I tried the Mind + Body Studio and this is what happened!

My name is Nick and I work for Mytime Active. I've been watching with anticipation while we developed our Mind + Body Studio at The Spa at Beckenham. I’ve particularly been looking forward to the new eGym studio, which opened on 22nd July.

I’m relatively early in my wellbeing journey. Over the last 9 months, I’ve changed from being completely inactive, to understanding the value that regular physical activity and a better diet can have on my overall wellbeing. After a lot of hard work, I’m much fitter, and now I’m running regularly, sometimes as much as 30km per week!

Why eGym?

On a recent workout with a group of colleagues I was thrust into the area of the gym I normally avoid...the dreaded weights! During the session, I became disappointed that I couldn’t lift what others were lifting, so I pushed my body too hard, leaving myself aching for days afterwards and unable to do any exercise. This experience motivated me to think about more regular strength training. The Mind + Body Studio’s eGym sounded like it could offer me what I needed.

From everything that I had read about eGym, I felt the new studio could help me progress physically without feeling uncomfortable, with the ability to push myself in the right way, while tracking my progress to my goals. With this in mind, I booked myself in for an induction.

My first experience

Jack, one of our Fitness Professionals, took me up to the eGym studio and explained more about the equipment, how to get set up, and what programmes are available.

A big positive of the eGym equipment is that the setup is so easy. Once you have been set up by our Fitness Professional and given a wristband, the equipment is calibrated to your required resistance and adjusted to the perfect fit for you. It doesn’t matter how strong you are, as your resistance is based on your current ability and goals, so you know each workout is helping you progress. It also allows you to work out quickly and comfortably on your own, knowing the equipment is already set up correctly for your body.

The induction process is simple, and only lasts about 20 minutes:

1. Enquire at reception about booking an induction
2. Meet the Fitness Professional and get introduced to the eGym
3. Add your details to the eGym system and receive your wrist-band
4. Your Fitness Professional will calibrate each machine with you one by one
   1. Tap your new wristband on each machine
   2. Your Fitness Professional will set the adjustable parts of each machine to fit your height and positioning, so you are comfortable
   3. Your Fitness Professional will walk you through a strength test on each machine. This enables you to set the correct workout weights for you
5. Download the eGym app with your allocated password to see your key facts and stats, including your biological age! Here you can set your personal fitness goals.

Getting Started

Straight after my induction, I went for my first circuit starting on the regular setting, performing 20 reps of:

• Seated row
• Chest press
• Back trainer
• Abdominal trainer
• Shoulder press
• Lat pulldown
• Leg curl
• Leg extension

In about 15 minutes I had gone through the circuit, following the timing of the orange dot to ensure I was completing the exercise correctly. The process felt good - challenging, visually engaging, and fun.

For the next circuit, I selected the negative mode. This again is a circuit of all the machines but now with less reps at 15. This mode requires you to hold the resistance for a longer time, slowing down your technique and causing greater tension in the muscles. This was harder but the bright screens, akin to playing PacMan, willed me on to keep going.

My review

I loved it! The studio is airconditioned, comfortable, clean and smart. I felt no pressure to do too much and was motivated to push myself to the right level. Getting used to the equipment was quick and easy, and the challenge was good. I love all my fitness tracking apps that I use for running, so the eGym app and pairing with the equipment is a welcome addition in order to help achieve my strength goals.

The idea of doing an effective full-body workout in 30 minutes is great for me, because I can fit in weight training around my other commitments. I don’t need to worry about setting up the machines and putting the wrong weights on, I can just get on with my workout!

A very happy Mind + Body Studio member.

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