Perth Exercise / Fitness Review: Step into Life, Various Locations!

First, a disclaimer. I love couch-bound movie days, a good sleep in, and I have never been fond of exercise leggings. But in January, something unusual happened: I embraced the spandex and started waking up at 5:40am three days a week to work out.

Gyms have never been for me. I found it was too easy to slack off on my own, and group fitness classes were too repetitive. My purse strings were too tight for a personal trainer and I wasn’t big on running around my local park (Hey there, busy main road! Check out my shameful fitness level!).

After an indulgent holiday period, I realised that if I wanted to get fit I’d either have to work up some killer commitment and motivation to do it myself, or find someone to kick my butt on a budget.

So I strolled down to my local park and became familiar with Step Into Life.

Despite the corny name, Step Into Life offers the benefits of a personal trainer at a fraction of the cost, in a friendly, non-judgemental group scenario. Sessions range from five people to 30 people of all different shapes, sizes, ages and fitness levels.

The hour-long sessions run Monday-Saturday in the mornings and evenings, suiting even the busiest of schedules. You can expect high-intensity sessions which tone, improve cardio fitness and even relieve stress (particularly the kickboxing class!). I’ve not yet done the same workout twice, so there’s no repetition unlike that fitness DVD you once used for a week straight before getting bored and letting it gather dust.

The big winner for me is training outdoors! Perth is blessed with awesome weather all year, so I feel it’s my duty to take advantage of it. The fresh air gets you going, even during chilly 6am starts in the middle of winter.

Prices depend on the franchise, but offer better value the more sessions you do a week. You generally sign up on a 3-monthly basis with direct debit or a one-off payment.

Cost vary between each franchise but my trainer in Carine charges:

$19/session/week if you do one session a week
$16/session ($32/week) if you do 2 sessions a week
$14/session ($42/week) if you do 3 sessions a week

Not sure if you want to commit? You can try it for FREE before you handover any of your hard earned moo-lah.

If you’re still in winter hibernation mode, challenge yourself. Start loving the sweat, the spandex and the outdoors and Step Into Life! I can guarantee within weeks of joining you’ll be checking out your guns in mirrors when no one’s around…not that I do that… 😉

To find out exactly what you can expect at one of the 20 franchises kicking butts in parks across Perth, and for information and contact details of your local trainer, visit www.stepintolife.com.au

Ph: (08) 9301 2351
Email: wa@stepintolife.com

Review by Gemma Clark, recent master of sit-ups.