Fans of Lagree claim the workout is more efficient than Pilates. Photo / Getty Images
The slow-intense Lagree method is favoured by the likes of Kim Kardashian. Our writer visited the UK’s first studio to find out why.
“You’ve got the Lagree Shakes,” says the instructor, her microphone voice carrying across the filled studio. I glance down at my semi-extended left leg and see my thigh is indeed, oscillating wildly.
To the outside observer I look like I’m posing on an expensive shopping trolley, with my leg in an undignified position. The immense effort I am making is almost imperceptible.
To the initiated, I don’t need to justify myself. The shakes are the hallmark symptom of the slow-intense workout that much of Hollywood swears by. Kim Kardashian, model Sofia Vergara and Michelle Obama are all said to be fans of this high-intensity, low-impact workout focused on muscular endurance: the Lagree method.
Developed by a fitness trainer and entrepreneur Sebastien Lagree, the method was inspired by the variable tension principles of Pilates, along with his own bodybuilding background. In 2006 Lagree patented his own machine; the Megaformer.
The similarities with reform Pilates is clear, but Lagree is often described as Pilates on steroids. Lagree requires more effort than Pilates, which is more core focused, because there is a cardio element too, so the pace of a class is faster. It is designed to improve strength, muscular endurance, leanness, and muscle tone. It sculpts the sort of apparently effortlessly toned bodies that Hollywood adores.
Today Lagree has more than 500 studios in over 30 countries and is continually expanding. This month, the UK’s first Lagree certified fitness studio opened on the King’s Road in London. The location is perfect to make the most of the dense population of high-end legging-clad women. Although, the workout is for men as well. More on that later.
Having signed up for a Starter Class at MAD Lagree Studio, I’m keen to find out what all the fuss is about. The website claims that: “This workout strips fat, builds lean muscle, chisels the core, challenges the heart, increases en- durance, boosts flexibility and maximises the mind-body connection.”
Bold claims indeed!
Outside the studio I get chatting to 30-year-old Chichi, who is ready, sweat gloves and water bottle ready. Her excitement is palpable. She’s just moved to London from Shanghai, having previously lived in New York, and in both cities she was hooked on Lagree.
“I was surprised that London didn’t have one,” says Chichi. “And then my friend in Shanghai, who is a certified trainer, told me they were opening one! I booked a class right away.”
What is it that she loves about Lagree so much? “After you do this you won’t want to do Pilates. It’s just not as efficient,” she says. “This requires more strength.”
She tells me that in China, the Kardashians being fans of the workout is a big draw.
So what is the appeal for the Kardashians? Lagree, apparently, is a “butt-changer” (MAD offers specific booty classes).
It feels like Lagree is the most popular workout I’ve never heard of. But unlike Kim K, Lagree doesn’t have the stratospheric social media following; a mere minnow at 114k Instagram followers. Founder, Sebastien, may have graced the cover of Forbes but still only racks up just 20k. Its popularity has spread by word of mouth, and thanks to ClassPass, where it’s a bestseller.
The founders of MAD studio in London, Mona Halawi, 30, and Nour Abu Hamdan, 33, are originally from Lebanon, where Lagree is also a “Big thing”. “Anything that’s big in the States, the Lebanese find a way to bring it home,” says Abu Hamdan.
Originally a yoga instructor, she tried out the Megaformer after being told about it by a student. “And it’s been love ever since.”
She’s found it a good complement to her yoga practice and assures me that: “Once you’re comfortable with the machine, you’re able to get into this meditative state of flow and zone into yourself.”
Not being a fan of leaping around and working up an undignified sweat or risking joint damage from repetitive running movements, it sounds like my sort of exercise.
However, it’s not quite what happens in my first five minutes on the Megaformer. From the very first plank, I’m feeling intense core activation. The instability of the tension in the Megaformer carriage is what’s making me work harder.
I’m also, regrettably, not wearing grippy socks, like everyone else, so am working even harder to stop me slipping.
