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HIIT: The Secret to Optimal Heart Health

HIIT: The Secret to Optimal Heart Health

The fitness benefits of HIIT or high-intensity interval training are well-known. Fitness seekers worldwide are aware that through HIIT, they can efficiently get in a total body workout in 45 minutes that targets more muscle groups than most people do in one week. They also know that through HIIT they can expect to improve coordination, balance, and endurance, but did you know that HIIT could improve your heart health?

HOW HIIT BENEFITS THE HEART

Are you someone who doesn’t get in as much exercise as you should? Not only can regular exercise help you burn calories and slim down, but it also protects the heart. As you work out regularly, you improve your cardiovascular fitness which, in turn, takes the pressure away from your heart muscles as they are able to pump oxygen-rich blood through your body with ease. Any form of exercise can benefit your heart, but there are some methods of fitness that are more efficient at it than others.

HIIT is especially effective at improving heart health for these key reasons:

  • HIIT places your heart in the maximum heart rate zone for short intervals. This zone is toward the upper limit of what your body can handle while performing physical activity.
  • Between the intervals of high-intensity, your heart rate reduces into the lower heart rate zone, which allows for you to recover momentarily
  • Returning to levels of high intensity challenges your heart muscles to work efficiently to pump blood and keep up with your level of training.
By doing this repeatedly throughout a single workout and over the course of multiple training sessions, you are ultimately training your cardiac muscles to pump blood as efficiently as possible.

WAYS TO PERFORM HIIT

Individuals who wish to expose themselves to the heralded benefits of HIIT often have trouble discovering ways to perform HIIT. As niche at it may sound, one can adapt HIIT to whatever physical activity they enjoy. The only rule to performing HIIT is that you keep the intensity high throughout the workout only to be interrupted by short rest/transition periods. One can adapt this fitness method to:
  • Running
  • Swimming
  • Biking
  • … and much more

EPIC Interval Training in New York City is home to some of the most efficient HIIT you’ve ever experienced. Our minimalistic-style of training allows us to leave our shoes at home and the bulky gym equipment elsewhere. Instead, we perform our workouts entirely barefoot with our bodyweight being the primary fitness tool. With seven training programs that each focus on a different aspect of physical fitness, we’re sure that you’ll find the one most effective for you. Contact us today and discover how you can get your first class free!

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What is Obstacle Course Training and is it Right for Me?

What is Obstacle Course Training and is it Right for Me?

Obstacle course training is one of the many ways to perform high-intensity interval training or HIIT. As the name suggests, the workout is set up with several obstacles throughout the course. Participants must complete the activity at every obstacle or station and proceed immediately to the next one, contrary to stations training where you perform the activity in the station repeatedly until the time expires. The goal of every participant is to successfully make it through all of the obstacles without interruption at the fastest pace.

Those who regularly perform obstacle course training understand that it is nothing like traditional training and can be difficult to master at first; but through frequent workouts paired with healthy eating habits, you’ll be able to finally take on the real deal.

Who Can Benefit from Obstacle Course Training

You do not have to be some wildly extreme, thrill-seeking gym rat to pursue obstacle course training. Although the workouts are intense, it becomes easier to perform over time as your body adapts (until a new obstacle is introduced), and then you must train harder to overcome that obstacle. This training method introduces fitness seekers to a type of workout that is continuously challenging so that the desire to get stronger, faster, and leaner never ceases.

If you can identify with any of the following, obstacle course training is for you!

Not Seeing Results

Have you been following a gym workout regimen that your friend sent you and you have yet to see any results? The issue with such training plans is that they are catered to specific goals and body types, while obstacle course training is for everyone. Nevermind the hassle of spending hours on the internet looking for the most appropriate workout plan for you, and simply show up and work out at your local obstacle course training studio.

Bored with Current Training Regimen

One main reason why you probably aren’t seeing any results is that you’ve become bored with your current training regimen. This makes it hard to get up and go to the gym every day and can lead to you actually dreading workouts, not due to their intensity but since you already know what to expect. Obstacle course training provides a much-needed change of pace.

