I’ve just finished four sets of squats and now I am on all fours doing a “down dog.” This is supposed to be a Pilates class. Instructor, Sam Parsons, stands at the front with a cheeky glint in her eye. “Down dog” is your rest position,” she says. “Enjoy it.”

I got to know Sam when she did holiday cover for my regular class at Winchester Pilates. She’s a petite, lithe women and an advocate for Pilates, forever seeking new ways to practice. This is her latest obsession and it’s called High Intensity Power Pilates or HIPP for short.

Lisa Bradshaw, co-founder and UK based Pilates instructor and trainer, describes HIP Pilates as “a more dynamic form of Pilates that combines the precision and focus of a traditional Pilates session with the dynamic energy of a high intensity workout.”

When I met Sam I was practicing Body Control Pilates which is based on the Joseph Pilates method and teaches slow, flowing movements. Much as I enjoyed the relaxing pace (and still do), I was missing the high-intensity workouts of my youth. When Sam invited me to try out her HIPP class, I didn’t hesitate.

“Ok, push yourselves into plank – and that includes you, Jana,” she says, as I shift my weight forwards from “down dog” and attempt to hold myself horizontal for longer than a second.

I was expecting the pace of HIPP to be faster than my regular class, but nothing could have prepared me for this.

The first half of the class resembles a Circuits workout and includes squats, lunges and the dreaded plank. Sam calls them dynamic exercises as they combine arm and leg movements, for example, lunges with bicep curls or planks with leg raises. “Pilates is about precision,” says Sam. “We move safely by disassociating other parts of the body, then we add functional challenges that resemble day to day activities, for example, squats that you’d do if you were gardening.”

For each exercise, we do eight repetitions and multiple sets with different variations. It’s not long before the sweat starts to smear my mat. A quick glance at my Fitbit reveals my heart rate is up to 130bpm.

“HIPP is aimed at raising heart rate and improving overall functionality, strength, mobility and stamina,” says Lisa Bradshaw. “Each session is specifically structured to provide an all over body workout.”

To make the exercises even more challenging, Sam gives us two small weights, 0.5 kilos for women and 0.75 kilos for men. “We use light weights so that movements are fluid, unlike the heavy weights used in the gym that make your movements fast and jerky and can cause injury,” she says.

I know what she means - I used to do Body Pump, and the heavy weights left me hobbling around the house for days afterwards.

Pilates is widely recognised as a safe exercise for those with injuries and is often used for rehabilitation; HIP Pilates takes this a step further. “Because it’s weight bearing, it’s good for people with osteoporosis and helps build bone density,” says Sam.

Sam started doing Pilates after an injury. “I hammered my body with exercise - I did circuits, squash, marathons and boot camps,” she says. “I even carried on exercising, regardless of the consequences, when I was recovering from a back injury.”

Then she broke her back while horse riding and was forced into rethinking her approach to fitness. “My physio at the time told me I would be in a wheelchair by the time I was fifty if I didn’t change the way I exercised.” She stopped all of her existing activities and discovered Pilates, telling me with a beaming smile that she is fitter and leaner than she’s ever been.

The second half of the class is more like a Body Control Pilates class; we do curl ups, bridges, side twists, leg raises and dart, but the postures are performed at a faster pace and with more repetitions.

Now I am back in my comfort zone, I look around the class to check out who else is there. Apart from one brave male, my classmates are all women. Their ages are varied but they have one thing in common - slim, toned bodies.

After the class I ask Sam how long they have been doing HIP Pilates.“They’ve been attending for a while and, before that, they practiced regular Pilates.”

“Could I look like that one day?” I ask.

“Maybe?” she says laughing. “It’s not only your body that will change. There is a real feel good factor about High Intensity Power Pilates – it makes you feel taller, leaner, fitter, stronger and better about yourself.’’

That’s good enough for me, even if it does mean doing endless planks every week.

For more information about Sam’s HIPP classes visit Winchester Pilates.