You ready to get HIIT done?

So you've read about what HIIT is, but you're not sure what the classes involve? No problem, we have HIIT workouts designed for all levels of fitness, and this guide will give you a quick rundown on what you can expect when taking a FitXR HIIT class.

HIIT can be summarized as quick, repeating bursts of activity with regular short breaks for you to catch your breath. The goal here is for your muscles to create more of a demand for oxygen than your lungs can provide - which makes your body switch up its fuel source, resulting in a different type of workout than you'd get from one of our Box or Dance classes.

Right now, our HIIT studio uses over 30 unique movements - combined in various ways by our fitness professionals. We call each movement an “activity”, and a group of activities is called a “circuit”.

We won’t describe all the possible activities here, as the trainer in your class will talk you through what you need to do, and give you a visual demonstration too. But to give a summary, our activities are grouped into 4 main categories - each with their own goal:

Your workout will often combine a number of these movement categories, but might emphasize one more than the others. Again, your trainer avatar will explain and give a quick demo of an activity before you do it, and then set you a countdown.

Your goal is to perform the current activity as many times as you can before the clock reaches 0.

When you’re done with the first, you'll then be given a different activity along with a new description and demonstration. Your trainer will set another countdown, before letting you run that activity as many times as you can in the time given.

As the workout progresses, we’ll combine a number of activities into circuits. Sometimes a circuit will repeat a series of activities, other times the activities won’t repeat - it depends on the class you’re in.

You’ll get a short break between each activity, and then a slightly longer break between each circuit. Remember to breathe deep, and take the time to reset before getting fired up again.

While you’re in a HIIT class, it’s the total number of targets hit that we’re keeping count of. The more targets you smash, the higher your score will be.

How you need to break a target will vary depending on the activity that you’re doing at the time. It’s important to pay attention to your trainer, and follow any visual cues provided to really maximize your score.

Most of the cues in your classes will be purple, and these can be broken with whichever hand is more comfortable for you. Other cues need to be broken with a particular hand, so you’ll need to match the color of your glove (blue or yellow), to the color of the cue.

You’ll also run into shielded cues and directional arrows. You need to punch the Shields (see-through square targets) to break them. That punch will remove the shield, and then a second punch will be needed to break the cue behind it - so it'll be two short hits in total.

Directional arrows (again, see-through) usually accompany body movements. You'll need you to move your hands through them in the direction they’re pointing, and follow any body movement instructions like a squat or lunge, to break them.

When the workout is done, we’ll tally up the total number of targets that you’ve hit to calculate your score.

On the results screen, you’ll be able to see how well you’ve scored against other players on the leaderboard. You'll also be able to see your final score, and average reaction time, so you can really see how hard you've worked!