The other day I ventured outside of my usual territory and it wasn’t as scary as I thought it might be! I was invited down to try out Core Collective, a new gym in Kensginton that promises no commitment with no membership fees, no sign-up charge and no contract, you just book in and workout.

When I first got there I walked past the gym because on the street it looks like a welcoming and relaxing café, not a gym but when I saw a group of nervous looking women I knew I was in the right place.

The changing rooms are small but well equipped with lots of showers, GHD hair straighteners and lots of products that you can use. Big tick for that, especially if you’re going straight to work from the gym.

They offer 3 class types as well as personal training in a separate studio that was packed full of equipment that I was desperate to get my hands on… Anyway, the 3 classes are Accelerate (spinning), Velocity (interval training) and Resistance (TRX) and we got given a taster of all of them.

First up was Accelerate. Piece of cake, I thought as I swaggered into the spin studio, I spin all the time and love it. I was so wrong. The half hour class was almost all hill climbing which I suck at so within 10 minutes my quads were screaming for respite. We spent most of the class out of the saddle with plenty of hovering and upper-body work as we moved around on the bike. The sweat was real. The bikes were brand new and even showed you the resistance that your bike was set on as a percentage which I’ve never seen before. Very useful for not cheating…

We then moved into the other studio to try out Velocity. It consisted of a circuit of body-weight exercises, rowing, growler pushes, boxing and box jumps. We worked for 45 seconds with 15 seconds to change. I would have liked to have seen a few heavier weights for this section as the only exercise which really challenged me was the weighted growler. That thing just did not want to move.

The final section we tried out was Resistance in the smaller TRX studio. We were taken through a series of TRX exercises to work our whole bodies including pikes, mountain climbers and hip dips. I love a good TRX session but I prefer to mix it up with a few other things so maybe use it as part of a circuit rather than focus entirely on it. However, it’s a great core workout if you’re not feeling the high-impact stuff.

All of this was followed by a lovely brunch at the café upstairs, Who Loves You, where we tucked into blueberry protein waffles with peanut butter. I mean, come on. Can you really think of anything sexier to have for brunch?

The first session is free for everyone and then they start at £26/session. You can get this down to £20/session if you buy 40 at a time so while this is expensive it seems to be about standard for London now, especially in Kensington.

If you like your workouts sweaty and varied with a slice of luxury (and waffles) then this might be the gym for you! Check them out here: www.core-collective.co.uk

Disclaimer: I was invited along to this event for free but all opinions are my own.