Forget the fat cat generation, bankers are now one of the most physically active professions in Britain, swapping sarnies for salads at lunchtimes and the pub for the gym after a long working day.
Some have even gone a step further, combining number crunching and abdominal crunching to launch boutique health and wellness brands developed specifically with the City worker in mind.
ONE LDN is one such brand. Launched by former banker Evgenia Koroleva, the boutique fitness studio promises to rewrite the rules of the fitness scene by delivering sports conditioning training in the smartest way possible.
What is it?
A no-contract premium training facility designed to deliver maximum efficiency through workouts that combine all the major fitness components under one roof.
ONE LDN first launched in Fulham last year as a gym and fitness studio, but its Tower Hill studio is a different beast, with a refined offering of classes that covers strength, cardio and flexibility.
“With my banking background, I tend to come at things from a commercial point of view,” Evgenia says.
“We looked at the things we were particularly good at, and decided a focus on classes that incorporate all the main components of fitness was the right fit for time-poor City workers who want to get the most out of their hour in the gym every day.”
How does it work?
Quite unlike the pick ’n’ mix of classes offered by some fitness studios, ONE LDN honed its down to just three 50-minute workouts scheduled three to four times per day.
Muay Thai & Boxing covers your cardio; developed by professional fighters to build technique and improve fitness through high-intensity drills on punching bags surrounding a slick boxing ring for those who have watched too much Fight Club.
Strength & Conditioning builds lean muscle through a super tough high performance training session that combines High Impact Interval Training and CrossFit principles through simple compound exercises.
Every ‘Workout of the Day’ session differs depending on your coach, but all have either an AMRAP (As Many Rounds As Possible) or metabolic conditioning focus, and are set up on individual fitness stations equipped with barbells, free weights, rowing machines and TRX straps.
And finally there’s Hip Hop Yoga, designed for the ‘anti-yogi’ who generally shuns strength and flexibility classes for their lack of intensity.
“A lot of our clients tend to avoid yoga because they think ‘if I’m not sweating, it’s not worth it’,” Evgenia explains.
“Hip Hop Yoga makes yoga more accessible for cardio junkies, it takes away the stigma that you have to be silent and spiritual to practice, which isn’t for everybody, instead you can let the music take you away.”
What are the benefits?
Total results-driven efficiency. ONE LDN has armed itself to address all the fitness gripes of the time-poor gym junkie, from no contracts and classes on demand to massive, top-of-the-line facilities stocked with everything you could have forgotten in your gym kit.
But far from this being a ‘transactional’ experience, the studio also places a strong emphasis on coaching and building technique.
“Walking into a gym like this can be pretty intimidating, which is exactly what we wanted to avoid,” Evgenia says.
“I don’t come from a fitness background, and when I started I needed a lot of hand-holding, a lot of coaching, which is why we wanted to make sure we had experts in their fields who keep an eye on your technique and help you to progress.”
“It’s more of a journey, as opposed to ‘let’s get abs and get out of here’.”
How much?
ONE LDN operates on a pay-as-you-go system that rewards you for the more classes you take in a month. First class is £20, the second class is £18, and anything above 21 classes per month are just £5 each.
Where can I try it?
Corner of 66 Prescott Street and St Marks Street E1 8HG
