Inside SOMA Collection: Luxury Sydney gym celebrities love
Rebel Wilson has lost 30kg following a specific diet and doing lots of exercise – the latter of which one reporter found out was far from easy.
She’s wowed fans with her incredible transformation after losing 30 kgs in the past 14 months, prompting many to ask just how Rebel Wilson did it.
Experts agree weight loss is achieved with the combination of exercise and a healthy diet. Anyone who has been following the actress’ journey will know it’s been widely reported the Pitch Perfectstar has been following Mayr Method diet plan of eating high alkaline whole foods very slowly, aiming to count out 30 chews per mouthful.
But her precise exercise routine has been hard to pin down, largely because her Sydney-based personal trainer Jono Castano isn’t allowed to spill the beans no matter how much we beg and plead (and believe me, we’ve tried).
However, there’s nothing to stop me from going into the luxury gym Rebel uses when she’s back home in Australia and getting my ass whooped in the name of research – and yes that means I’ll be rating the star’s workouts from easy peasy to MAKE IT STOP.
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WHERE DOES REBEL WORKOUT?
SOMA Collection in Sydney’s CBD is fancier than most five-star hotels with its infra-red saunas, in-house masseur and fully-stocked bathroom facilities – I mean, there’s even a “sweat towel valet” service which isn’t something you’ll find at any ordinary gym.
Created by fitness experts and pals, Franco Atashi and Simon Anderson, their “elevated” gym concept was born from feedback the pair were getting from frustrated clients.
“Franco and I kept seeing the standards of big chain gyms dropping and we would constantly get complaints from our clients on how bad the customer service is and how dirty the change rooms were,” Simon told news.com.au
“We put a lot of time and effort into our clients and delivered a high-end service but didn’t have the right environment to go with it.”
After identifying the gap in the market for a “high end boutique gym” the pair – along with third business partner, Amy Atashi, a lawyer (and also Franco’s wife) – opened doors to SOMA a year and a half later.
The result was an intimate space with restricted numbers that has top of the range facilities and offers more than 100 classes a week, including HIIT, boxing, reformer and mat pilates, barre, and yoga classes, but without being squashed in and forced to use gross, run-down equipment.
It’s because of this, the gym has attracted some familiar faces, including Hugh Sheridan, Lincoln Lewis and of course – Rebel Wilson.
REBEL’S TRANSFORMATION
“Rebel was here for around three-months and had an amazing body transformation in that three-months which has enabled her to go even further to where she is today – she is an inspiration to millions of people and it’s amazing to see,” Simon said.
“It’s a very humbling and amazing feeling. We always wanted to cater for the corporate professionals, entrepreneurs and people who like the nicer things in life and respect nice finishes and are used to high-end services.
“We didn’t think we would have attracted that many celebrities being in the heart of the financial district, but seeing we have in-house parking, the celebrities came and would refer us to other celebrities.”
THE GRUELLING WORKOUTS
While Rebel’s personal trainer no longer works at SOMA, co-owner and self-confessed “king of transformations” Franco knows how to put you through your paces in a private session.
Franco – who has a black belt in taekwondo and has travelled the world competing in body building competitions – wastes no time subjecting his unsuspecting clients (pray for me) to an eight-round tabata session, using battle ropes, cable squats and box jumps.
He also focuses on improving your functional movement, giving you stretches and exercises to help mobility and reduce injuries.
But make no mistake, it’s no walk in the park, I was a sweaty mess after and according to the Huawei GT 2 fitness watch I was using – I’d burned 821 calories. No wonder I was exhausted.
If you think the group classes are easier, you’d be wrong. The capped classes are just as punishing, regardless of whether you’re doing a HIIT workout or a reformer pilates session.
No wonder Rebel made some great progress during her three month stint here.
THE REWARDS
Unlike other gyms, there’s lots of places to recover and relax – including in an infra-red sauna or visiting one of in-house massage therapists.
Even showering at SOMA is next level, with slick “waterfall showers”, and luxury Leif products made with native Australian ingredients. Everything you need to get ready afterwards is catered for too with Dyson hair dryers and GHD straighteners.
While Simon told news.com.au the gym faced some setbacks in its first year because of the coronavirus pandemic, many now see it as a “little hidden sanctuary” in the city – ideal during a time when even domestic travel is often restricted and complicated.
“We love seeing people make the most of the space and the services we provide,” he said.
Membership prices start at $68 per week that includes full access to all of SOMA’s classes, the gym, towel service and infra-red sauna.
For those with a more extravagant budget, you can pay as much as $450 per week for a first-class membership that also includes three personal training sessions, an overnight locker with washing service (yep, they’ll wash your dirty gym kit) and a weekly massage.
Continue the conversation @RebekahScanlan | rebekah.scanlan@news.com.au
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