While staying healthy and fit is always in fashion, exercise trends come and go. (Anyone remember
step
aerobics?) If you’re someone who’s happy with your long-time fitness regimen,
by all means keep doing it—but remember that our bodies can become accustomed to
performing the same exercises over and over, meaning you may see fewer results
from your hard work. Consider shaking things up from time to time with one of
these hot workout trends:
Indoor cycling classes. While
indoor cycling, or spinning, has been around for a couple of decades, the
addition of several new features has caused a surge in popularity. The basics
remain the same: led by an instructor, you pedal alongside others to a
motivating soundtrack, sometimes with the lights dimmed for ambience. But now,
new technology that lets you know how hard you’re working. "All [the] bike
manufacturers are making power meters," says Pete McCall, an American
Council on Exercise (ACE) spokesperson and ACE-certified personal trainer in San Diego . Power meters
attach to the bike and display wattage, a unit of measurement that shows how
much power a rider is generating with each wheel rotation. Most power meters
also display calories burned. This kind of feedback can be immensely satisfyingat the end of a workout, and gives cyclists a way to set goals beyond time and
mileage.
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ActivMotion bar. This four-foot
long hollow bar is filled with ball bearings that move and shift as a person
works out, forcing the body to constantly balance and stabilize. Compared to
free weights, which are solid, the ActivMotion bar offers a different challenge
to muscles. The creators of the bar call this kind of conditioning
"disruptive training," emphasizing the variable and ever-changing
resistance it provides. The bar can be bought in six-, eight-, 10-, 15- and
18-pound varieties, depending on how strong or advanced a user is. The bar is
sold with DVDs that guide the user through circuit-style workouts designed to
build muscle strength, flexibility, balance, and cardio endurance.
Boutique studios. Many of the
newest gyms are small and geared to just one type of exercise, like boxing,
yoga, group cycling, boot camp, or ballet/barre, according to the International
Health, Racquet & Sportsclub Association. In fact, these specialized fitness
studios accounted for 21 percent of the market in 2013. Some studios charge per
class, so you won’t be on the hook for a membership fee if you decide the
workout is not for you.
Group training. Group fitness
classes are nothing new, of course, but even those activities that used to
appeal to exercise soloists now lend themselves to collaboration. For instance,
instead of banging away on their treadmills at home, lots of folks are signing
up for group treadmill classes led by an instructor. Also popular is small
group training, in which two or three people work out with a personal trainer.
Not only is this method easier on the wallet than a one-on-one session, it’s
also good for morale. "Group training develops camaraderie and
cohesiveness, which keeps you coming back for more," McCall enthuses.
Online options. Advances in
technology mean you have access to a wider array of workout options online.
Subscription services are gaining traction, giving users a large database of
workouts that can be changed up and customized. You can watch on a TV or
laptop, either in the privacy of your home or in the motivating environment of
a gym.
Wearable trackers. Fitbit, Jawbone,
and Garmin are just a few of the brands that are helping people take some of
the guesswork out of staying in shape. Worn on the wrist or clipped to a
pocket, these devices track data things like daily steps, miles covered, heart
rate, and sleep quality. Synced with phone apps and websites, users can also
create exercise and food logs. This kind of information can work wonders for
motivation and achieving goals. If you're not in a rush to spend money on a new
gadget, check the gadgets you already own—many smartphones offer pedometer and
food-tracking apps. And according to McCall, at least one fitness equipment
manufacturer is developing a way to have the stats from a user’s workout—the
workout duration, intensity, and calories burned—sent directly to his or her
phone to be stored.check out for fitness tips
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