9ROUND

MAIREAD There’s a ritual to boxing – getting your hands wrapped, slipping the gloves on, raising them to protective position and assuming the one-footforward balancing stance. Before you even start you feel powerful. At 9Round, you have 3 minutes at each station and between your rounds you have 30 second floor exercises to make it a fullon 30-minute workout. It’s unrelenting and empowering all at once. Punching and kicking bags – both stationary and tethered – requires hand-eye coordination and focus. It’s a great stress reliever and fantastic full body workout.

MARK After a bad day in the office the idea of letting out some stress sounded great. Now, I have never boxed or even worn gloves. The studio was quite sparse and a little dark. Deafening buzzers sounded every 30 seconds to indicate to those working out that it is time to move to the next station, nine in total. After getting my hands wrapped and gloves on, I was off. After some simple warm-up squats and arm exercises, the buzzer went off and then it was 30 seconds of lunges, then punch bags. Soon I realised how much fun this was. I kicked, punched and pounded my way from station one to nine, including the floor exercises and jogs in between sets. At the end I was exhausted. My arms felt long and heavy, I could already see bruises on my knees – but it felt fantastic. TRY IT YOURSELF Where: Indigo 6, Mazaya Building, Al Manara, Shaikh Zayed Road Price: First class free, then a three-month membership, Dh2,800, is mandatory. To book: Call 04 321 7997 or 9round.com