What are you fighting for? That’s the question participants on a UBX training camp 6-week challenge have to answer. Is it for your family, your future or, perhaps, your mental health? It’s the reason and motivation to get you training when you don’t feel like it. Everyone’s fighting for something and in my case, I’m fighting to get fit and healthy again.
Earlier this year I was determined to regain my fitness of long ago but enthusiasm for this quickly fizzled out during lockdown … too much baking and too many excuses, methinks!
Fortunately, UBX Boxing at Bayfair invited me to take part in its latest 6-week Training Camp Challenge which mirrors the physical and mental preparation a boxer undergoes before a fight. Interestingly, 65% of its members are female! Who would have thought?
UBX is a boutique gym with a small community. Sessions involve moving around 12 three-minute stations, with a 30-second breather in-between, and combine boxing and aerobics. At each station a TV screen lets you know what exercises you have to do and guides you on technique. Thankfully for me you work at your own pace, and exercises can be dialed down if you’re not quite ready to leap onto boxes or do extensive burpees.
There’s a trainer on the floor for each session showing you technique, cajoling you along and joining in every so often. The workouts change daily to switch things up so you never quite know what to expect.
The 6-week Training Camp Challenge charts your athletic progression and gives you additional tools such as nutritional and mindset guidance to help you transform your body. At the start and end of the Challenge you have
a body composition scan, which measures and analyses the amount of fat or lean mass in your body as well as information on the water, protein, muscle and bone mineral components – all really valuable in assessing what progress you have made. There are also three exercises you need to complete that record endurance, core strength and anaerobic conditioning – these are then repeated at the end of the Challenge so you can assess your overall progress.
There’s also a very cool Training Camp App that allows you to set goals, assess your progress and mindset, and gives you daily menu plans with recipes and shopping lists. Team UBX also sends out regular emails with tips and words of encouragement.
The beauty of UBX is that there are no fixed times so no joining the back of the class because you were held up in traffic. A new round starts every three minutes so you can just jump in when you’re ready. If you have a My Zone fitness tracker you can also access this at the club.
The UBX team also recommends taking progress photos – you know those confronting photos that give you a physical jolt? Forward, front and back – preferably in a swimming costume *sharp inhale of breath*.
If a Challenge isn’t your thing you can still join up and, if you’re still undecided, UBX offers a free session. Knowing that you can burn up to 750 calories per workout might also be a clincher for you.
At the time of writing this, I am half-way through the Challenge and can already see progress – in fitness and agility – and look forward to seeing what six weeks does for me. I would absolutely encourage you to give UBX a go – hope to see you there!