Heartline Fitness

Remember The Pet Rock? Well, many of you may be too young to remember it; Google it. Well that was back in the ‘70s and it lasted a year or two. Fitness has fads like that too – here today and gone tomorrow. Shake weights, vibration belts, the ThighMaster—all have seen their 15 minutes of fame. 

But some fads have stood the test of time – we call those bona fide trends. The reason they last? They work. Here’s a list of the fitness trends that are here to stay. Surely you can find one or two to amp up your workout (or get you started). Will give you a little intel on a few of them and links for all. 

1. HIIT WORKOUTS – high intensity interval training. Hugely popular right now. 

2. ZUMBA – still around 

3. FOAM ROLLING and other post-workout recovery exercises 

4. MOBILE FITNESS APPS 

5. BOOT CAMPS 

6. BARRE WORKOUTS – there are now 300+ Barre studios in the U.S., that’s all they offer, barre classes and barre workouts. Not much cardio effect, but great for toning your arms, legs and your core. 

7. OBSTACLE COURSE RACES – Tough Mudder, Spartan Race, these races all sound so macho (but yes, lots of women love them too). 

8. PILATES 

9. FITNESS TRACKERS 

10. SPIN CLASSES – it popped up in the 1990s and it’s grown even stronger with the advent of entire boutique spin studios. 

11. CROSSFIT – focused on functional fitness and physical preparedness, there’s less cardio and more high-intensity weightlifting. But this is no muscle competition, again, women are just as involved in this as men. 

12. KICK BOXING 

13. HOT YOGA 

14. JAZZERCIZE  

15. POLE DANCING – no one is snickering at this one anymore. Strength, flexibility, and it’s fun too. 

16. TREADMILL & STANDING DESKS 

17. INDOOR ROCK CLIMBING – increases strength, endurance and flexibility. Outdoor climbing is a great physical activity for you too, but indoors is a safer and more controlled environment. 

18. THE COLOR RUN – This one is so darned interesting we’re going to do a whole feature on it in the next issue. Google it and you’ll see what’s so unique about this event – beyond runners and walkers being showered with brightly colored powders all along the route. 

19. SWISS BALL (STABILITY BALL) – you’ll actually engage more muscles sitting on the ball than you would exercising on a flat surface. There are many exercises to do on the ball, but more people are trading in their desk chairs for one. It engages both your core and back muscles as you work to stay upright and stable. And it improves your poster, which has all-over body benefits. Get on the ball! 

Links: Much of this article came from online content provider Active.com “These 19 Fitness Fads Actually Work”. It has links for more information on all of these fitness trends. In fact, the whole website is full of articles, lists and links to events around the country and more. A lot more. 

A few specifics links: 

• Foam-Roller (Recovery) Exercises Everyone Should Do – Link. 
• 10 Reasons You Should Do the Color Run – Link. 

• Where to Find a Barre Exercise Studio Near You – Link.