New age fitness trends for 2019 are all about adding a personal touch with a technological edge
Every new year, there are new ways to stay healthy with innovations in fitness exercise and equipment. If you want to stay fit this year and want to try something new, here are some fitness trends that experts believe will become the talk of the town this year.
Group training
Group training is the class format as against the personal training session or free gym time. Its benefits are different for each individual but the common ground people find is always based on community building and integration “In Cindy’s Bootcamp, my own training camp, the group has many responsibilities. They all have to know each other’s name, be accountable for their partners or team members’ efforts and sometimes even behaviour. Chat groups are created and they even encourage themselves to show up every day, share daily thoughts and contribute to healthier choices and patterns on a weekly basis,” says Cindy Jourdain, strength coach, Adidas Runners, Mumbai. Sheena J. Hinduja, founder of The Pilate Studio Bangalore adds, “We believe that this provides the exclusivity of a personal workout session and is also half the cost than that of a regular trainer at a conventional gym. Moreover it allows individuals to work out with their spouse, friends or family.”
Cardio workouts with audio guided runs
Cardio workouts are getting an interesting spin with audio-guides that are not just great for advice but are great companions as well. Dr Mickey Mehta, holistic health guru and life coach believes that audio-guided training is a great way to workout. “This form of training comes complete with music and a voice to guide you on your fitness journey. All you need to do is put in your earplugs, tap in and follow the instructions of the dismembered voice. This voice guides you during your workout and motivates you in between intervals. Some audio training apps (referring to apps that can be used for cardio) also come with attached biometrics, which consider speed, pace and heart rate.” Audio workouts help when you have solo routines like running, cycling and rowing – basically all forms of cardio exercises and also are a form of personal coaching to keep you motivated.
Blended workouts
A blended workout as the name suggests is a ‘blend’ of two or more fitness routines giving people an outlet to try different forms of workout combined in one routine. This trend is here to stay because there are many ways in which two or more workouts can be combined and the creativity and novelty it offers is always welcome. Shalini Bhargava, director at JG’S Fitness Centre, Mumbai avers, “If all you want is to work up a sweat while sculpting the entire body, then Cardiopilates is your go-to workout. This exercise gets the best of both worlds, Cardio and Pilates and is a fine mix of Pilates-based exercise repertoire with some high-intensity moves to get you fighting fit. A variety of props and bands can be used to create more challenge. The aim is to strengthen the core along with keeping the focus on correct breathing pattern and stabilisation of the body, during the exercises.” Some other blended workouts include yogilates that combines Yoga and Pilates as well as equipment like the Megaformer, that is a combination of Pilates reformer with extra body-burning features due to lower transition time between moves.
Multifunctional equipment
In recent times one of most widely used multifunction equipment for a combination of resistance training and cardio is the curve treadmill. It has an advantage of real time running which gives the utmost efficiency for a cardio work and builds a high level of resistance during workouts. “This machine is essentially used to do HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training). Another prime example of a multifunctional machine, which is used at almost all gyms is the cable cross machine. This machine is highly space effective and can be used by more than one person at any point of time. Along with simultaneous multi person use, this machine can be used for all the muscle groups of the upper body – shoulder, biceps, triceps, chest and back making it supremely cost effective as well,” says Sancket Kamdar, founder, SF Health Tech, a manufacturing fitness equipment brand. The company has launched the SF Beast Multi-Jungle (5 station) which is a combination of a cable cross machine along with a lat pull down and rowing machine. “Today everyone follows a tight schedule and hardly finds the time to go to the gym and when they want to work out for a short period of time, this training is ideal for them. It is a form of workout which will work on different parts of the body. One can do it for five to 10 mins and gradually pick up the pace and increase the intensity of the workout,” says Prosenjit Biswas, fitness manager, SKULPT, Kolkata.
HIIT with a twist
An individual generally focuses only on strength based workouts or endurance based workouts and forgets about improving flexibility or core strength which leads to injuries in the long term due to muscle tightness and poor form and technique. HIIT with Core Power yoga is a good combination of intense interval training and core strength. “High Intensity Interval training not only burns a lot of calories in a short time but also increases the metabolic rate for hours even after the exercise is over. Similarly Core power yoga not only works on strength but also spirituality by relaxing our mind as it focuses on breathing and improves flexibility as well. Combining HIIT principle with Core Power Yoga actually creates a holistic approach towards fitness. In 20-30 minutes an individual has worked on all parameters of physical fitness as well as mental fitness. A hybrid workout of HIIT with Core Power yoga will help individuals get better results in less time as they have benefits of both type of workouts which will also enhance their fitness level, make them more productive and help them lead a better, healthier lifestyle,” says Meera Bangera, fitness expert, Talwalkars. “HIIT in the year 2019, will focus on improving aerobic and anaerobic endurance, producing very fast results in a short period of time, which is why it has been gaining popularity ever since it has been introduced,” adds Roohi Merchant, Fitness consultant, I Think Fitness, Mumbai.
Streaming workouts
Virtual workout is a combination of exercise and technology. When going in for a virtual workout programme make sure you opt for the ones that are developed by fitness professionals as they feature moves developed by exercise scientists and subjected to a rigorous testing and development process. “Virtual workout is a trend which is bound to rule the coming year 2019 as it is convenient, suitable for all, promotes anywhere-anytime fitness, is pocket friendly, effective and output driven. The virtual workouts pattern is a great way to motivate people to focus on their health without bounding them geographically. Virtual workout is helping in connecting global workout formats and patterns which can be immensely helpful to the individual. There are a lot of options available for the fitness enthusiasts now as they can choose whatever they are inclined towards from the big world of virtual workouts. Virtual workouts are highly accessible and they help working individuals to make the most of their free time and engage in something healthy,” says Khyati Mahajan, Founder, MevoFit, Gurugram. Some virtual workout options or Youtube channels promoting online workouts include Befit, Barre3, Ballet Beautiful, Fit Tuber, Beerbiceps, Naturally Sassy, Circuit of Change and Body Love with Anna Victoria.
Focus on mental health
Today we live in a society where the economy may be on the rise but the quality of life and mental wellness is on the decrease. Thankfully many fitness experts have realised the importance of the connection between mental and physical health. “While most of the physical exercises are extremely beneficial to the body they have also proven to be effective in enriching the mental health of a person when the focus is on breathing right. Yoga to be precise is a lifestyle that forms the link between both mental and the physical wellness; with the breath work, the relaxation and holding of postures it allows the practitioner to become more self-aware mentally as well as physically,” says Sarvesh Shashi, CEO & Co-founder of SARVA- Yoga, Mindfulness and Beyond. Fitness expert Shivani Patel adds, “Professional athletes or dancers are so graceful and effortless in their movements. While they are performing incredible feats, they seem to do it with the utmost ease, as if their bodies are naturally moving with the flow of their actions; this is because they have mastered the art of creating a balance between the mind and the body. Developing a balance between mental health within physical workouts will take many hours of training and practice and is being focused on in many gyms too.” This is why new age fitness centers like Cure.fit are integrating mental wellness as seen by their recent acquisition of Seraniti, a Bengaluru based pioneering integrated mental wellness platform. Ankit Nagori, Co-Founder, Cure.fit, says, “mental wellness is one of the core pillars of the Cure.fit model as our products are designed to work cohesively for all-round wellbeing, our customers are nudged to assimilate the same approach as a part of their fitness routine”.
This story first appeared in Smartlife Jan 2019 issue here:
