What is H.I.C.C.?
The High Intensity and Core Challenge (H.I.C.C.) is a personal training program at The Zone Studio.
The workouts are a unique combination of Strength and Conditioning, Interval Training for endurance-building and fat-burn, and Core strengthening.
This is a high intensity program with workouts programmed specific to each individual.
Every person’s level of high intensity in exercise will measure differently.
It is relative to each individual’s starting point.
This simple but very important factor seems to be overlooked in most other training programs.
High intensity is not a general one-size-fits-all level when training.
Let’s take a squat as an example. A squat with a modified limited range of motion may be an intense movement for some, whereas jumping squats or weighted squats may be required to build intensity for others.
However very often trainers and clients allow their expectations to influence what they do.
Just because a weighted squat looks ‘cooler’ a client may insist on doing those, or a trainer may decide to push the client to do ‘tougher’ exercises, overlooking the client’s abilities.
This is an incorrect training method that inevitably results in injuries and stress for many.
The Goal of H.I.C.C.
Functional fitness to improve quality of movement in daily living, sports and more is our primary goal.
How we move daily impacts our bodies. We can learn to move optimally to enhance our lifestyles or allow incorrect movement and training to lead to a stressed or injured body - taking away from our quality of life.
We apply the H.I.C.C. program across age groups, abilities, and fitness levels.
Injury-prevention should be the primary focus when training individuals for sports or daily living.
After all, if your workouts lead to stress and injury then improving quality of life or sports performance loses relevance.
The starting point of the program is based on the individual’s current level and then continues to be programmed as a work-in-progress, based on the person’s progress and goals.
The underlying focus for us is always injury-prevention through efficient, good movements.
Core strengthening and core engagement through ALL movements is our focus.
Because, a good engagement through the core establishes the basis of all strong movement.
It then acts as an anchor for all peripheral movement making the body’s movements strong, powerful and fluid.
The focus of the H.I.C.C. sessions is to train your body as a complete unit that moves with strength and power, rather than training individual muscle groups in isolation.
Building core engagements and strength cannot be a separate workout outside of one’s main training program, and neither can one ‘include’ some core-strengthening exercises in training sessions.
PROGRAM GOALS include
Strength and Conditioning
Endurance-building and fat-burn
Core strengthening
Mobility training
Joint stability
Balance and Coordination skills
Agility training
Improved Bone Density
The How of H.I.C.C.
For strengthening and conditioning muscles we use varied small equipment - free weights, resistance tubing, medicine balls, suspension straps, Pilates resistance machines, and bodyweight.
Each of these uniquely challenges the body leading to progressive results.
We incorporate challenging drills into the training sessions to focus on agility, balance, coordination, endurance, fat-burn.
Training in each H.I.C.C. session is done using core engagements to build stability, control and power. Because that is the foundation of all good movement, whether the goal is working with high intensity and powerful movements or rehab and injury-recovery sessions.
This varied programming with our constant focus on form avoids any build-up of monotony or repetitiveness in workouts. This ensures individuals stay focused and look forward to their next session!
The Why of H.I.C.C.
A workout that makes you train to feel like a ‘beast’ or unnecessarily pushes you beyond your abilities is not the definition of a good training session.