If you fancy staying in the lap of luxury while being eased into fitness, 45 Park Lane Hotel located in the heart of London offer a brand new package that makes the transition from sedentary to sporty a little less painful.
Despite desperately wanting to don a towelling robe and order room service I had dutifully dragged my lycra-clad self away from the super king sized beds into the lounge area and got into 'eye of the tiger' mode ready to sweat.
My personal trainer Clodagh was ready and waiting to put me through my paces as part of Suite Sessions. The collaboration between the hotel and celeb personal trainer Matt Roberts means guests can sleep in style and have a session with one of Matt's elite team of PT's leaving no excuses to skip exercise while away on holiday or business.
Ahead of my visit, I was sent a short questionnaire to help Matt's team devise the best plan for me, as I had said I love weight training they teamed me up with Clodagh who specializes in functional strength training. She was smiley and welcoming, but the competitive former rugby player and athlete was about to kick my arse.
The session was a combination of bodyweight and resistance band exercises. Each of the workouts are tailored according to likes, dislikes and perceived capabilities and as she was aware that I workout regularly, I was about to have a more intense time than most.
My session began with a series of dynamic and static stretches as Clodagh took me through a warm up for my whole body which included squats (a personal favourite of mine).
The programme utilised all the space in the room as we moved on to dynamic exercises that worked multiple muscle groups at once for an efficient and full body workout. I side-lunged the length of the elegant front room; taking me from the hallway to the window where I could see Hyde Park and the Vegas-like bright lights of Winter Wonderland.
Once I had a bead on the hard work began, on my penultimate lunge of the set Clodagh says, "Well done Yolanda, now I want you to do 10 burpees, then back into side-lunges." I could barely hide my dissatisfaction, but quit my whingeing and cracked on due to encouraging words from Clodagh. After four sets of these, some split squats using a chair from the dining table, glute raises and tricep dips. We then moved on to a series of push-ups alternated with resistance band exercises, Clodgagh explained that the combination of the two provides a full balanced workout for all the muscles in the chest and back. All the way through my workout Clodagh corrected my posture, made sure I kept good form and even adapted some of my exercises to cope with an old injury.
At over half way through I was feeling the effects and before we hit the floor for abs I first had to get on my hands and knees and bear crawl forwards and backwards several times. The bear crawl is a brilliant if somewhat awkward bodyweight exercise that works the muscles in the arms, chest and back as well as your abs, thighs and glutes. Everyone who is able to get into this position should try this exercise as it's great at hitting all those different areas and it's surprisingly fun. It involves moving along the floor on your hands and feet (basically emulating a bear - the clue is in the name), but like a plank you maintain a rigid torso, which works wonders for abs and core strength.
We finished with the plank and an abs workout before finishing with some much needed stretches. Throughout my workout Clodagh was positive and full of relevant advice, especially focusing on the fact that exercise is brilliant for getting fitter, looking great and feeling confident in your body.
I felt amazing and energised after the workout. After I waved goodbye to Clodagh I focused on enjoying the rest of my stay. Following a shower and extended time in the bathroom staring at the TV n the mirror (there's an actual TV in the mirror). I returned to the bedroom and spent some time on the balcony gazing over Hyde Park feeling really smug about my workout.
It was the first time, I'd stayed in a hotel and worked out really hard, even if I went to gym I'll be honest it would've been a bit on the casual side. I'd managed to get a brilliant pulse-racing circuit of bodyweight and resistance exercises that worked my whole body.