There’s been an obvious shift in people’s attitudes towards fitness over the past few years. Fewer people are hitting the old-school gyms, preferring the fitness classes at boutique Melbourne yoga and fitness studios. Here’s a round-up of Melbourne’s best yoga and fitness classes you should try right now.
Sophia Lahey
Hit Melbourne’s Bodhi & Ride chamber for a high-intensity full-body workout to vibrant music and neon lighting. Image © Sophia Lazarides
Bodhi & Ride
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This ‘aint your traditional cycling class. I haven’t done one of the infamous Soul Cycle classes that everyone’s going crazy about in the US, but I imagine Bodhi & Ride is as close to that as you’re going to get in Australia.
You get allocated a numbered bike and find your seat inside what they call the “chamber”, a small, dark room with neon lighting. Once that chamber door shuts there is no escaping.
Vibrant beats pump out of the speakers and the instructor yells motivational cues through the microphone as you push those legs, but what makes this class different, is that there are arm exercises thrown in there as well.
The instructor will tell you when she wants you to do push-ups on the handlebars or pick up a set of weights and do shoulder presses as you cycle. It takes a bit of coordination, but it really gives you a full-body workout.
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Sweat it out at Tribute Melbourne where traditional boxing meets high-intensity circuit training. Image © Sophia Lazarides
Tribute Boxing
Former IBO world super featherweight champion, Will Tomlinson, set up this studio in Abbotsford after retiring from professional boxing, last year. There’s really nothing else like this out there, that I am aware of, so it’s great to see something unique hit the fitness scene.
When I went to do my first, private class with Will, he asked whether I’d done much boxing, to which I replied, “Yeah, a bit”, thinking of the free kickboxing classes run in the park by the local council. About a minute into Will’s class I realised I’d never done boxing like that. Like, real, proper, actual, Muhammad Ali-style boxing (except nowhere near as good, obviously).
These guys are really good at what they do and focus as much on your boxing technique as they do on ensuring you get a decent workout.
There’s a different circuit-style class each day, with varying time intervals for each exercise. The exercises range from boxing to treadmill sprints to medicine ball slams etc, so you’re sure to get a resistance workout as well as improve your fitness.
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Sum of Us: A beautiful calm space to practice yoga, Pilates, and meditation in Melbourne. Image © Sum of Us
Sum of Us
This gorgeous, little studio located in an old Prahran townhouse, focuses on a holistic approach to health and fitness. You can get your sore, tired muscles sorted with physiotherapy, massage, or podiatry treatments, help your mind stay calm with meditation, or try their yoga, Pilates, and barre classes.
This is where I’ve been going for my meditation, and the teacher, Kasey, is such a calming force. She runs Euonia meditation which isn’t religious or hard and it doesn’t require a mantra.
Sum of Us describes it as “A place where you can come to just be you”, and in their beautiful, leafy surroundings with birds chirping gleefully (but peacefully), it’s actually quite simple to do.
You can even get a coffee or smoothie in the Sum of Us cafe on your way out.
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Remedy Yoga Melbourne offers the perfect yin practice after a week of heavy HIIT-style workouts. Image © Sophia Lazarides
Remedy Yoga
A light and airy yoga and Pilates studio on the other side of town. It’s run by the same guys who own a few F45 studios around Melbourne, so they really know what they’re doing.
Often personal trainers head to Remedy on a weekend to stretch out their weary muscles after a week of tough HIIT training.
My favourite class here is the Remedy Restore, a medium-intensity class suitable for those newish to yoga. It’s ideal for a deep stretch and to recharge the batteries, but it certainly makes you sweat.
What I love most about this studio is that they don’t play your average yoga music in the background; Kat’s playlist ranges from Radiohead to Sigur Ros.
Remedy Yoga
Sophia Lazarides is a journalist and public relations professional based in London. She is on a mission to live a stylish life.