The trick is to engage, or switch on, every muscle I can and squeeze it for dear life, while doing yoga-style moves. It's called isometric contraction, which elevates the heart rate. But I liken it to my body shaking like it's in a mini earthquake. I guess my quads are not as solid as those of the Sevens boys, because they're pretty good at this, I'm told.
Sean has me doing some interesting moves, too - like pretending to be tiger-like, and clawing my paws (hands, if you must) through clay (or rather through the air), to gripping my feet into the carpet. All slowly, intensely. Sean has proof I'm not slacking (besides my puppy-like whimpering): he has put a Gear Fit device on my wrist, that connects to a Samsung Galaxy S5 phone. This reveals my heart rate is up to 130bpm - which is as high as if I was jogging. But I'm just engaging my muscles, trying to be still on the spot.
Sean tells me he gets his own heart rate up to 170bpm and sustains this during DDP Yoga for an hour - which, by the way, would be where my heart rate might be if I was running hard out.
Ultimately, I do DDP for 25 minutes, at which point this tiger says she's had enough. Sean says he can tailor the workout to suit individual clients, that's the beauty of it. This is also just one of the workout options in his fitness toolbox for rehab and recovery workouts for private clients.
Sean further explains that DDP Yoga is a slow-burn, dynamic resistance workout. Or you could call it a version of old-school calisthenics - that's doing exercises and movements, with your body as resistance, without any equipment.
The exercises help with cardiovascular fitness, muscle strength and co-ordination, while also hitting your core and singeing fat.
On YouTube you can see Americans raving about how they lost weight and fixed their bodies doing Yoga DDP workout videos. Sean says he can teach DDP Yoga anywhere - you don't need any special equipment. He also likes the bloke DDP: Sean trained with him in America and admits at first it was intimidating learning from an almost 2m-high American pro-wrestler - especially when he was the dad of a girlfriend at the time. And even though the love interest didn't last, his love of DDP Yoga lives on. He insists this is a "complete form of fitness" that's really effective. He reckons the Sevens guys don't mind it, too, because "it's not like your mama's yoga" making it more bloke-friendly.
Meanwhile, before Sean became a trainer 14 years ago, he was a chef (with a culinary arts degree). He reckons a major key to getting super fit is learning how to cook healthy food that "doesn't taste awful". This helps people to live a healthy lifestyle more easily long-term.
Worth it? My legs ached for days afterwards. So yeah, it's effective, but it's not for those looking for a relaxing yoga option.
Try it: Contact Sean via info@seanhughesfitness.co.nz. Next Generation Health and Racquet Club is at 1 Tennis Lane, by the Auckland Domain
Rating: 8.5/10
Rachel wears: 2XU compression tights $139.95
Kathmandu Yoga Set $99.98: You can do yoga anywhere with this kit. It includes a mat, two blocks and a bag with a detachable strap that's useful for stretching.
