RockFit gets Nottingham's metal fans fit, one air guitar at a time

If the thought of a treadmill leaves you cold, Nottingham has a louder alternative. RockFit is a dance fitness class set to a rock and metal soundtrack, and across the city a friendly crowd of alternative music fans has discovered that cardio can feel like the front row of a gig.

The concept was launched in Plymouth in 2015 by dance teacher Hannah Hawkey and now runs 79 live classes a week across England, Scotland and Wales. Its website describes "a heart-pumping, fist-bumping combination of dance, cardio and toning set to an all Rock and Metal soundtrack".

Nottingham's first RockFit instructor was Sam 'Blu' Rynne, a teacher, personal trainer and former competitive weightlifter who discovered the classes at home during lockdown. After training, she launched an online class, then started teaching in person, at first asking friends to pay what they could. "Everything I've ever done is about helping people feel better about themselves," she told LeftLion in January 2026. She has since led sessions at Download and Bloodstock festivals.

Sam inspired Jack 'Kastor' Wilkinson, a former local wrestler and salesman by day, who now teaches three nights a week. A typical class runs through twelve tracks, from Fear Factory to Spiritbox, with kicks, punches and grapevines along the way. "The Instagram ideal of what fitness should look like can be quite intimidating for people," Jack said. "But rock & roll has never been about perfection."

What keeps people coming back is the welcome. Classes have attracted everyone from people in their sixties and seventies to new parents, and the routines can be adapted for people with health and mobility issues. One regular started while recovering from an injury and has kept coming for four years, while others have found friends and gig buddies along the way.

"This is a place where we can all feel safe and feel accepted," Jack said.

RockFit's class listings show sessions across Nottinghamshire, including Mondays at Mapperley Plains Recreation and Social Club, Wednesdays in Hucknall and at The Place in Sherwood, and Thursdays at The Olde Salutation Inn on Hounds Gate.

Full timetables and instructor contact details are on the RockFit website.