fitbody
Fitness à la Carte The Latest, Hottest Trends
by Christine MacDonald
This year, many Americans are set to rock the charts by turning over a new leaf and morphing from more conventional workout modes to fresh takes on fitness.
Chart Toppers Activities high on people’s lists these days reflect a perceived scarcity of time and money. The top picks, according to the Indianapolis-based American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) Worldwide Survey of Fitness Trends for 2014, will be high-intensity interval training (HIIT) and body weight training. Both pursuits have been contend-
ers in recent years, but are cresting the survey for the first time. A HIIT session, typically involving rapid bursts of activ- ity interspersed with brief rest periods, usually takes less than 30 minutes. Body weight training’s appeal stems from its effectiveness and minimal need for fancy equipment or special gear. The survey—involving hundreds of personal trainers, gym owners and
other fitness insiders—further notes an increasing diversity in fitness offerings, plus some contradictory trends. Not ev- eryone, for instance, is cost-conscious; fitness professionals anticipate the continued rise of boutiques specializing in niche activities. Those with momen- tum range from ballet-inspired barre workouts to Pound and Drums Alive sessions, in which people “rock out” while they work out. Grace DeSimone, an ACSM spokesperson, equates specialized offerings to an à la carte menu, with individuals choosing tasty workout modes. “It’s like a buffet,” she says. While a single class can cost up to $25, there seldom are membership fees. Muscles are treated to varied workouts, even if only once a week in a “boutique” treatment. “It’s good for your body to cross-
train; if you do the same thing over and over again, your body adapts,” DeSim- one advises. Unless a competitive ath- lete is looking to improve performances in a given sport, repeating the same exercise daily can lead to injury and lessen the desired positive impact, she says. “Your body likes change.” Spinning spin-offs like Soulcycle,
Flywheel and Kinetic Cycling represent an evolution of indoor classes and old- school outdoor cycling. Meanwhile, fitness instructors and wellness consul- tants note that Zumba has set the stage for dance-oriented workouts, diverging from Latin rhythms into hip-hop and other music genres. If workouts are increasingly
encroaching on “social” activities like dancing, it’s because the nation—or at least the expanding population trying to live healthier lifestyles—is undergo-
52 Collier/Lee Counties
swfl.NaturalAwakeningsMag.com
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