30 Minute personal training - the most efficacious solution

Fitting in training is always the hard part.

The biggest issue our Active Lifestyle members face is simply their lack of time - managing a business, a high powered job, and often a family and pets, means that the most difficult thing for most is how to actually fit their training sessions in.

Life can seem impossible, and adding that training time into that mix, almost unattainable. This is one of the reasons our members do so well with our sessions - a 30 minute personal training session means they can effectively 'outsource' their fitness to us, and they can be confident in the knowledge that they are getting everything that they need.

We would be lying if we said the location isn't the most important thing. If you live in Mount Eden, Epsom, Sandringham or Balmoral, then it's easy to get to the studio. And once you're here, we take care of the rest. The good news is that science shows that short, well structured training sessions, can provide measurable and attainable health and fitness results.

30 minute personal training sessions: What the research says

A properly structured, science backed 30 minute training session can give you:

• Improved cardiovascular fitness (Increase in both VO2 max, and endurance). VO2 Max is the amount of oxygen you can use. So the higher your VO2 max, the more efficient your system is.

• Increased daily calorific burn - supported by overall weekly volume and the EPOC (Excess post-exercise oxygen consumption) effect. EPOC is the body burning calories after the exercise or training has finished. This is brought on by high intensity interval training, as high intensity interval training causes an 'oxygen debt' in the body that needs to be replenished.

• Repeated exposures to training stimuli results in better long-term adherence. Simply put, the more consistent you are with your training, the more likely you are to keep going.

• Lower risk of injury and / or burnout. Short bursts of exercise help combat many overuse injuries due to long, time based stimulus. (Think of performing some intense training for 30 minutes a couple of times a week, VS running a marathon every week!).

The benefits of Active Lifestyle 30 minute training sessions

Our 30 minute sessions are completely personalised to you - dependent on your goals, needs, pains and injuries. This means that no session looks the same, because it is your 30 minutes and everything is crafted to be as beneficial to you as possible.

We have members that are focused on improving their knee health so that they can continue to ski, post surgery members who have finished their physio and need to continue to strengthen and manage issues. We have members interested in excelling at their sports, and want to develop their agility, strength, and power. And we have members (young and old) that just want to train to be healthy and improve their mental outlook.

There are also the intangible benefits of a shorter session that you can't ignore:

-Minimal disruption to the work day

-Works well with school drop offs or pickups

-Mental time out and reduction in stress

-Easy street parking

-Sessions tailored to your level on the day - if you're feeling a bit less than 100%, then sessions can be easily edited to suit.

When not training, your movement throughout the day also contributes to your overall health and calorie expenditure. This is called 'NEAT'. Non Exercise Activity Thermogenesis. There's an article on our blog delving into the science and benefits behind that if you want to read.

References:

1. Exercise Accumulation vs Continuous Exercise (Meta-analysis)

Sports Medicine – Altena TS, Michaelson JL, Mikus CR, Higgins JA – PMID: 31707615

2. Short Bouts vs Long Bouts — Adherence & Fitness in Overweight Women

Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise – Jakicic JM, Wing RR, Butler BA, Jeffery RW – PMID: 8963358

3. Short vs Continuous Exercise — VO₂max Improvements

European Journal of Applied Physiology and Occupational Physiology – DeBusk RF, Stenestrand U, Sheehan M, Haskell WL – PMID: 2327335

4. Accumulated vs Continuous Exercise — Metabolic & EPOC Response (Women)

BMC Women’s Health – Perdomo L, Picard M, Robbins D, et al. – (No PMID assigned for this article — DOI only)

5. Short, Time-Efficient HIIT in Real-World Settings

Sports Medicine – Shepherd SO, Choudhury R, McAuley S, et al. – PMID: 38082419

6. Aerobic Exercise & Fat Loss (Dose–Response Meta-analysis)

JAMA Network Open – Amorim FT, Byrne NM, Hills AP, et al. – PMID: 39521852

7. Short, Intense Bouts Are Effective — General Exercise Science Support

(Review article — includes multiple trial references on short/intense exercise efficacy)

UCLA Health – Research Summary (popular science overviews referencing peer-reviewed work)

No PMID (not a journal article)