VARIETY BEING THE spice of life is an oft’ used maxim and when it comes to health and fitness it certainly has value.
Following a training programme is hard enough at the best of times so it’s important to keep it interesting or at the least, prevent it from becoming stale.
With evenings getting longer, the motivation to hit the gym mightn’t be what it was in January, which explains some of these trends sweeping the industry.
1. Personal training (PT)
Personal training is no longer the preserve of elite athletes and nowadays, everyone from the working man or woman down to juveniles are getting specific one-to-one training. Why? Time is a big factor; PT gives you a plan based around your daily life you might not stick to if you made it yourself. People have less time and having a trainer cuts out time wasted.
There’s also the issue of accountability. By having a personal trainer you have a program laid out for you and you’ve someone looking over your shoulder.
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He or she has a vested interest to make sure you’re completing his or her program as best as possible.
2. High-intensity interval training
Somewhat related to the above, it’s all about time now. Everyone has less of it. Not only are training sessions more concentrated on higher intensity efforts, but they’re shorter, more enjoyable (debatable!) and have been shown to burn more calories than longer sub-maximal effort sessions.
High-intensity intervals are where you exercise close to maximum (100%) followed by a defined period of sub-maximal effort.
What better way to get fit than to have someone bark orders at you in a location where the public can see?
Boot camp is all the rage now, usually held in an outdoors location and includes exercise (running, hiking, interval training, or obstacle course challenges), along with strength elements (using dumbbells, exercise bands, or the resistance of your own body weight). Most also work on flexibility.
4. Back to basics
Gyms usually experience a lull in attendance at this time of year and it’s not hard to see why. With brighter evenings more people are now exercising anywhere but the gym using more military style methods.
Body-weight squats, lunges, push-ups and planks are being reinvented in 2015.
5. Low-carb diets
Eating carbs make you want to eat more carbs, right? Studies (in the offices at the42.ie anyway) show that we could be full on carbs, but still make room for a tub of Ben and Jerry’s.
The same cannot be said for the healthy stuff. Protein and fat satisfy our hunger far better than carbs.
So think zucchini, cauliflower, mushrooms and celery, cherry tomatoes, avocados, salmon, cottage cheese, Greek yoghurt and tofu. If you want to lose weight quickly and keep it off, and also not hurt your health but actually improve it, follow the herd of low-carb loaders…
Get the kettlebells on... it's 5 big fitness trends that are hot right now
VARIETY BEING THE spice of life is an oft’ used maxim and when it comes to health and fitness it certainly has value.
Following a training programme is hard enough at the best of times so it’s important to keep it interesting or at the least, prevent it from becoming stale.
With evenings getting longer, the motivation to hit the gym mightn’t be what it was in January, which explains some of these trends sweeping the industry.
1. Personal training (PT)
Personal training is no longer the preserve of elite athletes and nowadays, everyone from the working man or woman down to juveniles are getting specific one-to-one training. Why? Time is a big factor; PT gives you a plan based around your daily life you might not stick to if you made it yourself. People have less time and having a trainer cuts out time wasted.
There’s also the issue of accountability. By having a personal trainer you have a program laid out for you and you’ve someone looking over your shoulder.
He or she has a vested interest to make sure you’re completing his or her program as best as possible.
2. High-intensity interval training
Somewhat related to the above, it’s all about time now. Everyone has less of it. Not only are training sessions more concentrated on higher intensity efforts, but they’re shorter, more enjoyable (debatable!) and have been shown to burn more calories than longer sub-maximal effort sessions.
High-intensity intervals are where you exercise close to maximum (100%) followed by a defined period of sub-maximal effort.
3. (Outdoor) boot camp
What better way to get fit than to have someone bark orders at you in a location where the public can see?
Boot camp is all the rage now, usually held in an outdoors location and includes exercise (running, hiking, interval training, or obstacle course challenges), along with strength elements (using dumbbells, exercise bands, or the resistance of your own body weight). Most also work on flexibility.
4. Back to basics
Gyms usually experience a lull in attendance at this time of year and it’s not hard to see why. With brighter evenings more people are now exercising anywhere but the gym using more military style methods.
Body-weight squats, lunges, push-ups and planks are being reinvented in 2015.
5. Low-carb diets
Eating carbs make you want to eat more carbs, right? Studies (in the offices at the42.ie anyway) show that we could be full on carbs, but still make room for a tub of Ben and Jerry’s.
The same cannot be said for the healthy stuff. Protein and fat satisfy our hunger far better than carbs.
So think zucchini, cauliflower, mushrooms and celery, cherry tomatoes, avocados, salmon, cottage cheese, Greek yoghurt and tofu. If you want to lose weight quickly and keep it off, and also not hurt your health but actually improve it, follow the herd of low-carb loaders…
What is boot camp and why should you go?
9 Gym Bros who just need to stop
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