Fitness is going high-tech, but how do you keep up with all the innovative workout trends and technologies? Which ones are going to stand the test of time, and which are simply fitness fads? If you’re getting bored of your current fitness routine, we’ve got the list of replacements that will take your workout into the future.
1. Replace Crossfit with Self-Limiting Movement: According to wellness expert Adam Bornstein, ‘Movement—simply, being able to move athletically and without restriction—is becoming one of the biggest buzzwords in fitness. Of course, all exercise involves movement, but most people have lost the ability to move correctly. Sitting at desks in front of computers causes muscle imbalances, poor posture, and, subsequently, bad movement patterns during exercise. As a result, you won’t get as much out of your workouts and can injure yourself. “Self-limiting” exercise is the prescription. These are movements that require complete engagement. Think about pushing a sled or performing an inverted row (where you hang underneath a bar, body parallel with the floor, and pull yourself up). If you can’t do the exercise with near-perfect form, you won’t be able to do it at all…On a novice level, exercise classes are prescribing more movements associated with children’s games: Bear crawls, tree climbing, and carrying logs are all functional ways to build strength, stamina, and mobility while making training feel less like work and more like play.’
2. Add Phytosomes to Your Supplements: ‘If the supplements you take aren’t working, it may not be their fault,’ Bornstein notes. ‘Your body could just be incapable of absorbing them and letting them work as intended. Two kinds of molecules—polyphenols and triterpenes—form part of the natural defence mechanisms that exist in plants (to discourage insects and bacteria from eating them). They’re abundant in nature and impossible to avoid consuming in a normal diet, and they block the absorption of many of the nutrients we eat or supplement with, decreasing their potency. Savvy supplement makers are combating the problem by adding phytosomes to their formulas…The phytosomes allow the supplement molecules to be taken right into your blood stream, making them more usable in the body.’
3. Forget Bootcamps and Try Customised, Skill-Based Classes: ‘People who feel isolated by personal training—or simply don’t want to pay high prices for it—often sign up for boot camps so they can work out with others who have similar goals in a more playful group setting,’ Bornstein explains. ‘But boot camps, which boomed through the past decade, are now on the wane. The problem with boot camps is the one-size- fits-all approach. When everybody in the class more or less does the same workout, individual weaknesses are rarely targeted. That holds clients back from achieving their goals. What’s next is a new, hybrid fitness approach that offers individualised group plans. The boot-camp format of big-group training will remain, but participants will work on their individual weaknesses within it. It’s a system more akin to what martial arts dojos have done for hundreds of years already. Everybody trains in the same room practicing punches, kicks, and holds, but the white belts work with one another while the black belts do more advanced training.’
4. Ditch the Gym and Get Training Online: Bornstein points out, ‘Talented trainers from all over the world are bringing their workout programs to the digital universe. You can get access to training (and nutrition) that’s real-guy tested as well as research approved just by going to their websites. Being trained digitally, it seems, might even be more effective than doing it in person. Scientists at the University of California, San Francisco, compared Web-based health and fitness programs with non- Web-based ones. The Web plans were more effective at teaching new information and creating behavioral change, which resulted in clients maintaining their weight loss, and even improving their own perception of their bodies.’
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