Shorter workouts are trending! Lets be honest, you no longer have an excuse to stay dry all day and neither do I. But, what should you look for in an abbreviated workout?
You should be challenged, lifting weights (or your body weight), doing bursts of cardio, drenched in sweat and having fun. I am not advocating that you rush the slow stuff; enjoy a 90 minute yoga class, spend 60 slow minutes harnessing your inner ballerina or pushing a megaformer carriage. Breathe and enjoy it.
HIIT training is another story and FitWall in Newport Beach is delivering on all points. First, the owners are the nicest humans. They watch your form like a hawk, the music is pumping and the themes keep the workout new. There isn’t any down time so be ready so sweat your butt off. Between us, I was sore for a good three days and in all the right places. Isn’t that the point of a short workout? It should work you!
My advice…check them out. Below is a little interview with owner and strong man Cliff Harski.
How was Fitwall developed?
This is really a two part answer, one part about the Fitwall and one part about our Studio and what we offer now. 1. The Fitwall was developed by an engineer with a passion for rock climbing and fitness. His goal was to develop a device which would allow the body to train as one cohesive unit instead of as disconnected body parts. The Fitwall initially had rock climbing handles and foot steps, but was improved to the current version to make it fit any body correctly. 2. Fitwall, the studio training company started in our Test Lab studio in La Jolla in the summer of 2013. The programming committee has developed our comprehensive system to tackle strength, conditioning, movement and aesthetics.
What makes Fitwall different?
A number of things differentiate Fitwall from other workouts.
- Our dedication to coaching: we have two coaches in the class, and they don’t workout with the group. Most group fitness is really just follow the leader!
- Our workout programming: we have a plan each month. Many workouts just switch things up daily, never allowing for progression or improvement. We repeat our workouts in the month so that our clients actually improve. We have three formats monthly Strength & Power (Mon + Tue), Functional Interval Training (Wed + Thur), and Cardio Emphasis (Fri + Sat). Sunday is coaches choice or special classes.
- The Fitwall unit. The actual Fitwall allows us to have an individual workout station that is basically a swiss army knife of fitness. It allows us to train the body from every angle, and we do.
- Our tech monitoring system that helps hold you accountable and gives you targets to accomplish with your training. By following the targets you effectively train smarter, not just harder or longer.
- Because of the programming, which utilizes high intensity intervals intelligently, our workouts are just 40 minutes and provide all the needed stimulation for a thorough workout.
What do you offer that is different than most studio experiences?
We strive to have people feel that our group class experience is more like personal training than a typical group class. We want to capture the excitement of group – but because we have two coaches in the room, and iPads and TV’s playing the exercises we are able to really provide a ton of hands on coaching. This hands on coaching cannot be replicated by studios with over 10 people in a class, while they wear microphones, or while the instructor is working out. We also have showers and provide towels and amenities.
What are three standout features of fitwall?
- Efficiency. Because of our expertise in exercise programming, we are able to organize our workouts to be full body workouts in only 40 minutes. We make sure to schedule appropriate rest as well, maximizing results by allowing for good effort throughout the workout.
- The program. Our weekly program is designed to improve your top end strength, your functional capacity, and your cardio respiratory fitness. Each workout format would make an excellent full body standalone format – but together it is a total fitness package.
- The coaching. Because our technology integration is so robust, it allows for our coaches to get very personal with the feedback and motivation during our classes. Other formats simply cannot do this.
Is fitwall for everyone?
I hate saying it’s for everyone, but it really is. Because most of what we do is bodyweight training, everyone can move their own body. If someone is new they just go more slowly. If someone is a BeastModeNinja, then they can work very hard and get a crazy tough workout. The coaches are right there to make sure you aren’t pushing too hard or sandbagging either.
The workout will strengthen people. For some lucky people this means that if they eat enough food, they will be able to build muscle. There are a very few number of genetically gifted people who put on muscle easily. Of course what is “bulky” is a very individual and personal subjective opinion. What we see is pretty aggressive fat loss and some muscle building, which is what equals muscle tone. There is no such thing as lengthening muscle, or toning muscle – these are fitness terms used to sell by preying on insecurities, and at Fitwall we focus on selling health and fitness improvements. Along with those improvements your body will change. We expect to see dramatic changes in the arms, shoulders, and neck within 4 weeks, and then within the next 2-4 weeks the waist and glutes are noticeably different. (all results are very dependent on exercise history, diet, genetic potential, and other lifestyle factors. We purposefully try to shift peoples’ focus towards health and fitness)
How are you different from other HIIT training workouts?
We differ from most HIIT training workouts because we put much more emphasis on the needs of adequate recovery, actual high effort, and not doing too much high intensity work. Most places that utilize high intensity intervals have too little rest to allow for actual high effort. You only get the big benefits of HIIT if you actually go REALLY HARD. If you don’t rest enough within the workout, you are too taxed to go REALLY HARD. Additionally, many people have never even gone REALLY HARD, so we work to teach them how to do it. When we get people to go REALLY HARD, it’s imperative that you only do enough to stimulate an adaptation, and not too much which would then tax the body too much, not allowing for adequate recovery and adaptation (aka results!).