Health
EDINBURGH HOLISTIC HEALTH
Try chilling out, not working out. Offering complementary health therapies to revitalise your body. mind and spirit, Energetics is the perfect alternative for those who want to improve their well—being without getting all sweaty. The small centre. with 12 consultants, offers weekly Pilates. Chi Gong, and yoga classes — as well as acupuncture and massages — in a homely setting.
The classes hold a maximum of 12 peeple, resulting in more individual guidance. Courses and workshops — ranging from ‘breathing for relaxation' to ‘the red tent' — are also available. The latter recreates the ancient traditions of a lady's monthly retreat.
A 30-minute consultation to find out what you might enjoy and what might benefit you costs 9215 but comes with a £15 voucher. Energetics can design you a programme that, for example, combines acupuncture and yoga. to achieve the best overall results.
I Genuinely warm and homely .
I Tailor made programmes.
I No fluorescent lighting.
I No crazy joining fee.
I Energetics, 74a Broughton Street Lane, Edinburgh, 0737 557 9567, enquiries@energetics. uk. com,
www. energetics. uk. com. Pilates. six weeks £48, eight weeks £64; Vini yoga, 74 weeks £84; Ashtanga yoga, six weeks £36, eight weeks £48; Chi Gong, ten weeks £7 70; treatments £30 an hour
SPINNING
On yer bike!
Nothing to do with the art of weaving, Spinning is essentially a fancy name for cycling in time to music on an exercise bike. How crazy us that? Well, not at all really, but the Americans apparently love it and the craze has swept over here.
Invented 15 years ago by Johnny G — no relation to Dario — it‘s the biggest thing since Cher's 'step‘ video. Lucky then the spanking new Holmes Place in the Omni Complex. the largest in the club's 59—strong chain, has a spin studio complete with 30 bikes and disco lights.
It's more of a sweaty party than a workout and anyone who can ride a bike (even with stabilisers) can participate in the 45—60 minute classes. which define leg, arm, shoulder and abdominal muscles. If you have the sort of appalling coordination that is usually only associated with drunken tramps then this is an easy way to participate in a
fitness class without risk of making like 3
Justin Timberlake and breaking a foot. I Lycra is optional.
I The G in Johnny G stands for Goldberg — he‘s in his late 40s but down with the kids.
I Unlike normal cycling, there is an instructor and disco lights.
I You could create a cheap alternative
98 THE LIST 16-30 Jan 2003
Energeticsg nature’s way
at home with an exercise bike. Now 24 and a strobe light.
I Holmes Place Health Club, Omni Centre, Greenside Place, Edinburgh, 0737550 7650, www.ho/mesplace.com.
CAPITAL FITNESS
Council class
Getting fit doesn't necessarily involve shelling out a bomb. Edinburgh Leisure is a council trust with 13 Pulse Gyms, the largest being Ainslie Park Leisure Centre. Following a £600,000 renovation, the gym now
boasts 63 pieces of fitness equipment.
Expect everything you would find at most gyms but at a fraction of the price. A purpose—built fitness studio has also been added to the complex teaching classes such as body pump, boxercise and Pilates. There is also a creche, sauna, 25m pool and cyber cafe. If you own a leisure card (237) you get a concession; however, if you join Pulse Direct for $215 (think three
packets of fags) and pay $232 a month,
you get access to all 13 gyms, the swimming, the classes — everything. I Access to 13 different gyms.
I Creche facilities.
I Accessible and affordable to all. I Ladies-only nights.
I Ainslie Park Leisure Centre, 92 Pi/ton Drive, Edinburgh, 0737 557 24 00, www. edinburgh. gov. uk. Pulse Direct joining fee, £7 5; Pulse Direct
One Spa: alth meets technology
month/y, peak £32, off-peak £325; Pulse Direct annual, peak £352. off- peak £2 75
FROM MARTIAL ARTS TO WOMEN-ONLY
Fitness in numbers
There is no better motivation when exercising than knowing that if you stop you will look like a loser. Sweating it out with a room full of people is an effective and sure-fire way to get fit. At The Edinburgh Club there‘s SCulptlng, dance-based. cardio fitness. yoga. boxing, martial arts and circuit classes. All in. there are 26 classes. also including the tummy clinic. hip hop aerobics, salsa aerobics. yoga. butt blaster and Thai boxing.
There's also a Ladies Club with women-only classes and separate gyms for those who prefer not to exercise with men. The hip hop aerobics class is based on dance music. street dance and laid-back choreography, while the salsa class combines the traditional moves of low impact aerobics with the sensuality of salsa — who said getting fit has to be dull, eh?
I Lots of classes to choose from. I A spinning room.
I Small, friendly gym.
I Edinburgh's first health club. established over 35 years ago.
I The Edinburgh Club, 2 Hillside Crescent, EH7 SDY, 0131 556 8845 or 0737 556 0057, wwwedinburgh- club. co. uk. Full membership annual, £449, month/y direct debit, £42: off- peak membership annual, £270, off- peak month/y direct debit, E25.
TECHNOGYM
Key to fitness
The most exclusive gym in town, One Spa offers its members access to all the latest Technogym cardio and resistance equipment along with their very own microchip key. The key is programmed with the user's individual
. . . you should join a gym
1 Simply paying a small fortune for membership and monthly fees will motivate you to get your money's worth.
2 It‘s one of the few places you can legally get naked with strangers.
3 Lonely spinsters/bachelors can follow the footsteps of Sex and the City skanks and use the gym as a place to eye-up potential suitors.
4 Enjoy swimming again — there are no kids pissing in the pool at health clubs.
5 Once you're in an aerobic class there is no escape — the embarrassment of dropping out will keep you going.
6 Rick Waller didn’t join a gym.
7 If colleagues at work ask you of your plans for the evening, “going to the gym' sounds so much better than ‘sitting alone in front of the TV. as l have no friends'.
8 After an hour of exercise y0u'll have truly have earned your tag, pie and pint.
9 As an addiction, it's the healthy alternative to crack.
10 You might actually get fit. (Carolyn Aiken)
programme and workout history — it's oh-so high-tech it all seems a bit Robocop.
The friendly staff will design you a fitness programme to help you achieve your goals. then all the info is kept on the key. which you insert into the exercise machines. The machines adjust to meet your settings and then monitor your performance as you workout — think of it as being like a health club version of a Tesco clubcard. Truly amazing stuff.
The key also lets you log outside activities such as five-a-side football. so you can calculate how many calories you have burned per week.
All of the cardiovascular machines have a flat-screen television with Sky. I Membership is limited so no waiting for machines.
I Track the exercises you have done. I Watch what you want on the flat- screen TVs — MTV not obligatOry.
I 19m ozone pool.
I One Spa. 8 Conference Square. Edinburgh, 0737 227 7777, www.0ne- spacom, i/if()ta.‘orie-spa.coin. Fitness at One jou ling fee 53250; month/y £65.
10 REASONS WHY 1