So, what is Hypoxi?
The HYPOXI method combines low impact exercise with an advanced vacuum technology and healthy nutrition.
Combining these three aspects together helps your body work smarter and not harder, by accelerating your body’s natural fat burning system. This in turn helps you to achieve results quicker.
Who is Hypoxi best suited for?
- Busy people who don’t have hours to spend at the gym!
- People who want results fast: for example you have a wedding or holiday coming up soon!
- New mums who want to get back into shape.
- People who regularly go to the gym but want to speed up their results.
- People who don’t want to go to the gym (perhaps they are self conscious or maybe aren’t sure what to do at the gym).
- People who haven’t exercised for a long time and want to get back into it gently.
- People who are anxious to go to the gym due to covid as there may be too many people around or their gym is closed.
- Hypoxi is suitable for males and females of all ages!
Hypoxi uses low-impact exercise (cycling), meaning the pressure on the joints is reduced.
There isn’t a significant amount of force exerted on the joints during low-impact exercise, which means it is also great for those who perhaps sustained an injury in the past (could be a sports injury, orthopaedic injury or even join replacement surgery) and aren’t ready to do high intensity training.
How often do you need to do Hypoxi?
For best results Hypoxi recommends you start the program initially for 4 weeks. You will need to do 3 sessions a week during this time, making a total of 12 sessions.
Many clients go on to do more, and will do 8 or 12 week programmes. I did the 4 week program, attending 3 times a week.
What is involved in Hypoxi sessions?
There are two main machines used during the Hypoxi process: the HDC machine and the cycle machine.
In a session you can choose to use just one machine or both. Using them both in a double session of course will help you see results quicker, but the double sessions are a little more expensive than just doing a single session.
If just doing single sessions clients will purely use the cycle machine. If doing double sessions they will use the HCD suit prior to using the cycle machine.
HDC MACHINE/VACUMASSAGE:
The HDC machine (also known as the Vacumassage) is the first part of the session and involves getting into what can only be described as a giant suit that looks like a scuba diving or astronaut suit!
The Hypoxi operater will help you into the suit and zip it up at the back. It does look and feel a little strange at first but you get used to it!
You then lie down on the table and the operator will connect the suit to several tubes that are connected to a machine.
The all-in-one suit will then begin to get tighter as it becomes airtight.
You see, the suit is filled with 400 air pockets (like bubbles) and the tubes will push air in and out of these air pockets using a positive and negative pressure to deliver a lymphatic massage for 20 minutes.
The best way to describe the sensation is like there is a giant bubble wrap popping around your body! Some people may experience a ticklish feeling for the first couple of seconds but you get used to it very quickly.
Absolutely nothing will hurt you and the massage actually feels so nice and relaxing!
How does the HDC help with weight loss?
The vacumassage actually acts similarly to the natural Chinese therapy of cupping which is used for weight loss.
The 400 air pockets in the HDC suit are pressure chambers which are all located around the stomach, hip, bums and thigh area. For many women the stomach, hips, bum and thighs often have a low blood supply during exercise.
Therefore it is hard to shift weight from these areas as they are not getting enough blood flow to burn the fat (ever noticed why your tummy stays cold when you exercise?).
The reason why the HDC process is beneficial to weight loss is because these air pockets apply pressure on your body and activate your fat in these areas.
The pipes on the body suit stimulate the circulation through these problem areas using high and low pressure in the chambers.
This enriches the dermal tissue in these areas with blood and leads to an increase in cell activity which will in turn make it easier to lose the weight here when you undertake exercise afterwards.
The lymphatic massage also speeds up the disposal of lymph fluid and toxins from connective and fatty tissue, helping to cleanse the body.
Not only this but the appearance of your skin (in particular cellulite) will also improve, leading to a more toned appearance as connective tissues are strengthened!
After this 20 minute relaxing massage the fat is now ready to burned in the next part of the session!
