CITY LIFE
CONNELL SANDERS
At-home workouts HIIT the spot SARAH CONNELL SANDERS
T
here are few things I treasure more than the feeling of post-workout bliss — a sensation that is hardest for me to conjure in the cold. A few weeks back, I put out an ask on Instagram to find out how my community is staying active during this one-of-a-kind winter. Immediately, my feed filled with endorsements for Tabata and other popular HIIT regimens that can be done from the comfort of one’s own home. Here’s the skinny: ...Or the fat or the muscular or the hourglass or the pear shape. Bodies are different and that’s the way I like them.
HIIT & Tabata HIIT stands for High-intensity interval training. Basically, alternating all-out exercise with active recovery. Tabata is a specific routine developed in the ‘90s by Japanese professor Izumi Tabata in which each exercise lasts for
Tabata and other popular HIIT regimens can be completed from the comfort of one’s own home.
sition to spend a lot on a trainer, right now,” posed Carlson, “You could organize a group of people who each throw in ten bucks, post it on the app, and pretty soon you and your friends in Worcester are enjoying a live private yoga class taught by a professional Broadway dancer in New York.” Walk the dog Working from home and avoiding other humans has definitely abated my motivation to stay fit. In our household, we’re about to take a drastic measure: we are getting a puppy. I will try not to let this column metamorphose into a second-rate knockoff of “Marley & Me,” but I’ve already revealed my admiration for Jennifer Aniston once this week and I fear it may be too late. See you out there.
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Month of January
J A N U A RY 7 - 13, 2021
13
The Class by Taryn Toomey I am partial to The Class, a goopy combination of HIIT, meditation and dance favored by the venerable Jennifer Aniston. The Class was created by former Dior executive Taryn Toomey. Workouts offer music-driven collaborations with artists such as Alabama Shakes, Amos Lee and Gregory Alan Isakov. Every session ends in an oddly emotional heart clearing The Squatz app safely connects fitness exercise derived from a variety of trainers to their clients. ancient meditaPROMOTIONAL IMAGE tion practices. It’s kind of like swimming the four minutes. The four-minute butterfly on your living room floor blocks are broken down further while releasing a series of dramatinto 20-second spurts of exertion ic exhales through your mouth. followed by 10-second resting periods. I have a handful of friends File it away under, “Things I would have never tried a year ago.” who gather regularly for Tabata sessions on Zoom. Others turn The Squats App to popular Youtubers like Chloe If you require a highly specific Ting or local trainers such as KYA form of training for say, Tai Chi, Fitness for a HIIT fix.
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pilates, boxing, barre, or aerial yoga, there are plenty of options at your fingertips. MIT grad Scott Carlson recently launched the Squatz app as a marketplace solution for fitness trainers, many of whom faced career setbacks over the last year due to COVID. “There are approximately 400,000 personal trainers in the U.S. who are out of work,” Carlson pointed out before asking, “How can they access their clients and continue to deliver their core services?” The answer was clear: virtual fitness. Trainers on Squatz can set their own rates and schedules after submitting to background checks and providing documentation of their credentials. Trainees have the freedom to co-create their experiences by putting out specific bids that suit their own lifestyles. “Let’s say you aren’t in the po-
