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High intensity interval training (HIIT) is one of the most popular forms of training at the moment. There is very good reason for this. It’s a form of interval training- a cardiovascular exercise protocol in which short periods of intense anaerobic sprints are alternated with less intense recovery periods until exhaustion sets in. If you're looking for fitness classes in Dubai, then head down to GymNation and try their BLITZ class!
HIIT sessions typical last less than 30 minutes. Some protocols and formulae last only a few minutes. Most notably, Tabata protocols last only four minutes and are well-known for their ability to improve athletes’ V02 max, shred muscles and exhaust participants. However, the duration will often reflect the intensity of the intervals, and/or vice versa, so a 30-minute session would involve far less intense forms of exercise than Tabata protocol sprints would, for example.
If you take part in HIIT on a regular basis, you can expect improved athletic capacity and conditioning, alongside glucose metabolism and most likely a significant hypertrophic effect in muscles worked. Whilst it isn’t as good as resistance training for improving muscle and bone mass in its own right, resistance work can be incorporated into HIIT (track, cycle or swimming sprints, explosive movements like squat jumps and kettlebell cleans, and so forth).
HIIT classes in the Emirates
There are loads of options in the Emirates if you want to give HIIT a try.
GymNation represent a good bet for all kinds of fitness classes in Dubai, with HIIT proving no exception.
Gymnation
Gymnation are the UAE’s most affordable and flexible gym group. Their memberships start at just AED99 per month and come with no-contract-cancel-anytime membership options. They keep their memberships affordable and their customers in control in order to maintain venues that friendly, inclusive and hospitable.
Their gyms are welcoming spaces where a policy of no-judgments is actively sought out and created. They are truly committed to supporting everyone who walks through their doors and they regularly cater to complete beginners and elite athletes alike.
Gymnation are passionate about supporting everyone, from absolute beginners (a full third of their clientele are first-time gym users) to advanced athletes, as they work towards their health and fitness goals. This is why they keep their memberships affordable and their customers’ control, and why they keep their venues friendly and welcoming.
Gymnation’s goal is to be ‘the peoples’ gym’: they work hard to make sure everybody in the UAE has an affordable and welcoming gym option with the best fitness classes on offer. Theirs are also some of the largest gym facilities in the UAE. Their flagship venue is a 45,000-square-foot space that feels cool and modern with an urban, industrial edge. It hosts a spinning studio, a treadmill room, a boxing ring, a free-weights area, and three separate studios for classes. Gymnation’s venues come with state-of-the-art Matrix gym equipment and they also offer virtual, on-demand classes, giving you a degree of flexibility over your training and allowing you to take back control.
Gymnation also offer over 200 free classes per month and boast a separate ladies-only gym and studio. They are open 24/7 and, to top it off, you can also choose to work out via the on-demand virtual-reality classes, whereby you can select any class, time, and workout and follow the guidance of an instructor on screen.
They have recently introduced BLITZ, their new HIIT focussed, state-of-the-art boutique fitness studio, hosted at GymNation Al Quoz.
BLITZ is billed as a full-body, high-intensity interval training class that uses a fair few styles of training to achieve the benefits of HIIT, including hardcore cardiovascular exercises and strength and conditioning resistance work.
Each class runs for 45-minutes. They have all been programmed by leading industry coaches to give you a world-class HIIT workout: each has been designed to give the fastest, most efficient, most effective caloric burn whilst shooting your heart rate up to where it needs to be.
In fact, one single 45-minute BLITZ class can help you to burn upwards of 1000 calories. They will take you through three workout zones to achieve this, with each one focussing on a different facet of your fitness: strength, speed and power, cardiovascular fitness and endurance.
Their new studio is impressively decked out with all the mod cons you could ever want from a HIIT venue (15 Matrix Fitness T5xGT Treadmills, each with the most technologically advanced running belts available, for instance). It has top of the range equipment, a stellar set of playlists drawing from the highest energy music going (with the kind of sound and lighting systems rarely seen outside of concert venues and nightclubs), and the latest in heart rate technology to track your performance and make sure you stay in the orange heart rate zone (84% and above) for as long as possible.
Their coaches are enthusiastic and motivating, are able to accommodate everyone from the newest of beginners to ultimate athletes, and are able to keep everyone safe, upbeat and having fun.
They even run ladies only events so that everybody can feel safe and accommodated.
If you’re wondering what the gyms near you have to offer, and you’re looking for a fitness class in Abu Dhabi or Dubai, check out GymNation. If you want a world-class HIIT session, get down to BLITZ.
