Join the club: The Bulletin's guide to keeping fit in Brussels

While Brussels has a reputation as a serious capital city and a magnet for politics and business, it also has a thriving sports and leisure scene, offering a variety of options for locals and visitors whose energy input ranges from all-out fitness freaks to armchair fans.

The presence of so many foreign nationals in Brussels means you can also participate in sports that may not strike you as being indigenous to Belgium, like cricket and rugby.

Brussels’ parks and forests offer excellent possibilities for walking, jogging, horse-riding and cycling, and most of it is easily reachable. The same is true of skateboarding, guaranteeing fun for thrill-seeking youngsters.  While there is not yet an indoor venue in the capital, skateboarders can head to the Ursulines skatepark in the city centre, as well as Place Wiener, Trône and Bois de la Cambre.

Amateurs who want to play sports like football, rugby and cricket have a choice of expat teams. There are numerous health clubs, gyms and sports clubs inthe city for active enthusiasts. As well as martial arts, yoga, pilates and dance, there are aficionados of virtually every sport, however obscure: badminton, croquet, korfball, Nordic walking, ultimate Frisbee, underwater hockey and roller derby all have clubs in Brussels.

The most obvious sports are those where Belgians are already excelling. With the Red Devils this year reaching first place in the Fifa rankings, and Belgian footballers in almost every English Premiership side, it’s no surprise that football is well entrenched in Brussels.

Expat teams like Brussels United Football Club, Royal Brussels British Football Club and FC Irelande have long been part of the amateur league scene.

With icons like Justine Henin and Kim Clijsters – plus an emerging generation of players – tennis also has a strong following in Brussels and its suburbs, which are well-stocked with tennis clubs, including the Centre Sportif de Woluwe-Saint-Pierre, Tennis Couverts Montjoie, Tennis Panorama, the Brussels Lawn Tennis Club and the European Club.

Belgium can claim a truly world-class hero in cycling, thanks to Eddy Merckx, and the country still boasts some of the world’s best riders, as well as the best routes: there are many wonderful cycle tracks in the Forêt de Soignes on Brussels’ outskirts. There is also an excellent scheme whereby bikes can be hired cheaply from many railway stations and returned to any other station. And there are associations like Adeps, the Proximus Cycle Challenge and the Fédération Belge du Cyclotourisme that organise regular rides.

Running is popular, with joggers almost permanently visible around the Cinquantenaire and Woluwe parks. There are many running groups in the capital, notably the Racing Club de Bruxelles, as well as expat groups like the Brussels Hash House Harriers, the Brussels Manneke Piss Hash House Harriers, and Brussels Runners. And every year, thousands sign up for events including the Brussels 20km and marathon, Colour Run and Urban Trail.

For those who just want to work out, there are dozens of gyms in Brussels, including chains like John Harris, David Lloyd, Aspria, Health City and World Class. Many of the clubs and fitness coaches use digital coach technology, designed to simulate a personal trainer. This is the tech that turns your smartphone into a patient instructor or physiologist, with heart-rate monitors, pedometers and other gadgets that say exactly how much energy is expended as you run. Other gadgets or apps might film your golf swing or basketball throw, break down your mechanics and tell you what you’re doing wrong.

Among the sports that expats have introduced to Belgium, cricket has the longest history in Brussels, and the game can even claim a role in the creation of both Belgium and Europe as we know them. It was 200 years ago this June that a cricket game was first recorded on Belgian soil: three days before the Battle of Waterloo in 1815, English soldiers played a match in Enghien, 30km southwest of Brussels, attended by the Duke of Wellington.

The Royal Brussels Cricket Club (RBCC) was founded 50 years later, in 1865, and is still going strong. This June, the club celebrated the Waterloo match with games against London’s Marylebone Cricket Club and the Guards Cricket Club. Based in Lasne, the RBCC has the best ground and facilities in Belgium, with a full-size ground with sightscreens at each end, and a pavilion with a bar, changing rooms and showers. The club plays in Division 1 of the four in the Belgian Cricket Federation’s league.

RBCC chairman Nick Compton says the sport is now entrenched in Belgium, embracing enthusiasts from far beyond the British expat community. Indians, Pakistanis, South Africans and Australians are well represented in the RBCC; Antwerp has a team from the mainly Gujarat Indian diamond community; there are Afghan and Pakistani teams; and Belgians dominate sides from cities like Mechelen, Ghent and Wavre.

Compton – who also plays a leading role in youth development programmes – says there is a high standard of play in Belgium. “We’ve seen some very impressive players over the years and we can hold our own against English sides,” he says. “We teach young players not only how to hit the ball out of the park, but also the spirit of the game.”

