What It's Really Like To Train Like A Victoria's Secret Angel At KOBOX
Gloves at the ready...
November and December are the months where most of us start to wind down our exercise routines, swapping gym workouts for evenings on the sofa watching The X Factor with a hefty supply of Reese’s Pieces.
But with less than a week to go until the highly-anticipated Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show, those VS models won’t be maxin’ and relaxin’ on the settee - they’ll no doubt be working their asses off to get in shape for the big show. The pressure is on!
With models this year including Gigi and Bella Hadid, Kendall Jenner and Irina Shayk, as well as returning favourites such as Adriana Lima, Alessandra Ambrosio and Lily Aldridge, it’ll be all eyes on the runway for this year’s show in the fashion capital, Paris.
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So when Victoria’s Secret Sport offered MTV the chance to #TrainLikeAnAngel in an intense Wednesday morning boxing class, we kinda thought ‘yeah, why not? It can’t be that hard, can it?' OH, HOW WRONG WE WERE.
FYI - boxing is one of those powerful, full-body cardio workouts that models including Gigi Hadid and Adriana Lima use to get their sculpted physiques show-ready.
On a chilly autumn morning, we headed to the UK's first boutique boxing gym, KOBOX on the King’s Road in London’s Chelsea, ready to be worked into the ground by the amazing trainer Oliver Lee.
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Before starting, we checked out all the gorge VS sportswear on display (ALL the heart-eyed emojis) which made us want to work our socks off in the class so we could show off all the stunning sportswear in confidence.
Donning our KOBOX-branded hand wraps (gotta protect those knuckles), we started with a quick warm-up before the music kicked off and it was up to us to put ALL of our energy into this high-intense boxing class.
First, we pounded the boxing bags with every ounce of energy we had, combining fast routines of punches including jabs, crosses, hooks and upper cuts. It was EXHAUSTING - but also kind of amazing. The endorphins were kicking in!
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Then, it was time for the floor work - arguably harder than the punch bags. We tightened our ab muscles throwing heavy medicine balls onto the floor with all our might, before doing multiple squats and lunges for what felt like an eternity but in reality was probably only 30 secs, LOLz.
The worst part of the floor work was being partnered up with someone else in the class because then you literally couldn’t stop squatting or your partner would have to stop too. Talk about pressure!
The final part of the class was heading back to the boxing bags for that final burst of punches, also a chance to get all of our aggression out (we won’t tell you who we were pretending to punch), before we cooled down and said goodbye to Ollie and co.
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At this point, we were on a high - there’s something about doing cardio first thing that puts you in a good mood for the rest of the day. But the best bit? The yummy protein shake afterwards - it was DELISH.
We went back to work with increased energy and a better understanding of how hard those Victoria’s Secret models have to work to get in shape for the Big Fashion Show. Don’t mind us, just booking onto our next KOBOX class…
So come on then, will you guys be giving boxing a go? Tweet us @MTVStyleINTL to let us know already.