CYCLE MACHINE:
The second part involves low intensity cycling for 30 minutes. You can either do it lying down or sitting up. The machine operates similarly to a normal bicycle trainer, except you are enclosed within a vacuum chamber from the hips down.
You wear a ‘skirt’ around your waist (you can see mine in the picture below – a black skirt with a red trim around the top) that attaches to the machine and maintains the vacuum.
Varying degrees of negative pressure are applied to the skin whilst you are cycling. This stimulates blood supply to the fatty tissue around the hips, bums and thighs.
The intermittent vacuum accelerates the transport of the fat enriched blood to the muscles.
The increased circulation you received from the HDC massage will also enhance the metabolism of fat in your lower body problem zones, and together the two machines work very effectively.
As mentioned, you can either cycle lying down or sitting up as there are two different types of cycling machines. It is completely up to you which one you choose – they both do the same.
Some days I did the sitting up machine whereas other days I did the lying down one. Whichever one you pick you’ll get to watch Netflix, check your emails and update your Instagram whilst you cycle!
For the whole 30 minutes you will need to cycle at a speed of between 55-65 RPMS.
This is a very manageable speed and you should be able to speak comfortably without getting out of breath when you are cycling at this speed.
It is important to stay at this speed, and not go faster or slower, to make sure your body stays within the fat burning phase. The vacuum makes the fat-burning process even more effective.
If you are doing the double session and have already done the massage in the HDC suit you won’t need to do the warm up on the cycle machine as your body will already be warm.
If however you just do the single sessions on the cycle machine you will need to do a little warm up before you start the 30 minute cycle!
What do you wear to a Hypoxi session?
Come in trainers, socks, loose pants and a long sleeved top. For the HDC massage you’ll take your trainers off, but you’ll need them on for the cycling.
Ensuring you have socks, a long top and long pants means no parts of your skin will touch the inside of the equipment or HDC suit, thus complying with covid safe regulations and ensuring all equipment can be cleaned efficiently afterwards.
NUTRITION
As mentioned earlier, Hypoxi combines low intensity exercise with vacuum technology and healthy nutrition. And the nutrition part is the hardest part!
Although once you learn what you can and can’t do with regards to nutrition on your Hypoxi days, and once you get the hang of it and find a routine it becomes like second nature.
Basically the most important thing to remember is to not eat anything 2 hours after the session (you are encouraged to drink lots of water though), and then for the following 2-4 hours you can’t consume any carbohydrates.
You’ll want to try and maintain a low-carb diet as much as possible, especially on your Hypoxi days.
Therefore you will want to plan what time of the day is convenient for you meal wise to do your Hypoxi sessions.
For example for me I prefer to eat more in the day and less in the evenings, so I prefer to do Hypoxi in the evening and then I don’t eat anything until breakfast time the next day.
Everybody is different though, and some people prefer to do it before work, or even pop in during their lunchtime (the Wynyard branch in Sydney is located right in the middle of Sydney CBD so it is super convenient!).
Important rules for your Hypoxi days:
Before your Hypoxi session
2 hours before your session make sure to eat a nutritious meal, mostly protein based. You don’t want to come to Hypoxi on an empty stomach as you need to fast afterwards for a couple of hours!
After your Hypoxi session
After the session it is really important you don’t eat anything at all for 2 hours after. Then for the following 2-4 hours after that don’t eat any carbohydrates.
Otherwise your body will just be burning the carbs you ate and not your stubborn fat!
Avoiding carbs before and after your Hypoxi session maximises the amount of fat your body metabolises, therefore maximising your results!
It is a good idea to not plan any social activities such as eating out or evening drinks on your Hypoxi days so you aren’t tempted to cheat!
It is also important not to have any tea or coffee before or after your session as they are stimulants. You will also need to avoid any other exercise within 6 hours before or after Hypoxi as it will make Hypoxi less effective.
I made sure I alternated my days between going to the gym and going to Hypoxi sessions.
