Hot Fitness Trends
Looking to heat up your exercise routine? Try one of these hot workouts on for size.
Blasting music, high-tech equipment, and 60 minutes of treadmill, rowing and weightlifting at varying levels of intensity (oh, and all while wearing a heart-rate monitor) — that’s interval training in a nutshell. Fitness franchises like Orange Theory (pictured at top) have created a model where participants attend group classes but adjust the workout to their own needs. The results are an intense, sweaty workout with a full panel of analytics to assess afterward (reports are sent via email immediately following the workout). These workouts aren’t exactly made for workout beginners, so proceed with caution to prevent injuries.
Want to fine-tune muscles, improve reaction time, increase body awareness and decrease the risk of injury during your other favorite methods of exercise? Then make functional training a part of your regimen. Train Away Pain in Westport, Conn., offers specialized classes that do exactly that. Using a combination of plyometrics, suspension straps, free weights and specialized total-body exercises, expert clinicians help you get strong and stay strong, pain free.
Spinning studios like Soul Cycle (shown above) are taking stationary bike rides to another level. Mood lighting, killer playlists and tailored programs give riders a hard workout along with a strong sense of community. Not into traveling to a local studio and riding with a roomful of strangers? Consider a virtual class via the Peloton program.
Channel your inner ballerina while making your muscles beg for mercy. This method combines elements of strength training, yoga and resistance training in a class that will make you sore in parts of your body you never knew existed. Barre studios are popping up all over the country, so chances are there’s one in your neck of the woods.
Dana Angelo White, MS, RD, ATC, is a registered dietitian, certified athletic trainer and owner of Dana White Nutrition, Inc., which specializes in culinary and sports nutrition.