The brand new GRAVITY Studio is open at West Wood’s Clontarf club in Dublin, with an exciting new class coming for 2013. High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) is making a big impact on how people think about the health benefits of exercise. With studies revealing increased stamina, VO2 max, Resting Metabolic Rate, reduced body fat, as well as lower risk of health problems such as diabetes and heart disease GRAVITY has developed this class to deliver HIIT in a group exercise, small group or Personal Training environment.
The GRAVITY HIIT class consists of Tabata style intervals with cycles of 20 seconds work and 10 seconds rest repeated eight times to complete a four minute round. Each round targets one muscle group with four different exercises repeated twice, performed on Total Gym equipment. All muscles in the body can be targeted with a library of over 200 exercises possible on the equipment. Resistance is matched to the users’ ability by altering the angle of the glideboard and thus the percentage of bodyweight being lifted. Movements in each round are chosen to be performed at the same incline, making seamless transitions within the four minutes. After each round there is a 60 second rest period before the next round starts for a new muscle group.
‘GRAVITY HIIT is fast paced and gets fast results,’ says Greg Sellar, Partner at GRAVITY.‘Studies are finding that metabolic adaptations resulting from HIIT enable you to use more fat as fuel, improving your athletic endurance and your fat-burning potential whether working or at rest. There is also considerable evidence that it can reduce the risk of major health problems. The appeal is massive – this is something of real, proven health value that will continue to deliver results for all users.’
The unique design of Total Gym equipment makes it perfectly suited to fast paced classes where different exercises need to be performed with minimum set up/change over time. The glideboard and cable pulley system for harnessing bodyweight as resistance means the same moves can be performed by exercisers of any ability in the same class with difficulty tailored to challenge each individual.
The GRAVITY Studio at Clontarf also offers GRAVITY Pilates and GRAVITY Strength classes. GRAVITY is also available at West Wood’s Leopardstown and Sandymount clubs.