ENERGY ENERGY CLUB: 30 minutes fitness workout

A new combination between fitness, yoga and good vibes. That’s the recipe of the Energy energy club, a 30-minute no equipment workout developed by a young londoner: Chloe Dorlikar. With a fashion background and a passion for all things healthy, during the lockdown Chloe started to create a following on Instagram, inviting people to participate for free. While you click on her Instagram page @chloedorr

we sat down with her to talk more about the new fitness for fun idea she had.

WHEN DID YOU COME UP WITH  THE IDEA FOR THE “ENERGY ENERGY CLUB” ?

In the UK, "lockdown" started on March the 23rd. I knew this would be a challenge for many, both physically but also mentally. I thought of the many who thrive and live for a routine, the many that attend classes to give them that extra motivation. I was one of these people too. The thought of not seeing my work colleagues, friends and family on a regular basis was an unfamiliar feeling, yet I knew I needed to create something that would keep us together, something that would keep us mentally sane, healthy and most importantly feeling good about ourselves.

That's when "ENERGY ENERGY CLUB™" was created. A series of weekly classes including high impact classes, along with a yoga slot to help unwind, named "BREATHE, STRETCH, SHAKE, LET IT GO". It had to be accessible with no cost involved so that all felt welcome. Not everyone has access to equipment and even space, so with these limitations, I carefully considered the style of workout I was to teach. I asked, "what do we all need at this time?"

The workouts started as something for my fellow colleagues and now it reaches people across Europe through Zoom and Instagram. I love connecting with souls across the globe and find comfort in that we all have the same goal, to be healthy and happy

HOW DID YOU ORGANIZE THE CLUB? WHAT WAS THE STARTING POINT?

First of all, I wanted to understand people's situation. We're all in this together, yet we all have different experiences. I had to consider people working from home, people with children and people not working. In my day to day, I try to schedule exercise as a meeting. For me, it's vital for my mental health, to be mindful in movement and to move my body, whether it's high or low intensity. I thought about my favourite class teachers, their expertise, style of teaching and music used. I wanted to make people happy and welcome more than anything. To make something fun and light-hearted is what we all need at this time.

SOME PEOPLE FIND EXERCISING JUST AS A MUST, NOT SOMETHING ENJOYABLE, WHAT IS THE SECRET BEHIND FALLING IN LOVE WITH WORKOUTS?

I think when exercising it's truly important to find what you enjoy, there really is no point in wasting your precious time in doing something you dislike. The point of exercise is not just for superficial reasons, but to make you feel confident and feel like you're making progress whether that's in strength or stamina and even self-motivation. Making the exercise you do consistent, whether it's walking, dancing, boxing, yoga, high intensity training is essential. By keeping it regular and making it a habit, it becomes a necessity to your life.

Knowing your body is so important,It's great to push your body, to challenge your mental and physical limits, but do it with knowing. 

Feel, be kind and be familiar with your body

You become grateful for your strong body and you allow your mind to take a well-deserved break from the daily stresses and worries of life. I include meditation within my exercise schedule. This is something I regularly crave, to be with myself, slow down my mind, get some space. You don't need to be sweaty and push yourself at all times to see results. Slowing down and ensuring you have enough rest is crucially as important, it's finding the balance, which we all struggle with. Allocating time to yourself is not a selfish act, it'll make you a better person to everyone around you too.

WHICH EXERCISES DO YOU PREFER? HOW DO YOU COMBINE YOGA TO FITNESS ?

In terms of the workouts, I carefully put them together, changing them each time with different focuses, making sure that balance, speed and strength are considered. I like to do a long warm up, which includes dynamic mobility, to waken up the muscles and joints and prepare the body for exercise. I find that sometimes workouts on Instagram skip this stage which I don't encourage. Warming up is crucial in avoiding injuries and also being present with your body by moving more slowly and mindfully. Within the HIIT (high intensity interval training) part of the workout, this is high power, strength and cardio focused, upbeat and mirrored with energetic music to help keep everyone motivated and to make it as fun as possible. The beats take away from the "˜burn", aka the lactic acid build up! I choose to teach HIIT because even though some people have more time during this period others remain time- poor. HIIT benefits include burning fat quickly, a faster metabolic rate, a healthier heart, no equipment needed and you can do it anywhere! Heavily influenced by the fluid movement that yoga provides, for the cool down, we move through various stretches and movements. These compliment the more intense exercises we’ve just done to calm the mind and body.

YOU TRULY ARE A FAN OF YOGA, CONSIDERING A PRIORITY THAT  EVERYONE SHOULD HAVE IN THEIR LIFE. WHY?

With the yoga side of the classes, I find that my audience are conscious of keeping physically fit during these times and like to feel they have really "worked" out. I like to treat the yoga classes as a hybrid between strength and vinyasa flow, including reps to resemble a type of yoga "workout". To start, I include simple beginners breathing techniques such as box breathing. Sometimes it's hard to feel the "here and now" when you have a million things going on in the mind, so by focusing solely on breathing, it helps to maintain a sense of presence in the body and mind ahead of the class. Deep stretching, isometric exercises to build strength and twisting is something I like to include to ensure the class is balanced and works those deeper muscles and fascia. My aim for these classes highlight and show gratitude to our amazing bodies and minds for getting us to where we are today.Â

I of course finish with savasana, everyone's favourite part of yoga and like to play classical music by Italian composer and pianist Ludovico Einaudi. Listening to the sounds in a conscious way and exploring what feelings they evoke is truly special.

These peculiar days can have us feeling low, lost and confused. However, the more we come together, encourage each other and move our bodies, the more healthy we'll become, in mind, body and spirit. The sense of community in London and across the globe is overwhelmingly beautiful and every time I teach my classes, I am the grateful one, as I am learning from every single person the true meaning of community and abundance.