Food diary
You are also given a food diary to fill out for 4 days (2 Hypoxi days and 2 non-hypoxi days). You’ll write down what you ate for each meal, as well as how much and at what time.
You will also write down your caffeine intake, water intake, alcohol intake as well as exercise and sleep habit.
The team at Hypoxi will then have a look at it and provide you support and encouragement if there are any areas you need to improve on.
The team at Hypoxi Lane Cove & Wynyard in Sydney where I went for my sessions also provide you with weekly meal plans if you need inspiration on low-carb meals to cook!
How are your results measured?
Hypoxi uses the revolutionary Fit 3D Body Scan to take your body measurements before and after your weight loss program to see your progress.
Before you start your first Hypoxi session you’ll do a scan: you will need to be in your underwear and stand on the machine very still, holding onto the handles.
The machine will slowly spin you around for around 10 seconds and take your measurements.
It is a very quick process and extremely accurate which I loved – much better than trying to take your measurements with a measuring tape!
Within a couple of minutes of doing the scan you will then receive an email with the results and a link to click on to visit the Fit 3D dashboard.
Here you will see an interactive 3D model of your body that you can rotate, as well as all your body measurements and body composition.
When you reach the end of the program you will do another scan and you can easily compare your before and after measurements in the link in the email, to see how much weight, body fat and centimetres you have lost from your body!
The reports are interactive and help to motivate and educate you on the progress and to see how your body has transformed since your first session!
The machine also tracks your posture and balance – more required for chiropractors and physios and to help prevent potential injuries, but it is still interesting to see the results!
Click here to get an idea of how the Fit 3D Body Scan works!
My Body Scan Results
So, how did I do after my 4 weeks of Hypoxi? Let’s look at the graphs below: baseline results were taken before I started my 4 week Hypoxi program, and current results were taken after I had finished the program.
The results speak for themselves. My body fat percentage decreased by 1.5, meaning my total body fat decreased by 7.9%!
My weight stayed pretty much the same but I gained muscle (lean mass) of almost 1kg, whilst managing to lost 1kg of fat! I basically swapped 1kg of fat with muscle, which I am definitely happy about!
When embarking on a weight loss program you should never just look at weight alone – it is much more important to look at body composition and the components of what your body is made up of. Remember muscle weighs more than fat!
And here are the specific measurements and results for the different areas of my body. The last column in each chart shows the amount of centimetres lost from that area during my 4 week program.
As you can see, in only 4 weeks I lost a total of 11.2 centimetres which I am super pleased about!
What I loved about the whole experience was that it really didn’t feel like work! Bodhana the owner, and all the ladies at the Hypoxi Lane Cove and Wynyard studios were so lovely and welcoming and were always there if I needed anything!
We spent many of my sessions just chatting whilst I was exercising or in the HDC suit, and all along I was losing weight doing so! It was a great experience, I learnt a lot about nutrition that I can continue even
Does Hypoxi really work?
So as we saw, targeted body shaping can be achieved with Hypoxi, meaning you can really focus on achieving results in the problem areas in your lower body (typically tummy, buttocks and thighs for women).
By optimising the blood circulation in the fatty tissue of your problem areas the fat is activated and thus gets burned during the workout!
In only 4 weeks (12 sessions) I lost 7.9% of my total body fat and 11.2 centimetres. Imagine what you could lose if you did a block of 8 weeks or even 12 weeks!
How can you get a free Hypoxi trial?
Hypoxi Sydney Lane Cove & Wynyard offer one-off sessions if you are keen to have a go and see how you like it before you commit to a 4 or 8 week program. Click here to book your session!
The great thing about Hypoxi is that there are clinics in over 50 countries and all of them offer a free trial!
Globally Hypoxi is one of the leading brands in body shaping. It was invented in Austria in 1997 and every year over a quarter of a million people do Hypoxi. Click here to find your nearest Hypoxi studio!
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