Gold’s Gym are on to a winner having introduced BodyART classes to the UAE, an Asian-inspired fusion of yoga, Pilates, dance and athleticism that we’re predicting will be one of 2015’s biggest fitness trends.

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Appealing to both mind-body enthusiasts and hardcore athletes, BodyART was developed by German Robert Steinbacher, combining his experiences as a dancer and a therapist for special-needs children to create a dynamic bodyweight workout.

He realised that many therapeutic exercises could be just as beneficial for people without physical limitations, and the programme – described as a “extraordinary training concept for a new awareness” – integrates functional training, physiotherapy, dance, Tai Chi, and yoga positions for a tough yet restorative workout that’s really got to be experienced to be believed.

After a couple of yoga and Pilates type warm-up moves, our dedicated instructor Alex Skripnikov threw us a sneak attack cardio element featuring five heart rate-boosting moves each sustained for two minutes (or at least they were supposed to be).

Think mountain climbers to music or doing quick, wide-legged curtsies, getting so low you get your palm on the ground. 

Or a surprisingly full body-blasting sequence of simply squatting down, placing hands on the floor, stepping legs back into plank then pouncing forward to jump feet on the outside of hands again, before shooting up to stand with arms high…this, perhaps the yogic equivalent to a burpee, over and over again for two minutes.

Then there was the ‘crazy’ segment, the anything goes bit that was sort of like dancing on your own in the bathroom, flouncing your limbs around, high knees and toes pointing, head bobbing and arms punching.

Quite exhausting, actually, so it was nice to then move on to a bit of yoga, even if the length of time we held poses such as thigh-quaking high lunges, twists, and that pesky imaginary chair, plus plenty of Downward Facing Dog variations, made it a real burn.

We don’t remember the last time we sweat this much, and there was still a Pilates element to come, represented in the form of a number of floor-based abdominal exercises.

Alex appears to like a balancing challenge, and several – from extending one leg backwards, leaning forward and floating arms forward and back; to standing up on tippy toe while squatting – were scattered throughout the session.

We admit to initially thinking that BodyART would turn out to be some poetic dance or a form of expressionist Tai Chi, but it really is the Zen of fitness classes, both hard and soft, as well as good fun.

If we were Gold’s Gym members, we’d make this a part of our schedule.