PUSH’s balance of high-octane and well-being exercises is the perfect antidote to the stresses of modern living. Get ready to give your body and mind a thorough refresh…
Three hundred unread emails? Erratic diet? Gym kit packed but never a moment to actually go? It's time to step out of the rat race and invest some time in yourself. Billed as the UK's first re-boot camp, PUSH combines high-intensity exercise with life coaching and nutrition masterclasses to help you lose weight, reboot and recharge.
Earlier this year, PUSH put Marie Claire’s fashion assistant Debi Simpson through her paces with a weekend blitz – here’s how it went… Where? Just over an hour's train ride from London Waterloo, I found PUSH HQ tucked away on a farm in Hampshire, in a cute converted barn. I arrived frazzled and late (anyone who knows me, knows this is standard) but the calm of the countryside and the relaxed welcome of the PUSH team allowed me to switch off instantly.
What? PUSH wants to help kick-start a healthy new approach to life, not just give you a grueling workout and then send you on your merry way. A couple of Q&As ahead of my visit prepared the specialist team for their one-to-ones with me, which made each session feel completely bespoke.
After arriving, I tucked into a freshly prepared lunch (thanks to PUSH’s genius in-house chef Lee) and then began the weekend schedule, which was packed full of exercise, food workshops, one-on-one chats with a life coach and a nutritionist, mindfulness sessions and – quite unexpectedly – massive amounts of fun!
High-intensity worksouts with Tom (lovingly nicknamed Tommy Pops and quite possibly the most easy-on-the-eye trainer ever!) included circuit training to dance music in the Rave Cave, afternoon walks through the beautiful New Forest countryside and more, all of which shape your day. Around this are breaks for mealtimes, snacks and sessions.
Each workout session, no matter how tough, was always fun and left me with a buzz of achievement, the workshops that followed put me in the right state of mind to make sure I carried on with the good work when I went home.
After just two days my entire body ached, but I genuinely left lighter, fitter and happier than when I arrived. Baring in mind this was a taster weekend, it's easy to imagine how amazing anyone doing the week-long course leaves feeling!
Who? Aside from the brilliant concept, what made PUSH so unique was the incredible team behind it. As well as being experts in their field, each person I met has also lived through the stresses and strains of high-pressure city life and then made the decision to steer their careers in a direction to combat this, which means they understand just how important it is to lead a healthy, balanced lifestyle.
Founder Cate Murden comes from a career in media and she’s the wiz who pulled the team together. Executive Coach (that’s life coach to you and me) Ruth Groves uses her former career in business and finance to coach traders and investment bankers within their high-pressure environment. Nicola Shubrook has a long-standing career as a nutritionist in the media. As a columnist with a diploma in Nutritional Therapy, this lady knows her stuff! Natalie Summers, one of the UK’s leading personal trainers (guys you’re in good hand – she trains Bear Grylls!) has recently joined Head Trainer Tom Eastham (did I mention Tom? Swoon) to provide a thoroughly modern workout underpinned with new developments in how to train safely and progressively. After? Unlike other bootcamps, interaction with the team doesn’t end when you leave PUSH. Post retreat Nicola sent me a list of everything I needed to stock up on in my cupboards to help keep them ‘clean’, she also sent a personal devised eating plan based on everything we discussed in our sessions together, which included what vitamin supplements should support my diet. We were also all sent recipes for everything we’d eaten during the bootcamp weekend - the vanilla, chai and almond breakfast bowl is my absolute favorite, here’s a (lovingly styled and Instagrammed – obvs) pic from enjoying it al fresco last weekend…
The raw nut butter cups (chocolate fiends, these are basically a healthy Reese's cup!) are seriously delicious and have kept me on the straight and narrow despite having an insane sweet tooth!
Ruth has also checked back in with me to see how I’m getting on and to see whether the advice she gave me and resolutions we’d come up with during our sessions together were being put into practice and helping me.
Join us for a one-day PUSH bootcamp If you don’t have time to leave town, make sure you clear your diary this Saturday, 1st August because PUSH return to London to host another 1-day pop-up at the fabulous Hoxton Holborn hotel. Following on from the success of their one-day boot camp earlier this year, the PUSH pop-up is back for anyone who missed out in May. Whether it's a taster or a top-up, it's guarenteed will kick-start you into shedding weight, toning up and feeling brilliant all summer long. See you there! x
