Ezra Onyando’s fitness class is full of people sweating buckets. Occasionally, a cleaner walks around to wipe the sweat off the damp floor. The music is slightly loud but the focus is not on the beats. Everyone is listening to his instructions.
‘‘Faster, I want high energy, kick higher, tuck in your tummies and drop down,’’ the fitness instructor shouts.The fitness enthusiasts are doing short bursts of high-intensity workouts that utilise the body’s energy systems to rev up metabolism, helping someone become more fit and lose fat faster.
This exercise is called metabolic conditioning and helps train the body to work at a higher intensity and increase the efficiency of storage and delivery of energy. The idea is to take less time.
‘‘One has to do 25 box jumps, 25 burpees, 25 squats, 25 crunches and all exercises have to be done three to five rounds. We take 10 seconds rest in between the exercises and one minute between rounds,’’ Ezra says.At the end of the 12 weeks period, most people increase their fitness levels and reduce body fat.If your goal is to burn fat, start a regime that not only helps you achieve that target but one that helps you maintain it.
Metabolic conditioning ensures the body burns more fat but this full-body workout that can be done three times a week is not for everyone.
‘‘Before doing metabolic conditioning (metcon) exercises, you must go for assessment. We assess your health and age and because it is a high-intensity workout, we advise people with diabetes, asthma, high blood pressure, arthritis not to join the class,’’ Ezra says.
The trainer says the exercises are good for cardiovascular health and they are fun. But when I joined the class, I wondered if there was any fun to it. Ezra incorporates explosive push-ups which increases power and strength in the chest and shoulders and mountain-climbers.
Models exercising. Photo Courtesy