Hello lovely readers, today is a good day. I mean it’s Monday, which means it’s the first day of the diet again but it’s also the first day of what is going to be for me, a very productive last two weeks of the month. I spent most of Sunday making sure that I was ready for Monday (rather than sitting on the sofa watching Netflix) which meant doing a healthy food shop, cleaning the house from top to bottom and having a little pamper sesh which was really just an excuse to try one of the 467 clay masks I bought in Sephora. I’m up, typing away and I’m embracing my NHL (new healthy lifestyle) in spite of the dog waking me up twice in the dead of the night with a strange gipping sound. Anyway, now that we are all up to date, I need to fill you in properly on Steel Week. I completed it back in early October and so many of you commented on my Insta stories intrigued by my workouts in the dark. Trib3 is a relatively new fitness concept in Leeds city centre and I dragged my bestie along with me for a taster session and oh my was it tough. Signing up to Steel Week is basically committing to one Trib3 session per day for seven days in a row. To put things in perspective it took three days after my initial taster session to be able to walk without crying about it so the thought of putting myself through that on the daily was surely a decent into madness. Well truth be told, it was my super last minute trip to Vegas that swayed me into thinking it was a good idea, if not for me, for those who were going to witness me in a bikini. Here’s a little run down of my daily torture workouts.
Day one: MONDAY
So, I arrive at the gym with all of the motivation of someone who is going to be wearing very small dresses in a very short amount of time, I’m ready, confident even. If you follow me on Snapchat, you will know that pre-Vegas (I’m yet to make it back to the gym) I worked out 3 times per week religiously at a gym, outside, even in winter. I’m equipped to handle whatever Trib3 has to throw at me, I have a Zone belt around my middle to measure calories burned, heart rate and I’ve ordered a post workout shake. Then I realise I’m the only one who has signed up to the 9.45 class. I’m going it alone. My first Steel Week session is a full body workout with Luke and like always we start off on the treadmill. We started off on a 0.5 incline which was all well and fine until I realised he had actually said 5. Half way through the first treadmill section (there are three in this class) I am thinking of the exact wording to use in my email that explains I won’t be able to return to the second class or any class after that and contemplating moving to Mexico to avoid the awkwardness of it all. By the end of the 45 minute class, I had been put through my paces in the strength section, sweated out of eyeballs in the intensity section and discovered that an incline 15 exists. FIFTEEN. Also I burned 450 calories!! I hobble to the changing room which by the way is like my dream dressing room, it even has hair tongs and straightners. If I could have moved either arm I would have curled my hair.
Day two: TUESDAY
Today there is 8 people in my 12 o clock full body class with Abby, two of which are also doing Steel Week. We all start on the treadmills and begin the workout with some hard core sprints. I have to say, it’s much more fun to work out with other people and the dark is ideal so no one can see how much you sweat (or cry for that matter). The great thing about Trib3 is their wonderful trainers, they cheer you on by name and congratulate you when you push yourself out of your comfort zone. It’s like having your very own personal cheerleader. The treadmill sessions were longer today which actually made the class go quicker if anything and the playlist was on point as always. One minute you are doing donkey kicks (yep they are a thing) thinking I can’t do this, I can’t then your favourite song of all time kicks in and you’re like I can!! I can!!
Day three: WEDNESDAY
I’m not dreading my third class as much as I predicted at the beginning of the week, i’m dare I say it looking forward to it almost? Today it’s another full body class with leigh. He actually called me to see if I could to make it to an earlier class as the one I was booked in to had only me on it, so I swapped and he casually mentioned he was feeling mean today. He wasn’t lying. This class was a KILLER. However, because everyone wears a zone-belt, you can see everyone’s heart rate on the wall and seeing everyone at 90-100% is motivation to up your game and push a little bit harder.
Day four: THURSDAY
Just when you think you are getting into the swing of it and there’s nothing unexpected lurking in the studio, you are asked to power a treadmill without turning it on with only your legs. This brought a whole new world of pain to my thighs that were only just recovering from the 5678 deadlifts we did the previous day. That being said, I kind of love the way you get something new to challenge you unlike a body pump class where you could basically do the routine with your eyes shut. Every one of the classes I did was different and it really did make the week more fun.
Day five: FRIDAY
I arrived at Trib3 with legs that were actually painful to touch and was thrown into the most leg heavy workout yet! However, the session was filled with the exercises that I like the most so lots of squats, lunges and kettlebell deadlifts rather than burpees, donkey kicks and mountain climbers. While it was tough, I felt that my general fitness has increased by doing an intense 45 minute burst of exercise each day and the classes were getting easier and I definitely dreaded them less. To be honest the hardest part was walking past the Prosecco bar, Pizzeria and the M & S on the way back to the car.
Day six: SATURDAY
Today was a slightly smaller class but the music was blasting out and the trainer Dan was psycing us all up so we were all raring to go. This was a killer full body class but I really wanted to beat the amount of calories that I’d burned in previous classes so I gave it my all. There was quite a lot of arm exercises in this one which I liked as my arms are an area I’m a little self conscious of. I don’t do a lot of work on my upper body and I had started to notice slight changes from the beginning of the week. Everything felt a little tighter and more toned.
Day seven: SUNDAY
I practically skipped to my last Steel Week session despite the couple of Proseccos I had on the Saturday night. I felt really proud of myself for sticking with it. I weighed myself before and after my Steel Week and I lost 2 pounds without changing my eating habits at all! *applauds*
What I love about Trib3:
The decor is dreamy. It’s industrial chic and their free Batiste dry shampoo is a total godsend when you have to walk through town after a session. They have the most instagrammable gym. Like ever. The workout itself is so different from everything I’ve tried, the hip-hop style playlist is amazing and did I mention it’s in the dark? No self conscious setting here. Oh and they leave cute little notes on your post workout shakes and the staff really make you feel at home. The cuteness is real.
Are you up for the challenge? This could be that little boost of self confidence you need in time for those xmas parties! If you live in Leeds or Sheffield, you have to try it. Tag me on Insta or Twitter if you do! You can sign up for a free first session or sign up to Steel Week here. A big thank you to Leigh and the Trib3 team for arranging a pre-holiday Steel Week pass for me and plying me with all the motivation. I’ll be back for more session once the jet lag has worn off!