I spend the next 50 minutes surprised by how much effort I’m expending to do the tiniest of movements. And this is just an intro class. Abu Hamdan later tells me: “The intensity is always hard, even in a starter class.”
There are a lot of lunges, planks, pikes, all using the weight of the Megaformer. My legs, glutes and core are most definitely active. They’re also my weakest points, thanks to the many hours I spend sitting on them.
Fortunately, just when I think I can take no more, we flip onto our bottoms and start bicep curls.
Rock climbing has made my arms strong and I breathe out thinking, “I’ve got this,” and pull myself forward. It’s almost too easy. As if reading my mind Abu Hamdan says to everyone: “We don’t need more weight, we just need to go slower.”
And so I cut my pace, and find myself redoubling my effort. It’s an interesting challenge, to find the difficulty by cutting the amount you do to a snail’s pace.
Afterwards I ask Abu Hamdan about this aspect of the Lagree method. The subtlety seems at odds with showy, heavy weightlifting. Do people come into the studio and act a bit macho?
Abu Hamdan laughs. “Most of the time when people want to go heavy they’re pumping like they’re at the gym,” she says, “but when they slow it down they start to get it. I’ve seen men with six-packs shaking.”
There’s only one man in our class, but Abu Hamdan says Lagree has a lot to offer men in terms of improving their cardio, muscle endurance and strength.
Getting into the Lagree mindset is at odds with so much of the prevailing attitudes around fitness. “Nowadays we are so used to being all, ‘Go go go’, and exercise is supposed to be fast and immediate,” Abu Hamdan says, “but in my opinion this offers so much more.”
In 50 minutes we worked our glutes, quads, biceps and core. An all over work out. As such, the Lagree method is often compared to circuit training on one machine, but low-impact and easy on the joints.
Key to it all are the yellow and red springs that create tension in the Megaformer “carriage”. The yellow is the lightest; five yellows equivalent to one red. “I wouldn’t expect you to pull a red, as that’s too heavy. But pushing a red activates your legs and glutes.”
Each movement has a different spring load. “When you’re doing the core stuff, the lighter it is the more difficult it is. The less stable the carriage, the more you’re forced to engage.”
Once the movements become more familiar, the cardio intensity starts to build, says Abu Hamdan.
There are no pauses. This is slow-HIIT: constantly moving, albeit very slowly, with constant tension means your heart rate stays up.
“I always tell students when we’re doing bicep curls to have a look at their biceps and see if they’re bulging out and go slower and slower so they’re bulging for longer,” explains Abu Hamdan.
The principle is that by working on engaging the slow twitch fibres, you don’t get bulky muscles, achieving that Hollywood toned look, as opposed to doing heavy repetitions on the weights, which create volume.
Moving in this way means that you continue to burn calories even after the class, explains Halawi, also a Lagree trainer. “I think this is why it’s such a successful workout in America, because it’s efficient. It’s a short workout but you get everything in. And you burn for the next 36 hours. Whereas in a spin class, as soon as you get off the bike you stop burning.”
This is based on the principle of Excess Post-Exercise Oxygen Consumption (EPOC) and is often referred to as the After-Burn. EPOC is the increased level of oxygen your body consumes (and therefore calories it burns) in order to recover from working out and bring your metabolism back to its pre-workout/resting state.
With Lagree’s emphasis on efficient intensity, the more intense the workout, the more oxygen your body needs to consume afterwards, and therefore the more calories used.
And yet, afterwards, I don’t feel depleted like I might after a bootcamp style HIIT workout. It’s been intense and hard, but I can walk out onto the King’s Road, knowing I’ve had a full body workout, but not necessarily showing it. Maybe that’s what the A-listers like it for. You can leave Lagree without a hair out of place.
The day after, I can feel the effects in my inner thighs and glutes. While I’m not sure I’m headed towards Kardashian territory, I’m impressed by how fit I feel without having burnt through my energy reserves for the rest of my life.
However, on MAD’s website I see many of the classes for the rest of the week are already “Waitlist” only.
Never mind moving slow. Word is getting around fast.
And dad Clarke Gayford may have delivered his best birthday cake yet.