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With the New Year approaching fast, it's time to start thinking about your New Year's resolution--why not try a new fitness trend as your resolution?
Sure, you can join the gym or simply set a new fitness goals, but trying new things is so much more fun!
Check out 5 fitness trends that make great New Year's resolutions below:
1. Body weight training. Health Magazine explains, "According to an American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) survey of more than 3,000 fitness professionals worldwide, body weight training is predicted to be the next big thing." Experts agree! “Expect to see it continue to expand in all movement experiences including both group and personal training,” says Carol Espel, Senior Director, Group Fitness and Pilates at Equinox. “Look for the comprehensive incorporation of gymnastics, adult jungle gyms, workout spaces that are uncluttered with weight machines and open for training, greater suspension training options, primal movements, and more programming that is less focused on standard weight lifting protocols.” In other words, the exercise moves that require no equipment--lunges, squats, and push ups--are here to stay, so embrace them!
2. Treadmill training. “There is a trend in fitness to return to simplicity, and running is the oldest form of exercise,” explains Andia Winslow, a fitness expert and coach at Mile High Running Club. “With indoor treadmill training, participants are in a controlled and yet challenging environment where they can, regardless of fitness level, keep up with class while running on industry elite commercial equipment. With less strain on bones, joints and tendons, runners can focus instead on form, specialized and programmed intensity and being wholly engaged with their runs.” The best part: you'll never have to worry about cold weather, rain, snow, or wind if you're training inside.
3. High-intensity interval training (HIIT). P90X is a great example of HIIT, and certainly one of the most popular fitness trends. “People are exercising in shorter bursts and they are still seeing results,” notes Donna Cyrus, Senior Vice President of Programming at Crunch. It makes sense, though; why go to the gym for hours when you can blast fat in a mere 20 minutes?
4. Digital engagement. According to Health Magazine, at Nike's Women’s Summit last month explained that 9 million women have downloaded the Nike Running app and 16 million women have downloaded the Nike Training (NTC) app--and that's just one company speaking to the volume of tech-savy people using apps to their advantage. “We will continue so see an even greater level of engagement of the use of multiple devices to track and log movement, nutrition, sleep and all aspects of activity,” Espel says. “The challenge for all will be determining what data is pertinent and then how providers and health care experts take the most relevant information and make it continually meaningful to users.”
5. Recovery efforts. Even if you are absolutely obsessed with your latest fitness class, P90X video, or whatever high intensity workout you're all about right now, you need to give your body time to recover. “Weak muscles will fatigue quickly, and you over train muscles that are already strong. The compensation and overuse of muscles and not the work brings the need for recovery.” This is why “we will continue to see the rapid expansion of group formats that include self-care protocols for self myofascial release (SMR), such as foam rolling and therapy balls, core strengthening and dynamic stretching, full recovery days and clear focus on sleep as an integral part of one’s fitness regimen,” says Espel. “And of course restorative yoga formats will continue to become a much more prevalent part of programming.”
What do you think about these fitness trends? Have you tried them before? Let us know what you think in the comments!
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