Revolutionary new gym equipment at Lanserhof at The Arts Club aims change the way we exercise. Words by Cally Squires.
The futuristic gym equipment at Lanserhof is a game changer.
Head of fitness Jason Reynolds joined the club when it was still in the building phase, so was able to help choose the brands and machines Lanserhof would use.
They include a spine lab, 3D body scanner, MRI machine and lots of mythical-sounding German kit like the Icaros, Centaur, Pegasus and Minotaur.
With this cutting edge equipment, it is possible to analyse a person's body and create unique exercise programmes to fix any problems.
It’s all about bespoke information, according to Reynolds.
“Everyone has a wealth of information available; social media is a wonderful and terrible thing in that respect.
“Some people get information from someone they’ve never met and have no idea how qualified they are. The key is understanding how information relates to you and what that means for your training.
“What we have with Icaros, the 3D body scanner and our gym equipment by German company Biofeedback Motor Control, they give us the information to understand what someone needs in their fitness programme.”
Bespoke exercise programmes
“In our assessments, we do an MRI body scan. There are very few of those machines in London, so to have our own one in the building is great.
“We also use the Movement Lab to analyse, say, if someone had core weakness, whether that was because of the way their hips move or how their spine is aligned.
“All this allows us to understand what is happening and therefore create exercise programmes to fix any problems.”
There is nowhere else in the UK that has Lanserhof’s Centaur, Minotaur and Pegasus machines. You’d need to go to Dubai or South
Korea to find alternatives.
There are a few Icaros machines in the UK, but they tend to be used medically by surgeons rather than in gyms.
Virtual reality
What is the coolest piece of tech though, has to be virtual reality goggles used with the Icaros machine.
Reynolds predicts VR will be the future of fitness. The club is already working with a Swiss company to get VR headsets for the rowing machines and bikes in the gym.
The VR headsets let users imagine they are flying through the sky, shooting aliens or swimming underwater with dolphins while they work their core.
The addition of sound makes it an even more immersive experience.
Munich university has done some research on Icaros.
Reynolds reports that “in virtual reality mode, people burn more calories and you get a better neuro-muscular link so our plasticity of learning is increased.”
The headset makes the experience seem like a game rather than a workout. So it's easy to see how people might get hooked.
Annual membership is £6,500.
