HIIT This Way

It has been a little over a month of stopping by Ritual twice-a-week for a dose of HIIT. I've dragged myself there on days when I feel <100%. Regardless of which level I choose to follow for any class, I know I could take it slow or up the intensity. 

20 minutes of HIIT isn't very long. It's enough, it also means that I shouldn't skive. I might as well justify the class fees by going all out. Borrowed an Apple watch for a week to check my heart rate, and get a sense of calories burnt. I'm not overly pedantic about this, but I'm curious. I could get away with one 30-minute LesMills Grit Strength class a week, but I don't feel the same burn for one Ritual class. 

On medium push at a Ritual class, I burn 260 cal/active. Ahh, that explains why. I burn about 510 cal/active at a LesMills Grit Strength class. I get back down to resting heart rate in under 15 minutes after a Ritual class. My resting heart rate leans slow, averaging between 66 - 70 beats per minute.

One has to remember that without barbells, dumbbells work just as well. Barbells help you lift almost 20% more than you usually do. Barbells engage fewer stabilizing muscles, might strain your wrist, but work better for strength and muscle gains; you can perform higher reps. Dumbbells require you to use more stabilizing muscles in the core, activate the deltoids, traps and lats a lot more. I'm not so bothered about biceps; I'm interested in strengthening triceps.

I'm certainly not increasing food intake. There's no reason to. My overall calorie intake is sufficient to feed the exercise done weekly. I'm not avoiding carbs; neither do I need to go big on it. This isn't a competition, and I'm not looking for an adrenalin rush or an endorphin high. I exercise to keep the core supple, slow the onset of sarcopenia as well as slow mineral loss in bone density to prevent osteopenia and osteoporosis.