Training for an Obstacle Race

Those training for an event like Tough Mudder, Spartan Race, or Warrior Dash can benefit significantly from obstacle course training. This is mainly because the training mirrors what you can expect to experience both physically and mentally while participating in such competitions. Obstacle course training can also improve agility, balance, and endurance, all vital components of successfully completing a mud run.

EPIC Interval Training offers minimalistic-style obstacle course training for fitness seekers of various fitness levels. Through the use of kettlebells, sandbags, monkey bars, TRX suspension bands, plyo boxes, and much more, we can whip you into shape for whatever event your training for and help you maintain that level of fitness for some time to come. Are you ready to take part in an EPIC training experience? Contact us today to discover how you can get your first class free!

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Top 3 Training Methods for Reducing Upper Body Weight

Top 3 Training Methods for Reducing Upper Body Weight

While everyone stores fat differently, it wouldn’t be too far-fetched to assume that you despise excess upper body weight. Whether it settles around your stomach, underneath your arms, in your obliques, or a combination of the three, unsightly fat accumulation can take a stab at your self-confidence and make finding flattering clothes a hassle. You know that you want to get rid of this weight, but discovering a way to do so may not be as simple. Stop straining your neck with inefficient crunches and try out these top three proven methods for reducing upper body weight.

Cardiovascular Training

Regular cardio exercise is the easiest way to shed body fat. One must achieve a caloric deficit to burn fat, meaning that you need to burn more calories than you consume. Cardio exercises like swimming, biking, jogging, and running are highly effective at slimming your frame as they recruit multiple muscle groups and burn fat from head to toe. To see a difference, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention suggests that you participate in any one of the previously mentioned exercises at least five times a week for at least 30 minutes a day.

Strength Training

Many people believe that strength training is only useful for building muscle and bulking up, but that is furthest from the truth. When you lift weights, you release hormones that help increase your caloric burn while stimulating your metabolism. Strength training also promotes the growth of lean muscle mass, efficiently lowering your overall body fat percentage. Depending on the intensity and frequency of your weight training sessions, you may even continue to burn calories hours after completing your last set.

Interval Training

Interval training is a fitness method that involves switching up the pace of your cardiovascular workout. Rather than merely jogging at the same speed throughout the entire path, mix in some quick sprints here and there to achieve a necessary increase in your heart rate. By alternating between moderate and high-paced activity, you effectively increase your heart rate, promoting an intense full-body burn that helps shed unwanted upper body fat.

The EPIC Difference

EPIC Interval Training combines all three of the aforementioned fitness methods for a highly efficient workout. High Intensity Interval Training or HIIT involves both cardio and strength training performed in stations. You are continuously in motion as you rotate through the circuit, targeting a different muscle group in every station. By the end of the 45-minute class, you would have gotten in an intense full-body workout, and through EPOC (excess post-exercise oxygen consumption), you may continue to burn calories up to 24-hours after a class. Perform this multiple times a week and watch the excess fat melt away before your eyes!

Are you ready to join us for an EPIC fitness experience? Contact us today to discover how you can get your first class free!

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NYC’s March Member of the Month – Ashley S.

NYC’s March Member of the Month – Ashley S.

Congratulations Ashley! Your hard work and commitment to EPIC have not gone unnoticed. Each month, we recognize a member for what they put in, and this month, you have been chosen! We would like to brag about you in our newsletter and on social media so if you would please fill out the questions below that would help us to do so!

Your Name

AS: Ashley

I have been an EPIC Member Since

AS: December 2013

EPIC Fun Fact

This can be anything about yourself or an EPIC memory from your time at the gym. Play any sports? Have any interesting hobbies. etc.

AS: Since starting run 10 years ago, I have completed 61 races (inclusive of two full marathons, 12 halves, and a bunch of Ragnars and Spartan Races)

My favorite EPIC class is

AS: Steady Burn

Give us a quick background on yourself.

AS: Grew up in Connecticut and have been in New York for over 10 years, first doing my undergrad at NYU and now working for Major League Baseball.

What has been your biggest accomplished since joining EPIC?

AS: Rope Climb

What is your Instagram handle?

AS: @aschwartzy

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