Wearable tech gear – Wearable tech comes in the form of devices like fitbit and even the iWatch from Apple. People are using fitness trackers, pedometers, heart rate monitors to stay on track and monitor their progress. Some of these devices even monitor your sleep patterns and can let you know if you’re getting healthy amounts of sleep, if your sleep is disruptive, even if you aren’t aware of waking up during the night.
However, you need to remember that these devices do not magically make you lose weight, eat better or get in shape. They simply motivate you to keep track of your progress and give you the desire to do better.
HIIT (high intensity interval training) This is popular because it can be fun, but you also reap some good benefits. This is when you take your normal routine and add in short burst of high intensity training. For example, if you walk or job, you would take off running for a short time or distance. This gets your heart rate up, quickly. After a minute or two, you resume your normal pace and let your heart rate come down, say about five minutes of normal walking. You would then do another sudden burst of running or jumping.
Doing this a few times helps strengthen your heart and helps you build endurance. A lot of people tend to skip over the importance of building endurance, but it’s something we definitely need more of in our hectic lives.
Bodyweight training – Bodyweight training is popular because you don’t need to purchase any equipment. You simply use your own body weight and resistance to tone your muscles. It’s also a great way to start preparing for strength training if you intend to add strength training to your regimen at a future date.
Strength training – Strength training helps increase muscle mass and increases your metabolism. Don’t worry though, normal strength training is not going to give you huge, bulky muscles. Getting those takes a huge amount of work. Basic strength training simply allows you to tone your muscles and keep them in shape as you age. If you’ve been out of shape for a long time and started to see muscle deterioration, you can get some of that muscle back by adding strength training to your daily or weekly routine.
Note: If you strength train for ten weeks, it can help increase your resting metabolic rate by 7 percent. That’s actually a huge boost in calorie burning during the times you’re sleeping or taking a break.
Yoga – Yoga has been hugely popular for a long time and it isn’t going out of style anytime soon. People love the fact that yoga, although it is very active for your muscles, it is also gentle and helps you gain a sense of peace and awareness. It is not some spiritual woo-woo method of getting fit, although you can add spiritual awareness to the poses if you choose.
It helps you get more in tune with your body while decreasing all the chatter in your mind. It can help you lower stress and increase your sense of well-being.
Bonus tip: Group training – Group training is great for people who aren’t motivated on their own to keep working out. Exercising with a group can be a lot of fun. It also improves your social skills, allows you to be around other people who are getting in shape and can also help you find new friends who will motivate you, inspire you and hold you accountable.
If this is your year to get in shape and stay in shape, the above trends are great ways to get started. And even though they are considered trends, the chances of them staying around for years to come is exceptionally high. There’s no reason not to jump on board with one or all of these fitness trends.
