sport Archives - Wander-Lust

05 Nov 2018

Sticky Post By Wander-lust Posted in Amsterdam Guide With 2 Comments Permalink

6 x Amazing Gyms in Amsterdam to suit Everyone’s need!

Sticky Post By Wander-lust On November 5, 2018 With 2 Comments

The Christmas season is around the corner, let’s get fit before we get fat! In all seriousness, working out is different for each person. Most of us don’t always enjoy it, and some of us love to sweat for hours in the gym. Even if sport is not one of your favorite hobby’s, there are many options to stay in shape with a smile on your face. You just need to find a gym that suits you! I’ve lined up 5 completely different gyms in Amsterdam, to suit everyone’s need.

Gustav – The luxurious one
Looking for luxury? Gustav Gym is the place to be. They just opened a brand-new second gym in the city center of Amsterdam. Their first gym is located in the Zuidas and both of them carry out a high-end appearance. This premium gym offers you the best fitness devices of Technogym. But what we really love is the tranquil vibe and personal attention. The coaches are kind, motivating and make you feel comfortable in the training. The most lessons take about one hour of your time: boxing, yoga and the Zuidas location also offers a rowing class. Want to work-out between working hours, before or have a quick but effective one after? Try out the amazing H.I.I.T. training. It only takes 30 minutes, you’ll feel energized and ready for the night or day ahead. Especially after a warm sauna, refreshing shower with Rituals soap and provided soft towels by the gym itself. Looking for more personal attention with intensive coaching in training, nutrition and lifestyle? Try out a their Personal Training package. www.gustavgym.nl

Gustav Gym

BBB Health Boutique – Women Only
It can feel quite intimidating to step into a gym where you can feel the testosterone hanging in the air. For some women, this can be an uncomfortable experience, so it’s good that there are some women-only gyms in Amsterdam. Basic Fit and Fitness365 offer ladies zones or ladies only gyms, but the one that stands out is without doubt the BBB Health Boutique. This gym is especially designed for women and offers an unique gym system. Whether you want to shape, lose weight, are pregnant, have just given birth, currently in the menopause or just want to feel fit; BBB will coach you.The work-outs are performed in hot cabins which might feel a bit strange at first, but they stimulate the metabolism and the burning of fat. They also offer yoga, Pilates, HIIT, outdoor work-outs, food and lifestyle coaching. www.bbbhealthboutique.nl

Crossfit Flames – A family feeling
If you’re a family person, you’ll love this place. Everybody is welcome and you’ll also feel welcome here. The coaches will bring out the best in you and everybody in this gym is supportive and kind. Crossfit stands for constant variety, functional training at high intensity. There are about 10 physical skills you’ll be training at the box: cardio, endurance, power, flexibility, speed, coordination, balance, speed power, agility and accuracy. Get burning with Marcha van Glaanen Weijgel, owner and trainer at Crossfit Flames. She became 5th at The CrossFit Games 2018. www.crossfitflames.nl

Fysio Buitenveldert – Hot Stuff
Feeling cold? Fysio Buitenveldert is the perfect place for us chilly ones. This place offers classes where the room temperature will be heated up to 40 degrees. Sweat guaranteed. In this temperature you’ll be able to do a Bikram Yoga Class. This one contains about 26 classic yoga poses and two breathing exercises. Pilates will be given in a less hot room, about 25 to 30 degrees. Due to the higher temperature the muscles will move easier and feel more flexible. You can also choose to do pilates, yin yoga or barre fitness without this room temperature. www.fysiobuitenveldert.nl

Shape All In – For more variety
Working out can bore some of us easily. Especially if you always do the same class or routine. Not only is this not optimal for your body (you have to keep surprising the muscles), it’s also not much fun. Shape All In offers you various classes, you won’t get bored here. Of course, you can also enjoy the regular gym with amazing devices to train your own body, but you can also try out a group lesson. Ever tried an Aerial yoga class (with hammocks), kinesis circuit, pole fitness, shape M.A.D. Viking fit, HIIT yoga or spin & strength? You can do all of this and much more at Shape All In. www.shape-all-in.nl

Me, hanging in there!

Chassé Dance Studios – Just Dance
Dancing off your calories is just a really fun way to stay in shape. Chassé Dance Studios is not an average dancing school. You can take regular dancing lessons like hip hop, ballet, zumba, modern dancing and Jazz. But you can also choose to do a HIIT & core workout, barre burn, twerking sessions and afro fit. The twerking class is challenging but fun. Side note: you do need to bring some knee protection. Some girls are very serious about their twerking skills but overall the class is just about having fun, dancing together and staying in shape. You don’t even notice you’re doing a plank because you’ll be focused on shaking that booty up and down. www.chasse-dancestudios.nl

So which gym is for you?

Love,

Larissa

*Larissa is one of our guest editors from The Netherlands. She is only 22 years old, and just graduated, but already runs the two lifestyle magazines BLVD and MisterDaily for two years. Her dream is to write a book one day, but now she’s focussing on her writing and content creation for brands and magazines among which Wander-Lust. Follow her on Instagram!

19 Sep 2018

Sticky Post By Wander-lust Posted in Amsterdam Guide With No Comments Permalink

Equal Yoga Amsterdam means Zen Mode On

Sticky Post By Wander-lust On September 19, 2018 With No Comments

Burn, relax and de-stress, that’s the whole body and mind package Equal Yoga Amsterdam has in store for you! We’re always on the run from A to B, nobody can handle that for years. It’s such a must for your brain and physical condition to tune out for a while, without hustle and bustle, without devices, but with ‘me, myself and I.’ Equal Yoga will help you out to get your hour(s) of quality time.

