Class Review: Hangxiety

9th December

When post-party anxiety meets the hangover from hell, we’ve got the class that’ll leave last night’s mistakes dripping from every pore. Steady those alco-shakes clear your aching mind. No regrets, only sweat. We sent our blogger Kat to try out Hangxiety to see if we could get her ready for another round of whatever the world throws at her...

I take my job seriously. So when I heard I would be trying out Hangxiety, a class that aims to ease the effects of hangovers, I knew what needed to be done. The night before the class, I undertook the difficult job of drinking myself into a cocktail-induced coma in a pub in East London.

I know, the sacrifices I make to write authentic reviews truly know no bounds.

Okay, I will admit, this was not my first rodeo. I have dragged myself to the gym before while hungover, having convinced myself that of course it’s possible to sweat out an entire bottle of spiced rum and emerge from the gym floor miraculously cured. Results from these experiments, however, have been...mixed.

With that in mind, I was interested to see if a class specifically designed for ‘the morning after’ would actually make any difference.

Having dragged myself out of bed and to Elephant & Castle in time for the 8am class, I was greeted with the sight of a yoga mat. ‘Amazing, it’s just going to be some light stretches’, I thought to myself. I prepared to go into Child’s Pose and stay there nursing my sore head for the duration of the class.

This dream was shot to pieces when class instructors Kylie Bond and Jess Parkinson began explaining what they had in store for us. To my horror, the class would be split into two sections: a HIT section followed by a yoga stretch session.

I looked down at my mat, feeling betrayed. Last night’s White Russians, mulled wine, prosecco and boozy hot chocolate had not prepared me for this.

As Kylie and Jess took us through a warm up, I was 90% sure I could actually feel this nice concoction of Christmas drinks moving around inside me. Not exactly the best scenario when someone’s shouting ‘fast feet’ in your direction, but I decided to trust the process and grin and bear it.

For the HIT section of the class, Kylie took us through a full body circuit which gradually increased in difficulty over the course of four sets. There was the option to stay with the easier exercises throughout the circuit, which I appreciated, but I wanted to give it my all before conceding defeat.

The first two rounds of the HIT circuit were surprisingly pretty okay; there wasn’t too much jumping about and those lovely endorphins were making me feel pretty proud of myself. I’d done it! I’d somehow made it here! Not only that but the squats, lunges and mountain climbers were successfully distracting me from my headache.

Rounds three and four, however, were not as enjoyable. Squats became squat jumps; mountain climbers got faster and curtsy lunges suddenly became jumping ski lunges with a burpee thrown in for good measure. Burpees are horrible at the best of times but while hungover, they’re truly hellish. Like Grimes after three, long Elon years, I made the wise decision to tap out and take a breather.

By the end of the four sets, I was a mess. Seriously, I was sweating an utterly obscene amount. So I was glad when Jess finally took us down onto the mat for the second, yoga section of the class.

This stretching session was super relaxing and allowed me to re-centre myself after a very full-on 25 minutes. We stayed low to the ground, no full Vinyasa Flows or Warrior Positions here, which was a nice contrast to the jumping around we’d just been doing. I get post-drink anxiety quite badly so I knew that this would be good for me, and I was right. Being led through mindful breathing and a nice stretch helped me clear my thoughts and get focused for the day ahead.

After a few minutes lying in Savasana, the class was officially over. I opened my eyes and was happy to notice I was still alive. No class was going to help me recover the sleep stolen from me the night before but the combination of HIT and yoga had helped me sweat out some alcohol, get my endorphins going and soothe my groggy head. While I wasn't sure if this would last till the afternoon, at least I was starting my day on the right note.

For those that wanted a real health boost, IV vitamin drips courtesy of Get A Drip were also available to try at the end of the class. While these weren’t for me (hello, needle phobia) the folks from Get A Drip explained that these vitamin shots should help rehydrate anyone really suffering from late night antics. These IV drips are available for members taking the class over the next few weeks, so make sure you sign up if you want to give it a go.

Having thanked Kylie and Jess for blessing me with an early Christmas miracle, I left the club not just in one piece, but actually feeling pretty good. Christmas party season might be here, but at least we have Hangxiety to help us through it.

Book into Hangxiety via the Gymbox app and follow Kat here.