We’ve just completed a 30 workouts in 30 days in which we trekked the pavements of London doing new and exciting workouts. Of course, most of our attention was firmly placed on the reps and sets and metabolic burn from each activity but we couldn’t help but notice some also contained a plethora of hot, fit men that scored low on our gay-dar. Result, non? We did some further research amongst our readers, contributors and that great measurer of humanity: twitter to come up with the top five fitness hot spots where you can both get in shape and meet men.
1. BRITISH MILITARY FITNESS BMF tops our list as 85 per cent of females that went to BMF classes felt comfortable approaching men after class and in the Greenwich BMF group alone there have been 13 marriages in the ten years it’s been running. Along with being a hell of a workout, BMF is muddy and sweaty and friendly and you have to get up close and personal during classes as so much of it is done in partners and teams (we’re talking, your head in their groin area, personal). Classes are generally about 60:40 women to men and there are always social events that accompany BMF sessions and this could be anything from meeting at the pub after class to Saturday brunch or entire weekends away where days are spent climbing rope walls and nights spent partying and flirting. Check out one of the success stories James and Heather here.
2. BARRY’S BOOTCAMP Barry’s classes are a bit like an exercise session in a club, with low pink lighting (that makes you look great) and buzzy dance music. They also run regular social events such as disco parties in which you have to dress up as anything from rock stars to schoolkids and members love getting into the spirit. There’s a protein shake bar where people congregate post-class to chat through their maximum rep ranges and sprint speeds over a chia seed and kale smoothie. But if you’re average-looking like us be warned, most people that frequent Barry’s have won the genetic lottery and their cheekbones may enter a room before they do. That aside, when it comes to good old fashioned eye-candy, Barry’s has the area cornered – the instructors are hot. Read about our Reboot! Body Blogger’s 12 week programme with Barry’s
3. SPORTING TRIPS ‘I find doing boy sports like mountain biking, rock climbing, abseiling is great for meeting straight, fit men’ says Maz, 39, a currently single cancer support nurse. ‘I met loads of guys on a trip I just went on to French Alps. I was in Morzine, near Geneva – aptly nicknamed Man-zine. In the summer it’s a mountain-biking Mecca so there are throngs of boys (with the odd girl) there.. Quite cool if you’re single. And yes, they are generally single and straight.’ chillypowder.com run great sporting trips in the alps.
4. CROSSFIT People that attend CrossFit seriously often refer to it as a cult and like runners, they’re happiest talking about CrossFit. Not only is the challenge and achievement you get from pushing, pulling, squatting or lifting your own body weight addictive it’s also a spit and sawdust glamour free zone where what (seems) to matter is the sport. The men and women generally do similar sports and all help and motivate eachother. Regular ‘CrossFit Games’ are competitions with lively atmospheres both on and off the arenas. What we loved most about Crossfit was not only the wide array of body types and raw humanity present – old, young, short, tall – but also the camaraderie and that it’s generally a pretension-free zone. Oh and we didn’t count, but it looked like the classes were about 30:70 women to men. We went to the CrossFit gym in Bethnal Green, London.
5. INDOOR CLIMBING WALLS Especially The Castle Climbing Centre at Green Lanes, London which is an actual castle that’s been transformed into three floors of climbing faux mountains, grottos and cliffs. ‘When I went, I was struck by how overwhelmingly male climbing is as a sport and they all have amazing bodies, and often climb topless,’ says Jo, 32, an art gallery manager from Northampton. ‘The atmosphere is all wholesome and friendly – not nearly so aggressive as a gym. I am not single, but every time I go there I think, if I were and looking I would so go there to meet some men. The other thing I noticed is that the car park is a total mish mash of beaten up old bangers and BMWs so I think there is a real mix of people that go and also they arrange lots of ‘real’ climbing trips out and about. Plus, the women all have fantastic bodies so it must work.’
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