Fire up your muscles in this HIIT workout on water.
Fire up your muscles in this HIIT workout on water.
I’ve never been a water baby. While I can swim to save my life, it’s definitely not my first choice of exercise. There’s just something about being in a body of water that makes me uneasy – perhaps it’s my belief that people were designed to stay on land (as much as possible, anyway). So it was with great trepidation that I agreed to try out FloatFit HIIT, which is essentially a HIIT (high-intensity interval training) workout performed entirely on a floating mat (called an aquabase) in a swimming pool.
FloatFit HIIT was created in the UK by a company called AquaPhysical. It was introduced here in September last year by Skyline Aqua, the only provider of FloatFit workouts locally.
Classes are conducted in a half-Olympic sized swimming pool at Parkroyal on Beach Road’s wellness floor. Each class can hold up to 10 participants, and a 55kg woman can expect to burn roughly 400 calories in just one 30-minute session since the exercises are designed to target all muscles. This, combined with the constant struggle to balance on an aquabase, engages and fires up the whole body.
The experience
On the day of the trial attended by Team Shape, I was definitely nervous. The thought of the session loomed at the back of my mind even as I busied myself with other work. There were practical considerations: “Would the water be too cold? What if it rains? What if I slip?” And then there was that one irrational consideration: “Would I drown?”
My worries turned into excitement, then back into fear over and over again. But the show had to go on.
My colleagues and I made our way down to Parkroyal on Beach Road and met Riane Low, our FloatFit HIIT instructor, who began the session by teaching us how to set up our aquabases in the water.
Each mat has two hooks to secure it into place so it won’t drift off during class. And, like us, you should expect to get drenched during the session. For starters, you have to wade through neck-high water to set up your aquabase.
Once our mats were fixed, we hoisted ourselves up and literally tried to get a grip. There seemed to be no graceful way of doing this. I plopped myself onto the mat and sat up. I soon learnt that sitting is comfortable but standing was challenging. My legs quivered as I steadied myself into a standing position. “Stand with your feet wider apart,” said Riane. “It’ll be easier to balance that way.” I followed her instructions – much better.
The warm-ups helped us to find our balance and get accustomed to our aquabases. We ‘ran’ on the mats, rocking them from side to side to create waves in the pool. By the end of the second set of moves, my thigh muscles were burning. Clearly, AquaPhysical was not kidding about the full-body burn bit!
Next up, squats. These were pretty manageable and I became surer of my footing. We also did some core work with planks and V-sits. It was harder to balance on movable ground, so it took a lot more effort to perform the moves.
By the time we got to mountain climbers, I was tired but grinning from ear to ear. Feeling more confident now, I even attempted a little hop at the end of my burpees. I succeeded and laughed, high on adrenalin and joy.
This had never happened to me while doing burpees before. In fact, we were all laughing and smiling despite the muscle burn. Splashing about and trying our best to balance was infectiously fun. All my previous worries had dissipated, and although I did fall into the water a couple of times by the end of the class, I climbed back on board.
The verdict
If FloatFit HIIT can convince someone as aquaphobic as myself, I believe it’s a workout anyone can enjoy. I so enjoyed the session, I found myself asking if I could try out the FloatFit yoga class. Falling into the water wasn’t as scary as I’d thought it would be. Plus, it was nice to be silly and laugh at each other – and ourselves.
For extra fun, the instructors can also create a challenge where participants pair or team up to jump 180 degrees on the aquabase to pass a beach ball to each other. If you’ve never fallen in before, it’s likely you’ll do so with this.
Expect to be aching in your thighs, core, arms and chest the day after. The exercises are customisable and options are given for varying intensities. Each session costs $40 ($25 for a first-time trial). You can sign up for classes or find out more information at http://www.skylineaqua.com.sg.
