Go hard, then take it
easel and up your art rate
Painting and pushups! You
don’thavetomixthesweat
into your watercolours, but
youdohavetohammer
out excruciating intervals.
And while HIIP Hype might
sound like the perfect
bachelorette party activity,
it’s not for the faint of heart.
This class was gruelling.
It’s the same as any HIIT
class, except you paint during
the rest periods. We mixed
up planks, jump squats, and
pushupswithbroadbrush
strokes and landscapes. Oneperformance psychology. “If
youknowwhat’scoming
next is inherently new, that
inherent newness ends up
becoming the focus rather
than focusing on the pain
that you just had or you’re
abouttohaveinthefuture.”
It’seasytoforgetabout
the pain when you’re doing
something new and
ridiculous like painting as
sweat drips onto your canvas.
And, to my surprise, my
painting wasn’t all that bad!
It’s not hanging in theDuring each
interval I took
my mind off the
pain and focused
on my painting
of a lake sunset.Museum of Contemporary
Art,butitisnexttomydesk,
whereyoucanseethedrips
of sweat mixed in with the
yellows and oranges of
late summer.■minute of intervals, one
minute of painting.
After 15 minutes my core
was screaming and my
quads and hamstrings felt
like bricks. But something
flipped — during each
intervalItookmymindoff
the pain and focused on my
painting of a lake sunset.
“These exercises have
a way of creating a
disassociation from the
pain,” says Gervais, who
also hosts “Finding Mastery”,
a podcast about high-POWER PAINTINGFUN FACTOR★★★★| EMBARRASSMENT FACTOR★★★★| FITNESS/CALORIE-BURNING PAYOFF★★★★| CHANCE I’D EVER DO IT AGAIN64%