There has been a steady rise in boutique fitness studios in London- places that focus on one or two classes and make that their “thing”, meaning that they have instructors who are experts in their field and facilities perfectly tailored to the experience.

1Rebel is one of the top boutique fitness studios in London – with their luxe, well-stocked changing rooms and RIDE (Spinning) or RESHAPE (treadmill/weights) classes they’ve attracted a wide following of fitness enthusiasts addicted to that endorphin buzz!

So much so, that this month their second venue in London opened up offering a new addition to the 1Rebel repertoire – RUMBLE.

RUMBLE is a cardio boxing and mixed martial arts class – each person has their own punchbag, and for 45minutes you jab and kick your stress away. I headed along on Tuesday to check it out!

First off, everyone has to buy their own wraps (£4) – which you keep afterwards- and hire a pair of boxing gloves (£1), similar to hiring shoes at a Spin studio. Unfortunately 1Rebel have had some problem with the sizing of these, so even though I went for a size Large, by the end of the class I was starting to get tingly fingers because they were too tight! I was reassured by the instructor that they’ve ordered a load more gloves so hopefully this should be sorted asap.

On to the class…

We all headed inside the darkened studio and chose our punchbags, which were arranged in a circle with the instructor (Esmee) in the centre. This did mean you had to move around a little to see what she was demonstrating at times as the other punchbags blocked your view, but the idea of the class is not to stand still so that wasn’t really a problem! Esmee also walked around herself offering encouragement and guidance so I didn’t have any trouble keeping up.

The 45-minute session was based on 3 rounds of moves – upper body punches, MMA (kicks), and cardio (burpees, mountain climbers, situps) – which were repeated 3 times, gradually getting harder and inviting you to put more intensity into each round as you became more familiar with the technique.

Boxing is designed to incorporate explosive speed, footwork, and strength – although I am definitely not the next Nicola Adams I really enjoyed the class! The soundtrack featured upbeat, motivational tracks, incorporating the bell at the end of each round, and crowds cheering to make you feel pretty badass. So it may not be “serious boxing” but the session was fun, great stress relief, and definitely a good workout!

As everyone has their own punchbag you can go at your own pace, and I think it’s a lot more accessible than their RESHAPE classes – I definitely didn’t sweat as much! Lifting my arms the next day was a bit of a challenge though…

Have you tried a boxing class? What do you think of boutique fitness studios instead of big gyms?

Beki x