Having been in and around the beauty industry for the best part of a decade, I like to think I have a very high bullshit meter when it comes to products and services that promise the world.
That’s why despite what I had heard, I was very skeptical when I went along to my first Hypoxi session. Hypoxi is a space-aged weight loss solution that promises to take centimetres off your lower body.
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There was no denying I was nervous before my first session, not being what one would call a hardcore – or even semi-regular – exerciser I had no idea what I was in for (and given my last Physicore experience I was a little terrified).
But I shouldn’t have worried, it’s basically the antithesis of a gym workout. You’re lying down, you get to read magazines, check your email, Facebook, Instagram, make phonecalls, and organise your social life. It’s the ultimate exercise for multi-taskers.
After I was weighed and measured, my consultant explained the rules. Well, mostly just one, ‘No exercise or carbs after a session'.
I walked through the wooden salon doors and into what looked like Judy Jetson’s personal at-home gym. There were two white horizontal vacuum bicycle machines, and another horizontal chair with what looked like a black spacesuit resting on top (I later found out this was the cupping machine).
I was then directed to step into a compression skirt (seriously, was this place modelled on the Jetsons?) and with a heart rate monitor strapped around my ribcage and thigh I was ready to…well, lie down and start peddling.
The consultant set the machine to 30 minutes, and then I was on my own; free to surf the net on the iPads provided, catch up on work emails or flick through a magazine. I’m instructed to keep my heart rate in the 120 range and a rpm between 50-60. When the vacuum kicks in, it feels like I’m peddling in zero gravity. I can feel by legs pumping harder, but without too much effort from me.
