Toughen Your Core at Core Collective

CALISTHENICS BY START STATION

Class size: 20 Duration: 60min Toughness level:

Unlike most gyms, Core Collective rents out its gym facilities to independent instructors who specialise

in different types of training. Danette, Core Collective’s marketing and events executive, recommended that I try one of the more popular body-weight classes, Calisthenics by Start Station. (It was like shopping for a fitness session!)

The typical jumping jacks and high-knees warm-up is followed by a more intense core warm-up which includes high planks, forearm planks and push-ups. In this class, it’s crucial to warm up the arm and back muscles as many of the stations rely on them. My first station required me to get into a bridge stretch and then transition into a front pike. Read: I had to arch my back and curve it forward, like an indecisive cat. The move required way more core strength than expected; the hardest part was pushing the hips as far back as I could, which would result in a strong crunch in the abdominal muscles.

It got more challenging with pullups and knee-ups at the rings, ’cos I’m no Olympic gymnast. The pull-ups were a true test of my arm strength. I got great tips on how to maintain a good position even though I could not pull myself up. Staying in a pull-up position may not seem like much, but believe me, holding up your body weight with your arms is tough.

Then it was back to the core exercises with variations of yoga movements. One variation required you to use your arms as a stand and float your entire body off the floor in an inverted crunch position. Unsurprisingly, most of the class did not manage to hold

themselves up for any decent amount of time.

I struggled a lot with the arm exercises, and my core was not as strong as I’d thought. Despite the lack of a cardio section, I was sweating and panting by the time we got to the cool-down stretch.

Verdict: You definitely need a lot of strength to perfect these exercises, and one class is not going to be enough. This is the class for you if you are up for a challenge.