Boxing Alley

Pictures of Muhammad Ali line the gym brick walls while some of the highest rung boxers of the New Zealand men and women's circuit train in the ring and beginners go through basic drills on the boxing bags next door. Boxing Alley is a gym for everyone. The gym's alumni includes anyone and everyone — with more notable gym goers including some of the Warriors, Lorde, Kiwi Victoria's Secret Angel Georgia Fowler.

The place is gritty, yes (don't expect fancy toilets with straighteners or a too impressive shower), but also strangely homely. Trainers are incredibly encouraging and supportive, but also tough. It feels good to sweat here.

Boxing Alley's ethos is built around functionality — from day one you'll be getting conditioning and learning proper boxing techniques, even if you don't ever aspire to spar. What that means for classes is that they are high intensity, highly fun and quite mentally challenging as well.

Class options include corporate, group and personal training sessions. There are five different types of boxing classes available to groups: Beginners (Monday and Thursday night classes dedicated to set you up with the basics of boxing - from how to do hand wraps to punch combos), BoxFit (an all-body workout to boost your core conditioning and overall fitness levels), PadFit (a new class specifically focused on pad work), Skills (a combination of pad work and drills to help refine your technique) and Sparring (a trainer supervised contact session; a mouthguard and head guard are both essential).

Membership options vary. A casual, walk-in class costs $20 (but bear in mind your first trial class is free) and a ten class concession costs $175. A twelve month membership costs $24.50 per week (and includes a pair of Adidas gloves), while a six month membership sets you back $29.50 per week and a three month membership costing $34.50 per week. Off peak memberships (weekends; 7:30am - 4:30pm Monday to Friday) are slightly cheaper, with a twelve month membership going for $19.50 per week, a six month membership costing $25 per week and a three month membership costing $30 per week. Special discounted rates for students and youth are also available on request.