Cast your mind back to your teenage years when your after-school sport of choice determined the label with which others identified you. Badminton: geek. Pennyfarthing: class clown. Hockey: jock. Dance: untouchably popular. Netball: all-rounder. Archery: a little left wing. Chess boxing: seriously, who does that?

Well, now London’s scene of emerging boutique fitness studios lends itself to similar labelling. There’s a workout for everyone, but this time no one’s judging. The labels are interchangeable and there’s something fun about adopting a new fitness persona du jour. Here I round up three of my favourite guises and the new-this-year places where you can try them for size.

The Badass

1Rebel: This super edgy East London studio operates a strict “retox to detox” ethos and caters to your inner punk who wants to sin hard by night and sweat yourself virtuous by day. The Reshape class is a hardcore combo of circuit training and treadmill intervals designed to expel some toxins before your liver self-destructs. Meanwhile, the Ride class takes the party to the spin bike. There are even live performances for those who love to rock out while they ride.

Challenger: But watch – there’s a rival rebel on the scene. Barry’s Bootcamp will soon be opening its doors in a nearby location off Old Street and promises to bring its already cult followers in tow. OK, so Barry’s diehards’ idea of retoxing may be a shake containing dairy milk instead of almond milk, but it’s promise to be “the hardest workout in the world” is enough to tempt anyone drawn to adversity.

The Science Nerd

Orangetheory: If you like to measure your workout with statistics and have a firm grasp of the processes at play to generate ATP for energy, produce sweat and stoke your metabolic furnace, Orangetheory is the perfect place to indulge your inner geek. While you migrate between the treadmill, the water rower and the weights floor, a personal heart rate monitor sends data to visible screens around the room. Your goal is to remain in the ‘orange zone’ for as long as possible, which equates to at least 85% of your maximum heart rate. Do that and you can mathematically predict how many calories you’ll burn post-workout thanks to the scientifically recognised afterburn effect. It’s an ego trip for any lab rat. And while it’s been in Islington under the David Lloyd umbrella for almost a year, it’s now also a hop and skip away for anyone living near Aldgate (lucky me!).

Challenger: To channel your inner Darwin, you may also be inclined to check out Virgin Active’s new class ‘The Grid’. It’s a 30 minute workout that takes you back in time before evolution and human advancement planted us on our backsides for 8 or more hours a day. Combining primal movements practised by early man – all variety of pulling, pushing, bending and twisting – it will have you going ape to burn up to 900 calories a class. You won’t even have to think particularly hard, because the workout is mapped out on a pre-delineated floor that takes you step by step toward fitness success. They don’t call it the scientific method for nothing.

The Prom Queen

Form Studios: If you’re always the first to hear all the best gossip, then you’ve probably already trained at Form Studios in Notting Hill. Following a soft launch just last week, word is already spreading about the new London workout that’s both exclusive and trend-setting. Founder Elissa Elhadj, celebrity trainer and former Heartcore instructor, travelled across the US to discover and claim for her own the revolutionary METcore. A minimalist offshoot from the reformer Pilates bed, the METcore acts to offset your balance and engage multiple muscle groups as you work with built-in resistance cables. She also throws in some fat-burning HIIT using a SkiErg – an upstanding cardio machine half way between a rower and battleropes. The class is very cool, extremely effective and accommodates a maximum of 8 people. Get in early to be on the right side of the whispers.

Challenger: Although barrecore is already one of London’s (and Manchester’s) most respected fitness institutions, it is upping its game with double newness. Its new studio in Kensington has been open just two weeks, and already it’s home to an exclusive new class that won’t be rolled out to other barrecore studios until next month: barreASANA. Fusing the best of Vinyasa yoga with classic barre moves, barreASANA offers a spine-opening sequence perfect for an in-the-know prima ballerina who wants to limber up both her body and her reputation. Stiletto toes, girls!

Let me know which new studios you’ve been frequenting and feel free to comment on your favourite ‘face of fitness’. And remember that this post is written in the spirit of fun and nostalgia – Fit Brit Collective is a stereotype-free community open to everyone! Thanks for reading. 

