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REVIEW: New 'train like an athlete' trend – we try the Proathlete class at Fitness First created by Team GB

Suddenly there are more and more ‘train like an athlete’ classes and training systems on offer. The latest is Fitness First’s new Proathlete classes, created in collaboration with Team GB. Anna Magee tried it

As far as fitness is concerned, the world is dominated by two kinds of people: athletes and the rest of us. Up to now, athletes would train in something of a secret club to get their superhuman power and fitness. When asked, coaches would use words like drills and agility and power while everyone else thought, ‘Wheva’ and rewarded themselves for increasing the pace on their stepper by one with a bag of Quavers. But that’s changing. A raft of new classes and training systems are opening up the world of athletes’ training to real people and skyrocketing us out of our fitness comfort zones in the process.

Olympic swimmer Kate Haywood who is offering a chance to train like an athletes in her Wandsworth sessions
Olympic swimmer Kate Haywood who is offering a chance to train like an athletes in her Wandsworth sessions

Just today, Olympic swimmer Kate Haywood has launched her Straightline Energy fitness sessions. Haywood has won medals at World, European and Commonwealth Games levels and is now bringing her methods to parks in South London. Her sessions are designed for anyone whose fitness has plateaued and include a mixture of strength, speed and endurance. Indeed last year, Embody Fitness opened, the first ever personal training gym run by Olympians to deliver athlete-style fitness to everyday people. Having met (and trained with) some of the team including Sarah Lindsay, a 3-time Olympic athlete and 10-time British speed skating champion, both myself and my glutes can vouch for their methodical and precise methods. As for effectiveness, their results are astounding.

Perhaps the most exciting new collaboration leading the trend is between Fitness First and Team GB to create the brand new Proathlete class.  This is the first time Team GB have ever officially partnered up with a fitness brand.

From left: European gymnastics champion Max Whitlock, silver medal winning judoka, Gemma Gibbons, double-Olympic gold cyclist Ed Clancy and world boxing champion Nicola Adams at the launch of Fitness First's Proathelete class yesterday in Bishopsgate. It's the first time Team GB have collaborated with a fitness brand.
From left: European gymnastics champion Max Whitlock, silver medal winning judoka, Gemma Gibbons, double-Olympic gold cyclist Ed Clancy and world boxing champion Nicola Adams at the launch of Fitness First’s Proathelete class yesterday in Bishopsgate. It’s the first time Team GB have collaborated with a fitness brand. Pic: Craig Sugden

Having tried the class yesterday, I can vouch for one thing, it’s tough. It’s not like anything most of us do in the gym and could change the way your exercise. In fact, today’s press launch was attended by super-athletes boxer Nicola Adams, cyclist Ed Clancy, gymnast Max Whitliock and judoka Jemma  Gibbons and one of them was overheard saying: ‘This class is hard.’

Athletes on the sidelines were overhead commenting on how hard the class was
Athletes on the sidelines were overhead commenting on how hard the class was

First, forget those hours on the treadmill. This 40 minute class, created in association with Team GB coaches features constant high-speed movement that challenges lots of different muscles in your body. The focus is on five disciplines elite athletes require: speed, endurance, power, agility and strength and each class has three phases: training, competition and teamwork.

The warm-up itself was tough enough with a series of mountain climbers and mini-sprints. There was little rhythmic, class-style movement. Instead, we moved at high-speed throughout. The training began with lots of up and down actions – think squats and lunges with explosive jumps (explosive jump moves are known as plyometrics and they burn the hell out of calories) in between alternating with not your bog-standard planks but planks where your arms and legs are walking sideways along the floor.

Gymnast Max Whitlock joins the class in some of the plyometric jumping moves that made up the class
Gymnast Max Whitlock joins the class in some of the plyometric jumping moves that made up the class

In fact, think of all the exercises you know such as squats, lunges, planks and push-ups and then add about 300 per cent more torture to them and you will get the idea of what happened during this class. The ‘agility’ part of the class required lots of fast side ways jump-squatting moving across the room and touching the floor, which may sound like fun but isn’t.

Then, just when I was about. to. die. the teamwork part of the class began. We were split into five teams each of which had a famous athlete’s name. We were Zoe Smith. There were relays that featured jump equating your way along the length of the room (about 12 metres) and then lunging back holding a sand bell, along with crawling on your hands and knees and using your lying-down team mates bodies as obstacles to jump over. All of this is done at the highest speed we could muster so as not to let the side down. I can proudly report the Smith team won a few drills which was probably more to do with having Olympic gymnastics champion Max Whitlock on our team than our own athletic prowess.

Within each mini-drill was functional core workout which included moves such as those sideways walking planks things and in / out abdominal spiders while catching and throwing a sandbell. I don’t normally sweat that much during workouts, but in our final drill we had to hold the plank while taking turns doing burpees. As I held my plank I watched as sweat dripped like a leaking tap off my forehead onto the floor.

If you want a real workout that gives you serious training for your time commitment, I would recommend the new Proathlete workout from Fitness First.

The Proathlete class from Fitness First launches today at the Bishopsgate club and nationwide from September 15th

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