Lift your heart and shift your soul There is so much to experience at Ragdale from the moment you step through the glass doors, and Kate and Mary made the most of it
M
ARY AND I were lucky enough to stay overnight at Ragdale recently and sample the refurbished gym and fitness studios. ormally when go to agdale tend to concentrate on the rela ation side of things head straight for the pool and thermal spa, then try and sit in as many different rooms as possible reading my book, drinking tea and watching the world go by. do tend to try one, at a push two, fitness classes but if ’m honest generally choose the wind down classes at the end of the day. his time wanted to focus my attention on moving around a little more and trying some of the new signature classes that are bespoke to agdale. he idea is that when you enter the new eart and Soul itness space the instructors will help you find that e tra drive and inspire you to go that extra mile so that you leave with more of an idea of how much you can achieve if you put your heart and soul into it. ell, Mary and were prepared to give it a go Bearing in mind ’ve become a tad more sluggish over loc down, we decided to go for five classes in total over the hour period we were there. e wanted a taste of the different types of classes on offer, which are divided into cardio, strength, dance, mindful and water classes. e started with Musical Madness where we learnt a se uence of dance steps to the tune of Footloose under some seriously
impressive lighting while in fits of laughter. e’d both forgotten how much fun exercise classes can be, but also how much of a memory challenge they are. hy is it so hard to remember the beginning of the se uence, while you’re practicing the chorus aving given our cognitive abilities a work-out we moved on to Pilates which was strenuous in a different way. feel as though my core has not been so engaged’ for many a month. hese are small movements but are still demanding and highly effective in improving your posture and e ibility. hat li ed so much about all the classes we too was the advice given by the instructors as to how to incorporate these lessons in everyday life. oc ing bac wards and forwards on your feet while cleaning your teeth does wonders for your balance apparently. We then moved on to WAVE which is one of the new signature classes fusing yoga, ilates and contemporary dance. s loise added more adaptations to the ow towards the end of the class must admit did start to struggle slightly but it was my third class of the day and overall wal ed away feeling rather en with all my muscles stronger and longer than when wal ed in. inally we did a Stretch to ela class which obviously helped to soothe those tired muscles. nd boy, did we feel a sense of achievement we’d definitely wor ed hard enough to deserve a relaxing facial and back massage before heading to the delightful new Twilight Bar for a cocktail then a slap up three
36 July 2021 / theactivemag.com
36-37 Ragdalenotok.indd 36
24/06/2021 22:34