Rugby also has a long history in Belgium and boasts some 65 clubs. Although the Belgian Rugby Federation was created in 1930, it has still not really seen a major take-off in popularity, and foreigners remain a driving force in the game. The main disciplines of rugby played in Belgium are 15-a-side and sevens, with an international 10-a-side competition organised by the Flemish club Dendermonde, one of the best-attended rugby events of the year. The competition in Belgium is split between the French- and Dutch-speaking leagues, and is structured into four districts for competition purposes (with Brussels in the Brabant section); within these districts there are also several leagues and divisions.

Expat side Brussels Barbarians Rugby Football Club, founded in 1968, won the Belgian Cup many times before merging with fellow expat club Brussels Celtic in 2014 to become BBRFC Celtic. The merged club now has three full men’s XVs squads, a women’s XV, a mixed touch team, and a rugby school for all ages from under-sevens to under-19s.

“We believe in working hard in training and playing hard,” says club secretary Olivier Costa. “But we also carry on the rugby spirit of fair play: the hosting team, for example, always buys drinks for the visiting team.”

Belgium itself is improving, and the national XV side is now ranked 30th in the world. But the greatest surprise for national rugby has been the men’s sevens team, which moved up from 24th in Europe in 2010 to sixth in 2014, beating England, Wales and Scotland along the way.

Briton Chris Trapman, who manages Belgium’s sevens team – the code is now an Olympic sport – says many of the best players are university students. “The Belgium University sevens team took the silver medal in Brazil in 2014, losing the final to Great Britain, in the World University Championships,” he says. “It was a good example of David versus Goliath, with Belgium’s 14,000 registered players compared to Britain’s 2.5 million players.”

Gaelic games, the traditional sports played in Ireland, are also alive and well in Brussels. The two main games are Gaelic football (a vigorous mix of rugby and football) and hurling (a hearty variant of lacrosse with a touch of Harry Potter’s quidditch). Both are wildly popular in Ireland – the all-Ireland Gaelic football finals attract 82,500 at Dublin’s Croke Park stadium – but have very limited traction elsewhere. However, the Irish community in Brussels has ensured the games are still practised in parks and fields in Belgium. There are also teams for the other two codes in the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA), the women’s games, camogie (female hurling) and ladies’ Gaelic football.

Belgium GAA, with more than 100 members, caters for the Gaelic sports and competes in the European championships (all of the continent except for Ireland and Britain, which have separate championships), against the likes of Amsterdam, Paris, Madrid and Luxembourg.

American sports have also taken root in Belgium. Baseball enthusiasts have set up a community, and the Brussels Kangaroos, based in Stade Fallon, have been around for 25 years. But perhaps the most intriguing import is American football, which has been in Belgium just as long. Anderlecht-based side the Brussels Black Angels are one of 18 teams in Belgium.

General secretary Chantal Crabeels first got involved in American football in Belgium in 1988. “The team has about seventy members, including juniors aged fifteen to nineteen,” she says. “Players come from all over Brussels and around. We don’t have any Americans any more, but we have many non-Belgians and are a real multicultural group.”

The self-defence technique Krav Maga may have been developed by the Israeli army, but it is now adapted to civilian life and is popular around the world. In Belgium, an active federation organises classes around the country, for men, women and children. Instructor Alex du Mong provides lunchtime classes to European Commission employees, among others. “They are of all nationalities and everyone is welcome as long as they respect our code of ethics,” he says. For unlike martial arts, Krav Maga teaches you to thwart aggression by targeting non-muscled areas such as the body’s joints. It also provides a complete workout.

“I offer personalised programmes depending on the individual’s age, fitness
and specific needs. While Krav Maga was developed for self-defence and to reinforce self-confidence, many people continue the practice as a sport,” says du Mong.

Seven pointers on staying physically active

1. There is a strong correlation between physical activity and longevity. Apps and other online tools are there to assist you with step counting or digital coaching.

2. Sport is an important part of stress management. It takes your mind off day-to-day issues at work and home and also increases your energy levels.

3. Team sports are a good idea if you want to combine physical activity with improving your social life.

4. Outdoor exercise has many benefits and is more enjoyable, but indoor activities are more practical in the winter. The importance is maintaining your exercise programme.

5. Consider investing in home exercise equipment if you don’t have time to go to the gym. There’s a wide variety now available.

6. It’s confirmed, desk jobs are not good for your health. Try a standing desk, swap your chair for an exercise ball or set up a workout corner in your office. If you can’t escape the office to go for a walk at lunchtime, pop into a colleague’s office instead of emailing and use the stairs instead of taking the lift.

7. Online social media may be a passive activity, but wearable technology such as Google Glass or Google Watch are alternative solutions that you can use on the move.

This article was first published in ING Expat Time