F45 Training: Are High Intensity Workouts Effective?

Written by Kathy Feng

During the bustling life of a university student, there are times when it is hard to balance it all: studying for exams, attending all your lectures and maintaining a healthy lifestyle. For these students, F45 training may be the best option in terms of allocating efficient time toward exercise. The ‘F’ in F45 stands for functional and the ‘45’ represents the 45 total minutes that it takes to complete the daily workout. F45 training originated in Australia in 2012 and focuses on creating immersive and dynamic workouts that many groups of people can participate in [1]. The most enticing aspect of the F45 training is that it is comprised of short bursts of high intensity workouts lasting 45 seconds followed by short breaks. These workouts are highly effective and the amount of intensity that an individual may dedicate to each workout is entirely up to them. There are over 30,000 workouts, so someone who plans to do F45 training daily will not have to do any workouts twice. The workouts may target a large range of muscle groups, as opposed to long workouts of the same activity that do not.

Although the idea of brief, yet effective high intensity workouts sounds promising, are these workouts truly the solution for people who have a packed schedule? It would seem so. According to previous studies, 15 minutes of high intensity workouts burn more fat and calories per hour compared to casual jogging on the treadmill for an hour [2]. The health benefits of high intensity workouts do not end at the gym, because the workout may help boost metabolism which will carry on throughout the day contributing to even more fat and calorie burning.

However, the F45 path to calorie and fat burning also relies on the environment of the workout studio as well. The goal of the creators of F45 is for individuals that use their gym to achieve great results by staying motivated and challenged. Often, when visiting the studio, there will be high-energy music (F45 owns their own radio station) as well as formed friendships with fellow F45 participants and instructors [3]. F45 can credit its success to fostering a sense of community where individuals are able to motivate each other while doing a large variety of different high intensity workouts. If you feel that you want a workout that is short yet effective, the benefits of F45 training have not gone unnoticed. UC Irvine is offering free sessions of F45 training to undergraduate students and ARC members as well in specific times throughout the week here.

References:
1. The Vision. F45 Training. https://f45training.com/about-us/the-vision/
2. 2015. Top 10 Health Benefits of HIIT (High-Intensity Interval Training). Health Fitness Revolution.
3. Rosen, G. 2016. Inside the Cult of F45 training. Body and Soul.