Sweat, Smoothies and Spin Classes at Rise Cycle Studio

Last Saturday, Smithdown Road’s spin and fitness studio Rise Cycle Studio celebrated their first birthday in style with juices, workouts, raw Vegan cake and sweaty selfies galore – and we were lucky enough to tag along.

Situated at the bottom of Smithdown road, yards away from the iconic Penny Lane is Rise Cycle Studio, a state of the art spinning studio providing spin classes and other workouts run by professional personal trainers, The studio is also home to the amazing 100 club, providing freshly made juices for pre and post workout fuel for anyone taking part in a class. And these aren’t just any old classes – as we were soon to discover! Our invite stated a ‘cream classics’ spin class and I was intrigued to say the least.

Not going to lie, 9am spin classes on a Saturday morning are not everyone’s cup of tea. But walking into Rise with its clean cut and contemporary design, state of the art juice bar and pumping music coming from the spin studio, it’s hard not to feel the tiniest bit motivated and prepared to exercise. So we (slightly nervously) donned our spin shoes, picked up a much needed sweat towel and headed into the spin room. The rows and rows of bikes on the studio floor were filling up fast and with the instructor encouraging us amateur cyclists through his microphone, it was time to go, whether we liked it or not!

Now, as far as Saturday exercise goes, is there anything better than cream classics and multi-coloured disco lights to get a room of people totally pumped up in the morning? Pair that with a room full of fierce looking spin equipment, a motivational personal trainer and life-affirming quotes lit up on the wall and you can’t quite believe you’re actually having an absolute whale of a time. Can exercise really be enjoyable? Unbelievably exhausting and sweaty, but enjoyable all the same.

After the disco class was over and we’d taken an iconic #sweatyselfie in the Rise mirror, we were excited to sample some of the amazing juices the 100 club had laid out for us to try. Desperately in need of some refreshment, I went for the carrot, ginger and lime ‘Defender’ which was packed full of immune boosting goodness. Exhausted and hungry, I was excited to see tables full of some amazing, well deserved treats to help the cyclists re-fuel.

First up, was an absolutely delicious chickpea and grilled pepper platter by Picnic, which consisted of a spinach and red pepper base, topped with goats cheese, chickpeas and perfectly soft yet crispy falafels. The whole salad was then drizzled in a fantastic honey, balsamic and chilli oil dressing and came complete with a pot of hummus, subtly spiced with paprika. Not only was the salad tasty, it was also super filling – the perfect post-workout lunch. Picnic have a stall in our fantastic Baltic market where you can taste a huge range of their amazing creations or better still, call them up and have it delivered to your door. Who said takeaways were bad for you?!

Of course, a little treat was also needed after all of that hard work and the Phit Food Company immediately came to our rescue with their amazing brownie selection. With a choice of raspberry, chocolate, peanut butter and salted caramel it was always going yo be a tough one but sinking my teeth into a salted caramel creation, I knew I’d made a great decision. Salty, sweet, rich and ridiculously moist, this was everything you’d want in a brownie with the added plus of it being made with totally natural ingredients, making it an indulgent yet guilt free snack. What could be better? Last but not least, was the showstopping raw, vegan birthday cake by Studio Raw – pink and covered in flowers, its rustic design complete with subtle drip icing has everyone mesmorised.

If you’ve never been to Rise Cycle Studio before, why not check out their jam packed timetable online and give one of their classes a go. You don’t have to be an athlete or in peak condition and when you’ve been once and discovered the encouragement from the PT’s and the contagious energy that surrounds the studio, we guarantee you’ll be hooked!

For more information about Rise Cycle Studio visit https://www.risecycling.co.uk/

Laura Nicholson