Have you played Flappy Bird yet?

If not it’s probably too late as the creator has removed it from the app store forever.

Some girl even sold her old iPhone that already had Flappy Bird installed for over £1000?

Lucky for me my 11 year old keeps me up to date with all things hip and we had both downloaded weeks ago.

Flappy Bird is basically an old skool computer game that is really annoying but very addictive, check my high score lol

So what’s this got to do with YOU?

Flappy Bird is nothing new, its a remake of games you probably played years ago but…

It became popular overnight due to social media and everyone talking about it, suddenly we all want to play Flappy Bird.

Much like some of the new faddy fitness classes that are out there at the moment.

The Tabata class that is being promoted at the moment has a bit of buzz and everyone wants to try the new class on the block.

The claims are that you will burn more calories, transform your body and fitness levels using scientifically proven methods.

All sounds amazing and all for only 4 minutes worth of work?

Too good to be true?

Let’s look at the claims in a bit more detail:

Burns more calories = It certainly burns more calories than doing nothing or some steady state low intensity aerobic exercise, but I would have to disagree it burns more calories than a normal 60 min class incorporating any resistance or high intensity interval training (HIIT).

Transform your body and fitness levels = Again the data used is for sedentary untrained individuals or steady state aerobic work, this is misleading as going to 3x Tabata classes per week won’t suddenly give you the toned body of your dreams or the fitness levels of an athlete.

Scientifically Proven = Yes the science does prove that HIIT training works compared again to steady state low intensity training, but here is the deal breaker…

For the class to work effectively you MUST work at 170% Vo2 Max / over 90% maximum heart rate.

Most people going to the class will not be working anywhere near that level and do not have the experience to even know how to work at this intensity.

This combined with the complicated movement patterns for the class make it almost impossible for the majority of the population to reach the required intensity needed, just as they are getting close to the correct intensity BOOM class is finished.

Don’t get me wrong I am a big lover of HIIT training when done correctly and it has awesome benefits, at Reactive Training we use numerous HIIT protocols along with full heart rate monitoring to ensure we are working at the correct intensity.

We also use simple basic exercises like sprints and jumps to ensure intensity can be reached without jeopardising form, technique and safety.

When deciding to start exercising try not to follow the crowd, pick a class based on YOUR needs.

Ask yourself:

Will this class help me reach my goals?

Will I enjoy it and continue to attend?

Will I be supported and encouraged?

Will I be coached?

Choose what’s best for YOU not what’s popular ;)

Robert