Spinning has long been one of my favourite forms of exercise. I love the big thigh-burning tracks, the high-energy instructors and the sweaty post-workout feeling that you’ve done some real good. And as UK fitness enthusiasts catch onto the king of all cardio workouts, spinning continues to evolve. New spin studios Psycle and Edge Cycle have now added weights to the workout, fusing traditional cardio-based classes with conditioning moves done on or off the bike. This week, I had the opportunity to try both. Here I weigh up the pros of each and decide which full-body bike workout comes out on top. Let battle of the bicycle bootcamps commence…

Psycle

Soho vibes

In the heart of Fitzrovia, Psycle is undoubtedly the “cool kid” of cycling – appealing to artists, writers and creatives from nearby agencies and publishing houses. Pristine white walls and inspirational wall graphics – plus, of course, motivational messages as you ascend the stairs – tick all the boxes for a premium London fitness studio.

Good technique meets big energy

At reception you are given a pair of cleats for the class, free of charge. These clip-in shoes remove the need for fiddly foot straps and promote full muscle engagement from your quads and hamstrings as you pull and push the peddles around (read: lean, balanced legs rather than bulging thighs).

Downstairs in the studio, the concrete walls and floor with disco lights overhead set the tone for an energetic workout. You start the class like any other spin class, with a slow warm-up building up into sprints and climbs. Then come the press-ups. Psycle demands a bit of coordination as you perform narrow, wide and single-arm press ups – all to the exacting beat of the music. Get the groove just right and the resulting adrenaline buzz is better than a night on the tiles.

Multi-task conditioning

The penultimate track of the session typically entails upper body conditioning. Here you grab a set of light dumbbells and punch, curl, extend, rotate and pulse them for a comprehensive upper body workout that is 100% on the bike. Again, you’ll need to switch your brain on because the music sets the rhythm for both your feet and your hands, and you don’t want to look out of step. For me, this was a huge pro rather than a con. I loved how immersive the Psycle experience was, and the fact that my mind never once wandered during the 45 minute session.

A bathroom better than your own

Finally, the changing rooms at Psycle are among the best of any London studio. They’re clean, there are several showers – stocked with luxurious Ila shampoo, conditioner and body wash – and plenty of space to spread out as you blow dry your hair and do your make-up. To me, the post-workout experience is almost as important as the workout itself, and I felt right at home getting ready for the day ahead after an energising early morning spin order viagra online usa.

Edge Cycle

City sensibility

Edge Cycle in Farringdon rises to the needs of its surrounding city workers, squeezing a full-body workout into it’s time-effective on-the-bike, off-the-bike bootcamp. There are traditional spin classes and mixed conditioning classes on the schedule, so you can vary your workouts throughout the week. While cleats are available at reception, I did the bootcamp class in trainers for smoother transitions between the cycle legs and conditioning legs.

Off beat bike work

As a converted office, the studio is surprisingly edgy and lives up to its namesake. Riders look onto solid black backdrop with built-in disco lights, which alternate with overhead spotlights. The music is high-energy to match the dynamic lighting system, but the ride itself is not performed in sync to the beat. While this means less coordination is required of you, it can also mean the high-intensity intervals feel like more of a slog. During my class, we went right into some pretty heart rate boosting segments from the word go, so I’d recommend arriving a few minutes early to spin out your legs and warm up your body beforehand.

Dumbbell sandwich

I enjoyed the off-bike segment. There were combination exercises combining squats with upper body movements to keep the intensity levels high. Plus, there was great balance throughout the conditioning – without the constraints of the bike, it was much easier to work opposing muscle groups. Press-ups were followed by plank rows and reverse lunges were paired with squat clean and presses. Then, to burn through the last of your energy stores, the conditioning is sandwiched by a final Tabata-style spin track at the end. Expect short but sharp intervals across two or three minutes, so you’re short of breath again by cool down.

Ren or run

Although you definitely shouldn’t skip the stretch, you’ll want to be quick to the changing rooms. There are five open-cubicle showers so prepare for a little less privacy than you might be used to – and bring your own shampoo and conditioner as the only cleanser provided is Ren bodywash. There is also only one small mirror with two hairdryers, so if you’re in a rush to get ready for work or an evening out, you should have a personal mirror to hand. Or save your workout for the end of the day and shower at home.

The verdict

To summarise, there are pros to working out at both Psycle and Edge Cycle.

Psycle

• Big music, with high-energy choreographies to match
• First class provisions, including free cleats and beautiful showers
• Fluid sessions with body-sculpting exercises that don’t compromise on cardio

Edge Cycle

• Strong on conditioning, best for those wary of excess cardio
• Heavier weights for strength-boosting superiority
• Simpler cycle sequences for the rider who lacks rythym

The winner

While it would be a lie to draw parallels with Shakira, I love escaping into the Psycle dance fantasy and imagining I look every bit as good. And for me, its sensational showers give it the edge.