The happy locker rooms at Equal Yoga

Hot.Power.Yoga
Even though this girl loves to work up a sweat (cardio classes), now and then it’s great to drop by a boutique yoga studio like Equal Yoga. They have two studios: one in West, one in East. So bye bye ‘it’s too far from my house’ excuses (*wink*). There’s always one spot nearby to get your dose of zenness. Both Equal’s look a-ma-zing. Bright, modern entrances with a touch of green welcome you. If you had to hurry for your class (I raise my hand haha), on entry the laid back ambiance will immediately slow you down. From changing rooms till the heated yoga studios, all are extremely clean and well-designed.

Equal Yoga, all level proof
Let’s zoom in on the classes. They work in a clear, structured way. It’s up to you if you buy for example 10 credits, one month unlimited or for the diehard yogis one year unlimited. Expect graceful flows for flexibility followed by static postures for core strength. The Equal classes in a row: Hot Fusion, Core Flow, Core Power, Strong Flow, Equal Yin and Equal Barre. Ballet barre, not yoga. Depending on which class you take, the studio is heated by infra-red panels between 25 and 36 degrees. First-timers, no idea which one fits you best? Feel free to ask the staff for advice, they can help you out. Really like the fact the fixed sequences challenge both beginners and advanced yogis. So you’ll never get bored. My favourite class? Equal Barre which is inspired by the strength conditioning aspects of yoga, pilates and ballet. Prima ballerina in the making without doing choreographies!

Like I said, I really love to break a sweat with cardio classes. However, I never knew hot yoga can be as though (and energizing) as that. It’s such a great feeling afterwards, just try it yourself!

Namaste,

Sharmaine

Equal Yoga East
Linnaeusstraat 30, Amsterdam

Equal Yoga West
Rozengracht 191, Amsterdam

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28 Sep 2016

Sticky Post By Wander-lust Posted in Travel Tips With No Comments Permalink

How To Stick To Your Running Schedule During Your Holiday

Sticky Post By Wander-lust On September 28, 2016 With No Comments

Vacation is a time to relax. Right? Except for some walking during sightseeing or hiking, I usually don’t really exercise when I’m on holiday. Actually, some years back when I met a lady in Greece who went running in the evenings, I thought she was craaazy. I kept this point of view over the years; until this summer when I was in Cuba. Earlier this year, I started running and after doing an enjoyable 10K run, I decided to sign up for a half marathon as a sort of ‘try before you die’ project. And because I did not want to miss 3 weeks of training during my vacation, I packed my running outfit.

Ambitions vs. reality when running during a holiday
While packing my running shoes, I set myself the ambition to run at least 2 times a week during my holiday. In reality, I barely managed to go once a week. It was quite hard to squeeze the running into the vacation program as on one day we were sightseeing, and the other day we were travelling. Also, it was so hot that I could only go running very early morning, which in this case meant 7 o’clock, or in the afternoon right after a big shower or thunderstorm. Getting up so early wasn’t exactly my idea of being on holiday, but it actually felt like a fresh and very good start of the day. Also the views along the route definitely made it worth it.

Running in the Valle de Viñales

Route: where to go when you don’t know your way around
Another challenge while running is the route. Where do you go when you don’t know your way around? Especially interesting when you lack a sense of direction, like me. Luckily, in Cuba the towns and cities are organized in a grid plan, so it was fairly easy to map out my way. Just to be on the safe size I brought my phone with an offline GPS navigation app on it so I could always find my way back in case I got lost. Additional advantage of bringing my phone was that I had some nice music while running (and I could take some pictures along the way) 🙂

The view while running in Santa Lucia

Some final tips while scheduling your run on holiday

Keep in mind that the temperature in a lot of countries will be much higher than back home. When it’s really hot it’s a good idea to schedule your run early morning or late evening. And off course, bring some water along the way to keep hydrated. Last but not least, in order to protect yourself from the sun you can wear a cap (and put some sunscreen on).
If you want to stick to a running schedule during your holiday, you can best download a running app on your phone. This app can give you a week schedule and push you to keep running. I for example have the 21K running app, and although I did not have a very strict schedule, I did use this app for every run during my holiday. Also, it can be difficult to stick to a schedule if you are travelling a lot during your vacation. Try to think a few days ahead in order to see how your running schedule can best fit your travel schedule.
On holiday, the food is also quite different. I would recommend to try and eat as ‘normal’ as possible. Want to go running in the morning before breakfast? Probably a good idea if you do this at home as well, otherwise it would probably be better to at least eat a small snack before heading off.
The roads in other countries might also be of different quality. Before you actually head off, it’s a good idea to explore the area a little bit to know the conditions (and to make sure you don’t end up on a blind alley)

Do you recognize this? How do you maintain a running schedule during your holiday? And how do you find a nice route? Let us know!

P.S. Curious about Cuba? Read my earlier blog about 7 places you should definitely visit.

Love,

Dionne

*Dionne is one of our guest bloggers from the Netherlands, currently living in Den Bosch. In everyday life she works as a marketing-communications professional. She loves to travel to distant destinations, but I also enjoy a city trip closer to home.