I love HIIT, and for those who aren’t familiar with the jargon, that’s High Intensity Interval Training. It’s the kind of workout where timed short breaks are as crucial as the exercises performed. It gets your blood pumping via systematic work-rest intervals.
NRG Fitness, located in Dubai Marina, holds NRG HIIT classes, so I took my friends with me to try their brand of training. “Everybody does HIIT, but with us, I’ve designed it as a strength, plyometric and cardio workout to get your heart rate at a high level to burn more calories in a short time... we cater to beginners, intermediate and advanced people so I always give options,” says Sharon McConnell, Operations Manager and Trainer at NRG Fitness.
We were treated to the aforementioned robust combo and lucky for us that’s what we like. You’ve got your basics in push-ups and weighted squats, then you’ve got a mix of exercises that will fast-track your fitness like plyo-lunges and weighted shadow boxing.
Everyone in the class worked their butts off as NRG’s ‘leader board wall’, if you will, kept track of people’s heart rate, effort levels and calories burned using MYZONE belts. You can see your numbers on the wall, which brings out your competitive side, as naturally, you want to work as hard as the next guy, if not beat him.
The place isn’t huge so it feels friendly and it made, our trainer, McConnell, more attentive to everyone in the class. “I’ve worked with many gyms across the UAE where there might be 25-30 people in a class and you can’t give everyone in that class one-to-one attention for technique or to motivate them. For us, it’s about getting more personal so we know what people are capable of so we can help push them to another level.” McConnell says.
“Basically, you’re integrating a personal training approach along with group exercise. You got the music, the coach and the people around. You get more motivation out of the energy in a room.” adds Christina Guastella, co-founder and director of NRG Fitness.
And what energy it is! For its compact size, this hip and funky studio is the small package that packs a punch and what’s even better is you keep coming back for more…ready for it? HIIT!
“I come here three times a week and it’s always a vigorous workout that’s why I come back. It keeps me fit and I enjoy it. I’m always passing on NRG to all my friends and colleagues, how amazing the staff are and how varied workouts are as well.” says eager client Emma Brown.
Well, I certainly enjoyed NRG’s HIIT and so did my friends. The ‘leader board wall’ showed I burned a total of 980 calories in 45 minutes. That’s something worth doing routinely.
“It’s all about results and it’s about fun. If you find something fun, you’re going to come back to it.” Guastella concludes.
The details
NRG Fitness holds 12 different classes including HIIT.
