Barclays is telling its bankers to exercise like crazy between meetings

Barclays has bought fully into the high-intensity fitness fad by encouraging its bankers to use new exercise technology between meetings - in their suits.

The Telegraph reports that the banking giant is offering "High Octane Rides" in its Canary Wharf office and few other regional sites to encourage fitness levels in its put-upon employees.

The acronym of the equipment provider High Octane Ride - HOR - is said to have amused many of its users, but so far there has been no complaints.

Accoring to HOR's website, 40 second bursts of high-intensity exercise over a ten minute workout has the same benefits as a 45 minute jog. There is also apparently no need to change out of a work suit as next to no sweating is involved.

But bankers concerned about the prospect of exercising in their work gear needn't worry. The bikes are surrounded by privacy panelling which allows for "personalised mood lighting".

High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) workout has been a much debated method of exercise in the last couple of years, but research by the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) suggests that short, intense bursts of excercise over the period of a traditional workout could continue to burn calories after the HIIT is finished.