If you live anywhere between Rigel and Lynnwood Road in Pretoria – you basically form part of a massive section of Pretoria called “Pretoria East”. Virgin Active is the largest gym group in South Africa and they have three gyms that form part of the Pretoria East triad – namely Parkview, Menlyn and Faerie Glen.
If you’ve ever tried out a few different gym classes, you’ll know that some of them can be a complete waste of time, while other classes are pumpin’ – leaving you stiff for days. While I know I should do more weight training (or at least a customised training program), fact remains that classes are more fun. You get to see familiar faces and more often than not, you’ve got somebody breathing down your neck if you collapse during the ab exercise segment of the class, which is great motivation.
To save you time and hassles, I’ve decided to list some of the best gym classes in Pretoria East:
Angelique’s step and sculpt class – Menlyn & Parkview
Maybe you’ve heard of Angelique van der Linde – maybe you haven’t. Her husband is the owner of JVL (it’s a supplement shop) and let’s just say that she and her husband work out…hard. They’ve got rocking bodies and Angelique’s stamina will put most competitive athletes to shame. She usually gives a half hour step class – the steps are relatively basic, but they’re extremely fast. It’s like step class in fast forward. There’s always one point about 20 minutes into the class where she plays a techno remix of Alice Coopyer’s Poison (at about 3x the normal speed), when you hear the intro of “You’re cruel, device, you’re blood, like ice” then you know stuff’s about to get serious. After the half hour step, there’s a half hour of toning. You can catch her class on Monday at 17:30 at Menlyn and on Wednesday at 17:30 at Parkview.
Barney B’s power pump class – Menlyn
Barney comes from “a military background” (his words) and up until recently, he had a huge beard and moustache – he also always wears a beanie, so on any average Monday night you would get a bootcamp drill master shouting instructions from under a beanie (you could only see his narrowing down on you from between the beard and beanie). He’s recently shaved his beard though, but I guess that never really mattered. What makes Barney’s classes cool is the way he pushes you. In power pump classes, you use bar bells and dumb bells – you can tell that Barney puts a lot of effort into planning the classes and you seamlessly move from squats and calf raises to bicep curls, tricep dips and shoulder presses. You can catch Barney’s power pump class at 18:30 at Menlyn on Mondays and at 17:00 (in Studio 2) at Menlyn on Thursdays. Prepare to be stiff the next day.
Heliose’s pilates class – Parkview
There are quite a few pilates classes that are way to…”relaxing”. While pilates should be less exhausting than a cardio class, you still want to feel as if you’ve had a good workout. Heloise’s classes (at 17:00 on Wednesdays – and a few other times throughout the week) are great. This isn’t a “meditation” class at all, it’s hard work and you’re going to sweat. What makes her classes so fun is the fact that she mixes up the equipment (stability balls, little bricks, polystyrene tubes etc) each week so you never get bored.
Yolande B’s step class – Faerie Glen
If you’re into step classes, but don’t feel like concentrating on hectic choreography for an entire hour, then Yolande’s classes are for you. The routines look impressive from afar, but she does a great job at demonstrating and making sure that everyone follows what she’s doing. She also plays rad music from the 90’s to complete the feel good mood. Her classes are at 17:30 at Faerie Glen on Mondays. (On the first Monday of every month, Yolande has “step games” – it’s something different every time, but last week each person had four steps instead of one. These classes are very fun).
Emmanuel’s intermediate and advanced step classes – Menlyn
Emmanuel has been a step instructor for over a decade and he rocks at it. He gives some pretty hard core (quick, relatively advanced choreography) step classes. His classes are so popular that the gyms schedule them for the most unconventional times (i.e. at 17:30 on a Friday afternoon and 09:10 on Saturday morning – both at Menlyn) but they’re still full. The advanced class is the Saturday morning one; I wouldn’t advise this for a newby. The Friday afternoon classes are intermediate and it’s a great way to wind down after a busy work week. You’ll see the same faces there week in, week out.
Rene’s body conditioning class – Menlyn and Parkview
Rene is a personal trainer (I’m sure she’s a fitness model as well) and a genuinely nice person. She also has perfectly sculpted arms and gives a mean body conditioning class. Her body conditioning classes are almost as hard as power pump classes; the only thing that makes it easier is that she lets you do the exercises at your own pace. You can catch Rene’s body conditioning (now called “SHAPE” classes on the timetables) on Tuesday at 17:30 at Parkview and at 18:30 on Thursdays at Menlyn.
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