A couple of events coincided lately to motivate me to step up my exercise regimen: Laduree opened in Hong Kong; December arrived with its many Christmas cookies, hampers and party invites; and a colleague returned from Singapore, bearing a box of pandan cake, which I devoured without a thought as a second breakfast.

So when an invitation came for a private trial session of Lagree Fitness at H-Kore on Des Vouex Road, I said yes despite the centre’s slightly cheesy tagline. (“If it wasn’t HardKORE, everyone would do it. It’s the Hard that makes it great.”)

Lagree Fitness was started in 2001 by Sebastien Lagree, a trainer with an MBA who designs and manufactures the machines used in his programme.  His first machine was the Proformer, a machine originally intended as an improvement on the Reformer, commonly used in Pilates. The Proformer evolved into the Megaformer, and this now forms the basis of the workout. Lagree Fitness itself is a programme that combines pilates, strength training, cardio, endurance, balance, core and flexibility, “not only in one session but in each and every move”.

Based in West Hollywood and with a large number of the studios still in California, Lagree Fitness has just started expanding overseas and Hong Kong is the first Asian city to offer it. Lagree was in town to personally train us during our trial session and he is initially intimidating, looking like a mix between a young Hulk Hogan and Fabio, with a slight French accent.

He leads us through the 40-minute workout with minimum ado, transitioning from exercise to exercise (each a minute long) without giving us much time to catch our breath, let alone a sip of water. All the exercises take place on his Megaformer, which is like a super Reformer. It is similar in function with the sliding platform and pulleys, yet it somehow manages to work us about a hundred times harder.

Lagree emphasises doing each exercise as slowly as possible, in order to activate our slow twitch muscle fibres.  How do you know when they are activated? When you start shaking and you feel like your bones are rattling, uncontrollably. Within ten minutes, we are soaked from head to toe in sweat. Some of the movements may ring a bell to those who have done yoga or pilates, with names such as the wheelbarrow or the mermaid, but Lagree’s interpretation of them are exponentially tougher and more difficult.

Lagree has devised over 1,000 exercises that can be done on the Megaformer, so the number of 40-minute routines are also quite endless, meaning that you could do daily classes for a long time and not get bored. Being a regular gym-goer, I was surprised to find myself utterly wiped out by the end of the session and I ask Lagree if his classes were suitable for complete beginners to exercise. “Yes,” he affirms, “I have taught both 10-year olds on the Megaformer, as well as 90-year old grandmothers.” Turns out that his training is based on a give-and-take method. If you don’t complain and seem to be able to take it, then he will train you harder. Complain, cry or give up, and he will adjust the intensity levels accordingly.

H-Kore is founded by two ladies, Vivienne Fitzpatrick and Vanessa Valenzuela and the studio is still in soft-opening. There are still some minor glitches at the moment but there is no doubt that it will be a hit when it finally opens on January 7. There are 10 Megaformers in the studio and currently five fully trained instructors, offering around 40 classes a week, which will go up to 65-70 in the spring.

Classes vary from HK$300 to HK$350 per class, depending on what package you choose (from HK$2,040 package for six classes within 60 days; to HK$12,000 for 40 classes within 270 days) and class schedules will be up on the website www.h-kore.com from Friday December 21. One of the best parts about H-Kore is the homemade guacamole the Mexican Valenzuela makes. As we sit nursing our sore muscles after the class, we are tempted to negate all our good work by indulging in platefuls of guacamole and raw jicama sticks.

While we remain somewhat dubious that Lagree Fitness is entirely suited to those who do not usually exercise, we would highly recommend it for those who feel like they may have reached a plateau with their regular gym workouts, and are looking for something to give them a real kick up the backside in the new year. We, for one, will definitely be back, and not just for the guacamole, either.