What are you wading for? Try some high intensity swimterval training, stat!

June 23, 2017 Ashley 0 Comments

Need a break from intensity intervals on the gym floor?

Then HIIT the pool – with XOS and Speedo’s WTRX class. Because this aqueous adventure is all about hardcore body movin’ in the pool. Now, I’ll admit it. When I first heard about this, I was immediately reminded of that 10:00 A.M. morning water aerobics class I went to once. (Think lots’ve wrinkled skin, treading to retro jams – including but not limited to Bonnie Tyler hits.) And, while being part’ve a floating nursing home for an hour was nothing less than lovely, it wasn’t exactly the workout I’d imagined. Or wanted. At all. I mean, I’ll be there one day once I’ve worn out this youthful flesh vessel. But, until then, isn’t there something I can do in the pool that’s akin to my gym regimen?

Thanks to aforementioned WTRX class, yes. Yes, there is.

See, we’d spoken before about how too much HIIT can do ya right in. You’ve gotta space it out – between your strengthening, regular cardio, and rest days. But, what about when I’m bored of my HIIT routine? Well, that’s when we can take our high intensity ventures from turf to surf. (Well, not literally – it’s actually in a swimming pool, not the ocean.) And what they offer are these classes that combine stations with racing and even games of rapid paced Marco Polo.

Alright, but where’s the benefit?

Well, first off, there’s the water resistance and low impact. For examp: if land burpees are murdering your knees, the agua affords you a nice break from breaking your joints. (Plus, with the eccentric work reduced, you won’t be dominated by DOMS for the next week, either.) That said, it’s still a killer workout, massive calorie blaster, and fabulous weight loss activity. Why? Because you’re working with water resistance instead’ve plain gravity. That means that you’ve gotta work tittle harder through every movement. Not enough? Need to level up? No problem. Even the old ladies I “trained” with had a stack of foam dumbbells and other fun toys to up their aqueous game.

And so do these guys.

Now, you might be thinking, “Um… won’t the water slow me down, taking the ‘HI’ outta ‘HIIT’?”

And the answer is: yes, for some stuff.

But that’s not necessarily a bad thing. In fact, it can be good in that it just raises the challenge to make you work harder. And even for the stuff that takes you totally to tortoise pace, there’s a big time benefit. Slowing down for some moves helps us refine the basics. You know all that stuff you’ve been riding the struggle bus to master on land? In the water, you can take a few extra seconds, slow that shiz down, and focus on your form – all while still getting the benefit of water resistance working those muscles.

This is an opportunity to fleek-ify your technique before moving it back to dry land again.

And, finally, the benefit of water HIIT doesn’t end with being submerged.

Stick a board beneath your feet, and suddenly you’re working a whole ‘nother set’ve muscles.


(Perfect balance + form + high intensity? Your next HIIT ground sesh’s gonna feel like you’re drinking cocktails by the pool …)

At the shutup-and-take-my-money point yet?

Yes, me too. Marco Polo’ing around with people who aren’t 100 times my age is exactly what’s been missing from my life this summer. That’s why I hopped onto the Speedo site the second I read about this, to see which locales are closest to me. (And promptly praised the cosmos they offered some ones that aren’t in D.C. Hate that drive.) Granted, the two in Virginia are a bit far away, but I’m hoping that’ll change as this thing gains more popularity. So, if you’re as bored as I am of battling gravity as you swim in your own sweat…

Try swimming out your next HIIT sesh!

#HIIT#hiit swimming#weight loss exercises

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