Tyred? News reporters try Kwik Fit fitness classes

USUALLY when we head into Kwik Fit, it's so our cars can get a good workout '“ but this time it was our turn.

Picture Toby Williams 07920841392. Evening News Journalists Kaye Nicholson and Lizzy Buchan get put through their paces at Kwik Fit in Morningside, Edinburgh.

After the Evening News told last week how the renowned garage chain was starting to offer fitness classes, we knew someone from the office would be asked to give it a try.

It seemed like a good idea at the time to volunteer, but after getting out of bed early on a frosty Sunday morning in January, we weren’t feeling particularly enthusiastic.

We weren’t for going back on our word, so we embarked on the “no-nonsense” Fit Kwik class – in other words, hurling tyres around the forecourt in freezing temperatures.

After a brisk warm-up jogging around the car park while doing hopscotch through a series of car tyres, the class began with a series of gruelling circuits. Everyone was given a tyre which we had to raise above our heads and slam to the ground with a satisfying smack.

Instructor Callum Watt then had the group doing press-ups and plank exercises while resting on the tyres.

Among the other tasks were dragging the tyres along the ground and flipping over larger – and much heavier – lorry tyres. We definitely felt the burn – particularly in our arms, thighs and abs.

There was just one more task on the cards before we could warm down and say we’d survived to tell the tale.

This involved using a car tyre as a prop to lift in the air while we did full sit-ups. Ouch.

It wasn’t the most relaxing experience, but we came out of it feeling energised and a little smug that we’d had such a productive morning.

A few days on, our muscles are a bit tender but we’re already keen to go back to give it another go.

Callum, who was enlisted to lead the Fit Kwik classes from nearby Energy Gym at Meggetland, said the class was a perfect example of “functional fitness”.

He said: “It’s about using your own body weight and resources around you. I think we could probably double the numbers [we had today]. It’s January – I would encourage people to push themselves out of their comfort zone.”

He said that the high-intensity nature of the workout would prompt our metabolism to speed up for the rest of the day (good news for us, as we both had dinner plans that night).

The class was made up of an even mix of both sexes, with the girls definitely giving the young men a run for their money.

Kwik Fit divisional director Neil Kidd admitted the class was “pretty tough” when he tried it out on Sunday.

He said: “We thought it was in line with what everyone tries to do in January, which is to try to shift that spare tyre. So we thought it would be a good opportunity to share that message and do some exercise. I have quite an unhealthy team, lots of people are a bit overweight, so we thought it would be a good opportunity to shape up in January.”

Fitness fan Lucy Glenny, of Leith, came along after reading about similar classes being rolled out in London and Birmingham.

The 29-year-old said: “I saw that it was happening in London and I was disappointed that it wasn’t happening here but then I saw the Evening News tweeting about it so I booked.”

The Morningside centre will host a further two classes on next two Sundays. Register at www.kwik-fit.com/fitkwik.