What's On HK
Eat & Drink
Travel
Style
Beauty
Health & Wellness
Home & Decor
Lifestyle
Weddings
Conveniently located next to Aberdeen Street, The Steel Factory and Basic Reflex use a small studio space that’s super easy to get to. Though it’s not spacious, the studio is adequately fitted with boxing equipment and essential workout gear (everything you really need!) and even better, they have a small shower and changing room so you freshen up before you pop back to the office. It’s the ideal space for some one-on-one training, and even if you want to workout with a friend. You really feel like you’re away from the buzz of hectic working life and it’s the perfect place to zone out and unwind…
Kathy is a NASM Certified Personal Trainer, and she really is so knowledgeable about how the body works. Our first session with her was spent doing simple exercises and stretches so she could observe our posture, flexibility and areas that we needed to work on. I really enjoyed the circuit that we did, which involved a range of different movements to work different muscles in the body. A mix of pilates, burpees (eek!) and boxing kicked off our first session, and I felt really refreshed afterwards! Kathy’s expertise and use of “Thailates” – a new fitness programme that’s a mix of Pilates, metabolic/functional training and Muay Thai – gives you a great workout that she also informed us was great for weight loss, mobility and core strength…
One of things that we took away from our sessions with Kathy was how effective simple stretches and movements can be if done correctly. Kathy’s precision and timing meant that after only 10 minutes, our flexibility and posture was vastly improved and we really felt like our muscles had relaxed. Just check out the pic above!
With Kathy we learnt very basic boxing moves, but for one of our sessions we were able to learn a special Cuban style of boxing with Paul from Basic Reflex. His meticulous attention to the steps, the rhythm of the movements and the timings was impressive – the intensity of the session was actually really enjoyable! You feel like you learn the basic moves pretty quickly, and with a quick warm up to sharpen up hand-eye coordination, you’re well on the way to mastering the jabs! Apart from the satisfaction of making a good hit, the concentration required to make sure your footwork and positioning are on point also helps you feel focused, and is a great midday distraction from work. Definitely recommended if you need to let off a bit of steam…
Image sourced via Pinterest
Along with Kathy is Chanda Sen, The Steel Factory’s yoga instructor, who is arguably one of the most certified in Hong Kong. Chanda offers a range of yoga styles, from Hatha yoga to Power yoga, and she even does pre-natal and post-natal yoga as well as yoga for children and for the elderly! Although we didn’t get the chance to meet Chandra (Sassy scheduling can get a little hectic!), she is apparently a very low profile yet knowledgable person who is patient, attached to details and loves to teach. Sounds like the kind of person you want to teach you yoga!
Kathy is an excellent personal trainer who really customises her training to suit each person. Depending on what your goals are and what your strengths and weaknesses are, Kathy will choose appropriate exercises to get you maximum results. Not only does her mix of pilates, “Thailates”, boxing and CrossFit-style training get you into shape, but she also offers nutritional consultations and is very much of the belief that improving your health through training and diet is a lifestyle change, and that you should consider what you actually like to eat… just what we love to hear! Read more about what Kathy offers here. If you’re looking for a workout that’s fun, conveniently located and focused on you then this is definitely worth trying out…
The Steel Factory, 5192 5685, [email protected], www.the-steel-factory.com
