I’ve been trying to get fit and healthy this semester by trying out some of the more popular classes at gyms in Manchester, whilst also keeping my eye on the budget, not all of us have Wayne’s budget.

So this week I headed over to the Sugden sports centre to try out some more Yoga and check out the Legs, Bums and Tums class.

Yoga at Sugden Sports Centre

I’ve been going to a fair amount of Yoga recently, and am feeling like a bit of a pro. I can even tell you some of the indian words for the positions.

Difficulty level: The class is definitely for complete beginners. There was a fair amount of time spent concentrating on breathing and relaxation, in savasana (the one where you lie flat on the mat with your eyes closed).

Downward Dog – as you can see I’m getting way better

Teacher:  Heidi was everything you would expect a Yoga teacher to be like; she had fabulous flowing red trousers, fun jewellery and spoke so softly she could send you to sleep.

Heidi was a bit camera shy

Equipment: The mats were very PE inspired, I didn’t really enjoy doing Yoga on them. They were really heavy and had little cushioning to them. I would recommend bringing your own. The studio was the same used for the LBT class I did next, as were the mats.

Legs, Bums and Tums at Sugden Sports Centre

I’ve really been looking forward to this class, something active and fast paced but only 30 minutes long. It’s a real punch of exercise you can fit in-between lectures/library.

Difficulty Level: This class is really what you make of it. The teacher does work you hard, but it’s really up to how far you push yourself as to how much of a work out you get.

“And reach to the right”

Teacher: Despite being ten minutes late, Jo was really energetic and got the class moving immediately. She told us which parts of the body (legs.. bums.. or tum..) we would be working with each exercise, and they were all explained quite thoroughly for us. You could tell she knew what she was doing.

Squat it like it’s hot

Music: There was a slight problem with the music… in that it didn’t work. It kept jumping on and off and to begin with we just didn’t use it at all. Very weird doing aerobics in silence… But I guess it did actually make us work harder and faster because there wasn’t a beat to rely on.