Women's Fitness

76 womensfitness.co.uk | September 2016

‘You feellike

you’re ina

nightclubbut

youwon’tget

ahangover!’

WFtalks pumping beats and future plans

with BOOM Cycle founderHilary Gilbert

come together for this

inspirational thing that we’ve

all built together.

What would yousay to someone

who hasn’tgot any spinning

experiencebut wantedto come

and try BOOMCycle?

Come ondown! Get here 20

minutes before the ride starts

then we can go over all the basics

we can get you clipped in and we

can talk you through everything.

As it’s dark you don’t have to

worry about not knowing what

you’re doing! And al so eachrider

controls their resistance on their

own and no one can see what level

you’re at. We don’t say ‘everyone

at level 5’ because that’s differen t

for like a 5ft woman and a 6ft male

rugby player so I feel you’ve got

to make it individual. It helps

everyone do their own thing.

And finally what are your plansfor

the future of BOOMCycle?

World domination! We’r e currently

working on expansion – we’re

hoping toopen one ortwo more

sites this year an d then go from

there. We want to keep going and

I think that there is enough room

for lots of these things.I really

think we have a good shot at

making Britain more fit because

BOOM Cycle is something fun and

it’s for everyone regardless of

ability. And once everyone gets

over this idea that it’s intimidating

they can see that. I’ve seenso

many people walk down those

stairs into the studio literally

shaking and then they come out

and they’re like ‘Oh my god it was

so differen t from what I thought

it would be!’ So it’s about

educatin g riders and I think it’s

something people can stick to

even if they’re not gym buffs.

Fast talk

Breakfast of champions?

I have agreen juice with

broccoli spinach kale

ginger cucumber and

apples and then trout or

salmon filletswith sautéed

spinach and two eggs – I

mean that is power!

How elsedoyoustayfit?

Reformer Pilates a bitof

weight training and running.

Favourite snack?

Chorizo. It’s so freaking good!

I

f you’ve ever beento a BOOM

Cycle classyou’ll knowthey’re

sweaty sassy and super-fun.

It’s a popular hang-out among

London fitness fanatics and with

two studios on the map the BOOM

Cycle empire is growing...

How didBOOMCycle comeabout?

It started because when I first

moved here backin 2004 there

wasn’t a lot of go od spin on offer

and it wasn’t offered conveniently.

So I was like ‘Well I want to create

a spin gym!’ But then I was still

modelling and I didn’t want to

settle down and stay in one place.

So it to ok a couple more years.

Then we started working on the

plan to make BOOM Cycle become

a thing in 2010 registered the

company that same year an d then

startedtrading in 2011. When I met

my now fiancé he was going to

work on his own business and I

was going to work on mine but we

decided we’d never see eachothe r

if we did that. So we ran the

numbers and at that time the

US-basedspin empire Soul Cycle

had just sold its portion of eq uity

for $50 million so it was easy to

raise money for the business on

the backof that because everyone

was getting exci ted about it. We

were the first to do it in the UK.

Can yousum upBOOMCycle

in three words?

Bike s beats boom.

What doyouthink sets

BOOMCycle apart from

other spinning classes?

We’ve thought about everysingle

aspect so specif ically and for a

verylong time. Our concept is

really base d on music – I’m super

super-duper into the music! We’ve

got nigh tclub-qualitysound

systemsso when you come in

you’ll feel the bassin your ches t. It

helps you get lost an d you really

feel like you’re in a nigh tclub but

you won’t get a hangover the next

day. And the fact that’s it’s dark

• if you’re self-conscious about
  sweating or maybe you’re not the
  best athl ete ever then no one’s
  going to see you. You can only
  see the instructor so that really
  helps people le t go.

What’s your favourite aspect

of your job?

I think it’s just working with and

seeing such fabulous people all

the time ; people with whom I share

a lot of interests and qualities. A

lot of us are like-minded but we all

The Queen of Spin

‘It’s dark so no one can

see you – which is great

if you’re self-conscious’

GET INVOLVED:

To become a rider visit

boomcycle.co.uk

WORDS: ERICA BUSH

PICT URES: NICK PONTY OF HERALD

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