eight days really is not much time at all when you’re “on a mission”, and I am currently on one to get back to fighting fit after a summer of maybe too much fun. I want to sign up for some of the winter season’s various endurance racing events – or at least be able to do a triathlon again if I felt so inclined, as it was once something I enjoyed.
I figured that iCHANGE could offer the espresso-sized kick I needed to regain that stamina and energy to commence heavy, healthy training.
Measured and weighed, I first had to do a brief fitness test – how many push-ups/squats one can do in a minute, and a 3-minute stair stepping test to check our heartrate in, and coming out of, action. My scores weren’t bad; I just wanted them to be better.
I was assigned five mandatory fitness classes a week based on my goals. I got Spin class (X2), weight training, kickboxing, and the absolute top-notch, much-needed Functional Mobility session that probably saved me each week with its various massaging and foam rolling exercises (if you’re an athlete or weekend warrior, please go see Rhys on Wednesday nights).
For the first two weeks I really got into the groove. Having the indoor cycling classes starting off and ending my week too was probably a big help because you’ve not properly “experienced” indoor cycling in Abu Dhabi unless you’ve tried it at The Room. They’re ridiculously passionate about it and it rubs off on you to the point where sometimes you’re crying on your bike (guilty).
Anyway, the classes were all great. In fact, taught with real personality by awesome instructors, they’re excellent here. And so many others are available to you throughout the 28-day package if you feel like training more, such as quality yoga and the highly popular Shape and Zumba.
iChange’s trainers offered great support.
But the main reason this programme is now a personal favourite is because of its well-thought-out support system for challengers. No man is left behind, even if he feels like he wants to be on the hardest of days. Their ‘Care Team’ is with you even when you leave the venue, literally, thanks to a WhatsApp group for all challengers and trainers.
For 28 days straight they were the first to message me on a morning – that phone vibrating at 06:30 calling my brain to action and mental preparedness to take on another gruelling day. Sometimes I would groan and want to die when I heard it, but mostly it was the kick I needed and appreciated.
The fact that they message and motivate often through our phones, and the added “pressure” of being placed in an interactive group chat which involved people sometimes sharing their homework of, say, four sets of 10 squats or the chia seed pudding they learned to make on nutrition day (Wednesdays), really helped me, particularly because, as a freelancer and my own boss, I have too much free reign – you can see where a certain degree of laziness could kick in, right?
The fact that instructors also have to sign you off for having done your daily homework – be it by dropping down for your push-ups right on the floor in front of them after class or “handing them in” via video message – is another scheme that worked well with me. I lived to see all those signatures lined up on my card, and hated the days when I was too busy to get a box filled out. It spurred me on, made me want to make up for lost effort, work even harder.
Which brings me to my disaster Week 3 – when I worked too hard, crashed and burned. But the trainers noticed it happening and sat me down for many talks – even sharing with the group a little video speech about listening to the body’s needs – and I’m very grateful for that. They really care. I think by now everyone knows how huge a role nutrition plays in making sure you reach your fitness goals, whether they are to lose weight, just get back in shape or train in a sport, and yet this is still where most of us go wrong.
I tried to lean in closer to what my body was asking for. I quickly learned that training five to seven times a week made me hungrier more often, and sometimes my body would even cry out for the worst possible things. With my history of fussy eating (and sometimes lack of eating), it was very helpful for me to have access to new, easy-to-make snack and meal recipes and 24/7 nutritional advice via my phone to help me deal with this newfound, and increased, appetite, and the pains of managing it while on the go. I am certainly no stranger to my kitchen now.
After tackling the fourth and final week with a much smoother and smarter approach, I finished strong to keep off the 2kg of weight I had lost at the midway mark – and this while having to review various restaurant and brunch reviews for work during the month, too.
My clothes fit better and that increased my comfort and confidence so I even braved wearing the tighter stuff at the back of the closet. I did not come into the challenge with the goal of weight loss – and there’s really only so much you can lose over 28 days, by the way, let’s be realistic – so I was more curious to see where my fitness levels had reached by the end of iCHANGE.
Push-ups in one minute went from 33 to 40, squats from 29 to 37 and my resting heartrate had lowered (meaning I was able to recover from intense activity much quicker than before).
A triathlon is certainly on the cards now, but I must admit it took me a week or two post-challenge to find my groove again on my own without the support group. I really do miss them and I’m actually keen to sign up for Round Two at the end of the month. Similarly, I’ve heard other fellow challengers have signed on for three-month unlimited class packages with the gym since, like mum of two Monique Raynor, who lost 5kg.
“I enjoy exercise but I haven’t exercised on a regular basis for maybe two years, having another baby and all that, and so I really needed that kick in the butt,” she said. “This definitely worked. Now I’ll sit down on a Saturday night and, using The Room’s app, plan out and immediately book what classes I am going to be doing for the week, whereas before I would just wake up each day and see if I feel like exercising.
“While I have lost weight, especially in my tummy area, what I really came out with in the end was a more drastic change to my mindset about prioritising myself as a mother, and actually getting out and exercising. Now, I’m committed.”
