Canberra Daily tried and tested! CycleBar has come to Canberra. Immersive, multi-sensory, and led by trained instructors, CycleBar offers spin classes enhanced by high-energy playlists and real-time ‘CycleStats.’

“The whole time you’re plugged in – whether it’s to the upbeat atmosphere, the addictive, blood-pumping tunes, the before and after session banter, or the quality insights you’re getting from your instructor or the data in front of you,” said Matt Gordin, CEO of CycleBar Australia.

Founded in 2004, CycleBar offers indoor cycling workouts at a cheaper rate than some of its more star-studded competitors. The franchise is part of Xponential Fitness, the largest franchisor of boutique fitness brands in the United States.

I tried CycleBar at its first ACT location in Gungahlin Marketplace and was immersed in the music-based workout. When the lights go down and the beats go up, you feel as if you’re in an Ariana Grande music video and there’s nothing you can’t do – whether that’s true or not is entirely based on your fitness level. The instructors, however, will let you go at your own pace, albeit one rule: ‘Keep your feet moving.’

When you first arrive at CycleBar, you are given a locker for your belongings and special spin bike shoes that lock into the bike so you can pedal standing up when the beat drops (and so you don’t go tumbling off).

CycleBar says their workouts are “high impact and low intensity”. For the most part, I found this to be true. Though beware if you haven’t ridden a bicycle in a while – your glutes may be a little tender afterwards.

Enjoy your first ride for free at CycleBar Gungahlin. Memberships start from $33 a week.

For more information, visit cyclebar.com.au

A recent study by JewelleryBox named Australia among the top 10 most sustainable fashion-conscious countries – however, it isn’t something to brag about yet. The study catalogued export and import statistics for used clothing, and measured internet searches for sustainable fashion-related terms across 50 of the world’s largest economies.  Its results suggested who is throwing out the most clothing, who is bearing the brunt of the industry’s pollution, and who is searching for more sustainable solutions.

Named the most fashion-conscious country of the research, the UK nonetheless only recycles 0.3kg, and reuses 0.4kg, out of the 3.1kg of textile waste each Brit produces every year. Our neighbours, New Zealand, ranked third, where residents made 432.40 searches for information around sustainable fashion per 100,000 people. Ranking fifth amongst the most sustainable fashion-conscious countries, Australia’s most common Google searches pertained to ‘second-hand clothing’, with a 50 per cent search increase for the topic this year. Australia is the second highest consumer of textiles per person in the world, after the United States, with 93 per cent of that waste going to landfill.

The study focused on which countries are shipping their textile waste to developing countries, tipping out discarded clothing overseas. Belgium exports the most worn clothing per head, with a NET export of 1,228,523kg per 100,000 people in the country, followed by the United Arab Emirates, and Switzerland. The small island nation of Sao Tome and Principe receives the most worn clothing per head of any country, with net imports of 680,919kg per 100,000 people. It was followed by Gambia, and Nicaragua.

The study focused on the divide between rich and poor nations, concluding that while richer nations produce much more clothing waste, it is the poorer countries that are often left to process it.

“While some of this waste will undoubtedly be recycled into new garments, large quantities of it will not. Much of this waste will end up being sent to landfill, where the synthetic materials used in many fashion items may enter the local ecosystem, causing further environmental damage.”

Read the full study at jewellerybox.co.uk/blog/sustainable-fashion-report/

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