‘Low’ by Flo Rida was blasting through the sound system and our instructor Hilary Gilbert was bodypopping on the bike (who knew that was possible?) at the front of the room. We were five minutes into the spin class at BOOM Cycle Holborn and already the pains and annoyances of the day were ancient history. I mean, bodypopping on a bike!

BOOM Cycle certainly lives up to its Twitter bio promise of “hedonistic endorphins and high intensity workouts to nightclub quality music”. I haven’t shaken my backside with quite so much vigour since, well, probably since a hen do in Chester a couple weeks back. But I promise, those kind of explicit moves are usually reserved for rare seasonal highs. Like the office Christmas party (I’m changing jobs next month, so I consider that fair warning to any future colleagues who may be perusing these pages).

Yes, I guarantee you’ll have a good time at BOOM Cycle, and you’ll definitely get an entertaining eyeful if you dare to break your own bubble and look around the (low-lit and mercifully flattering) studio. I also guarantee you will sweat buckets. I had moisture on my brow in a matter of minutes and by the time I was sprint jumping to Five’s ‘Got the Feeling‘ (approximately 15 minutes in) I’d perspired my way through a now sodden towel and surrendered myself to the dripping, blissful high of a seriously inspiring workout. When the cool down comes ’round (the 45 minute mark creeps up before you know it), there’s nothing you can’t muster enough confidence and gusto to achieve.

Highlights

State-of-the-art bikes – BOOM Cycle uses ultra-smooth Schwinn bikes that respond to even the most subtle tweaks so you can build your resistance gradually and effectively. They’re also the comfiest spin bikes I’ve ever planted my butt on – and that’s saying something.

Can’t-top-it energy levels – Hilary makes it no secret that the BOOM difference comes down to attitude. Most gyms can put on a decent spin class with the pre-requisite number of intervals to help you burn fat and get fitter, but BOOM goes well and truly beyond with the most impassioned instruction I’ve ever witnessed. At one point Hilary lost her microphone in a frenzy of studio dance antics (off the bike, this time).

History-making tunes – There were 80s sensations, 90s chart-toppers and iconic 21st century hits. I rediscovered some old-time favourites too long neglected, and picked up some contemporary music cred, too. As every track faded out, I couldn’t wait to see what would come next, which certainly helps you stick out the class.

I’ll be back for more. In fact, I’m consulting my diary just now to book in for one of BOOM Cycle’s brand new Beyonce spin classes. WWBD? Spin, she’d do spin! To book a class at BOOM’s original Shoreditch or new Holborn studio, visit boommybody.com.

Group exercise is one of the best ways to get fit while having a great time. Well, as good a time as you can have in the gym. For me that equates to an ecstatic post-sweat high. For you it may merely mean lightening the weight of the guilt hanging over you after a particularly big meal or night on the vino.

But whatever your motivations for showing up to your favourite fitness class, we’ve all experienced the bad etiquette that can turn a good workout into an internal battle not to ‘accidentally’ deck your neighbour with a barbell or knock out your nemesis during shuttle runs.

In the spirit of harmonious fitness studios the world over, let us all pledge an oath never to…

1. Neglect the course of daily dental hygiene. Even if your spin class is at 7am, a brief liaison with your toothbrush will prevent your interval-induced gasps from setting your neighbour’s day off to a ghastly start. It’ll also spare you the humiliation of spotting their telling facial expressions in the mirror.

2. Assume the instructor would like to extend their workout by picking up your weights. They’re paid to help you make your fitness goals a reality. Thank them with a smile, handshake, word of gratitude or referral. Not with a tedious collection of dumbbells.

3. Dominate an unnecessarily sizeable share of the studio floorspace just because you got their first. Let’s support everyone on their journey to better fitness – it doesn’t have the be a ruthless battle for the best position in the mirror. And if you’re too busy checking your hair, you’re definitely not busy enough getting a workout.

4. Turn yoga class into an X-rated affair. There’s a time and a place for butt crack, and I can assure you the unfortunate person getting a face full of your barely-there thong during downward dog feels the same. Invest in a good pair of opaque leggings. Your dignity depends on it.

5. Channel your inner Sharapova in Body Pump – or any other weight class, for that matter. Yes we’re all there to get a body that rivals the tennis star’s dynamite curves, but upping your squat bar to 30kg is so much more impressive when you’re not shrieking the roof off.

5.5. This is especially frustrating when your shrieks are paired with terrible form! High quality, manageable improvements = better fitness, faster.