The Wirral fitness studio where classes are ‘like a party that burns 600 calories’

Wirral fitness studio, Revive offers spin and yoga sessions.

A new boutique fitness studio has opened in Wirral where owner Victoria Crowden says classes are like a party that burns 600 calories.

Revive Spin & Stretch on Market Street in Hoylake offers spin and yoga sessions in a way that’s designed to be fun as well as good for you.

“Exercise should be something you really look forward to doing,” says Victoria. “It should be something you’re really excited about, so you’re treating yourself to the class instead of it being a chore. 

“Our spin classes are rhythm rides and we have a top-of-the-range sound system so you ride to the beat and because the music is so good it keeps you going.

“In every song there’s a fast beat and a slow beat, so I get everyone up on the slow beat and then I give them the option to move to the fast beat if they want to. You’re catering for all levels but everybody is on a beat, and you’re distracted from what’s going on in your legs and your chest because you’re dancing, you’re whooping, singing and waving your towel in the air.

“People can be a bit scared of spin if they haven’t been before, they have an idea of it being horrendous hard work and just wanting it to end. Ours are more like a party environment, everybody’s doing it together, and it’s like going on a night out but you’re burning 600 calories on a bike!

“Once every six weeks we do a themed ride, so the last one was an Ultimate Divas theme ride which was really good. It ended up being a lot longer than it should have been, an hour-and-a-half instead of an hour, because I couldn’t get all the songs in that I wanted – and then we had prosecco afterwards.”

Victoria, who also trains people to be spin instructors and to be yoga teachers, first became interested in exercise and fitness when she was in the Army. Now a mum of two teenage boys, she had to close her previous studio in Birkenhead when Covid hit.

“In lockdown, gyms were some of the hardest hit businesses, so I couldn’t do anything face-to-face. 

“I was teaching online but it’s really difficult to keep everyone going because people like to be with other people. I think it was exciting at first, we were all in our living rooms, chatting on Zoom and doing workouts, but long-term people missed the social side and the whole vibe of doing it together. 

“Once I opened the new studio and taught the first class, I thought, this is exactly what I’ve missed. It’s just that whole thing of mixing with people and that tribe environment that’s just great.”

As well as spin sessions at Revive, Victoria also teaches yoga classes with a maximum of nine people in each to keep things more personal.

“I have an infrared colour therapy yoga studio which is an experience for the senses. You come to a particular colour depending on what you want to get from the class so red is strong, powerful, energy boosting, pink is restorative and gentle, yellow is flow, blue is breath work. I tailor the music to match the healing properties of the colour and I even tailor the smell by using only NEOM wellbeing products in the studio.”

She’s also created a blend class, that combines 30 minutes of yoga with 30 minutes of spin so people get the best of both.

“The studio is luxurious, all the bikes are already set up, you’re asked your water temperature preference and that’s on your bike waiting for you and you’ve got your sweat towel on your bike so you don’t have to think about bringing those. In the shower there’s gorgeous ESPA products, towels, and GHD hairdryers,” adds Victoria. “I just want everyone to enjoy and get the most out of my classes and the whole environment.”

Follow Revive Spin & Stretch on Tik Tok here.