you've probably seen this, and other such signage at your local Equinox club
So “WhatTheFact” is MetCon3?
Yes, I’ve heard that question more than a dozen times last week. You ask, I answer:
It’s an Equinox “signature” class (i.e. one created by members of Equinox’ Group Fitness Management team) that’s designed to give you:
1. An elevated heart rate throughout the workout.
2. A program that’s more-or-less balanced, in terms of planes of movement in the lower/upper body (i.e. addresses the need for more upper body pulling movements, and lateral lower body movements)
3. Scientifically, the ability to use all 3 metabolic pathways or energy systems (aka oxidative, phosphagen, glycolytic) more effectively, via its specific design of the program.
Makes sense doesn't it? Depending on the amount of time you are exerting a near-max effort, the metabolic pathway that contributes the most at that time will primarily come from 1 of the 3 pathways
I’ve given you a sample run-through of a typical program, and you can see it here.
Very simply put, MetCon3 is a specifically written template for performing 10 exercises, with minimum rest in between each exercise, to allow for all 3 energy systems or metabolic pathways to be utilized.
At the same time, it is more than just that generalized statement, because one could accomplish that same goal without obtaining the unique elements Equinox’ MetCon3 programming includes, which is really found in #2 of what I’ve written above.
So there you have it! On our next blog post, you’ll get a quick run-through of “smart things to keep in mind” when performing MetCon3, or any other high-intensity or interval training class.
