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What Is it?

High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) is one of the more recent fads to sweep through the fitness industry. I say ‘fad’ because high intensity intervals have long been a staple of athletic programs for almost every sport you can imagine. The benefits are well known and well researched. High Intensity Intervals have become more popular in recent times in the fitness industry because of a growing body of evidence of the health benefits this type of training provides on top of the well established fitness benefits. One of the most impressive findings involves an increase in insulin sensitivity which is a key marker for Diabetes. This has been achieved from only a very minimal amount of HIIT.

Every personal trainer remembers their first client. They are often a friend or family member or at least someone in your immediate social circle. My first client was not only a great friend but also became inadvertently a great teacher for me. I’d been coaching and training people for many years but this was my first formal client and it takes someone who has belief in you to allow you to take charge of their health and fitness and share themselves with you. Little did I know at the time but the challenges that lay ahead for Monique were beyond anything either of us could have expected. Monique had just had her first child and had a goal of returning to competitive touch football and recapturing her pre-baby fitness. She did this with amazing dedication and veritable ease but this would perhaps be the easiest challenge of the next few years of her life. Here is Monique’s story in her own words:

Imagine for a second (and it’s not too hard to do), two bodybuilders posing down in a mirror. Let’s say they’re comparing their biceps and let’s face it, who hasn’t flexed their bicep at some point and checked out what this lumpy muscle at the forefront of their arm has to offer? I’ve done it…

Recently, Belinda reached another fantastic weight loss milestone of 20kgs. This was achieved in less than 3 months. In my opinion Belinda has done almost everything conceivable to assist in her weight loss in a healthy and graded manner without risking injury or excessive dietary restrictions. It is a great achievement and one I thought deserved to be shared. I interviewed Belinda and here are her own thoughts behind her weight loss success:

Everyone loves doing a personal best (PB). It doesn’t matter if it is lifting weights, running, swimming, riding. It’s a great feeling that you have just taken your body to a level which it has never achieved before. What maked this blog so special is that as we age a lot of us start to feel like a PB is not attainable. I don’t like this mindset. I like the old dog that wants to learn new tricks. I like the attitude that says you are never to old to change and I like an attitude that knows that your body will adapt to any new stimulus you put it through and its response can be remarkable given enough time and the correct progression strategy.

Nigel is one of my clients who has such an attitude and last week he ran a 5km PB of 19mins 50secs at the age of 40! This is he how we did it:

You might recognise the image above from your favourite social media platform. This image went viral and was a demonstration by Melanie Ventura about how easy it is to fake a before and after shot. You can read about how Melanie did this by clicking here. 

Also this week a friend of mine (thanks Kelly) wrote an enthusiastic and well constructed rant regarding the (health and) fitness industry.

“Rant: The fitness industry promotes a sort of body fetishism that produces a strategy for narcissistic survival and supposed emancipation, but that is simply bringing about a ‘cultural revolution’ that reproduces the very worst features of the constrained and superficial civilisation that the industry seeks to criticise. Fitness is not about youth and sexiness. It’s about fitness. Stop showing me sexy people who happen to have abs and can lift their foot above their botoxed face without sweating. Show me someone who can do their first triathlon, or who has put off osteoporosis for another 10 years.”

The unfortunate truth is that this argument is one that I find very difficult to refute.

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