What will the year 2015 bring us, fitness-wise?
This year was all about high-intensity intervals, whether on a treadmill on on the floor.
What’s next? The American College of Sports Medicine polled fitness pros from across the country and named the biggest trend for 2015: bodyweight training.
Bodyweight-based workouts are pretty user-friendly. They don’t require any special equipment, are as old school as gym class, and have endless iterations. If you do planks, push ups, pull ups or sit ups, you’re already using your body for resistance.
Want to get in on the bodyweight trend in group fitness classes? Here are some gyms offering variations on bodyweight exercises:• TRX at Real Ryder Revolution: TRX uses straps with handles to take bodyweight exercises beyond what you can do on the ground.
• AIR Aerial fitness: This variation on yoga uses loops suspended from the ceiling to help you crunch, lunge and pull yourself up.• Many gyms offer Insanity classes, which uses plyometrics and bodyweight exercises. Insanity can be used as a DVD at home as well.
What else will be popular (or stay popular) through 2015?• Strength training• Personal training
• Fitness classes geared towards the elderly
• Outdoor activities for fitness
• Workplace exercise and fitness programs
What’s on its way out? Zumba and indoor sport cycling or spinning fell out of the top 20 list this year. But it’s a good bet that group fitness will stay pretty popular through 2015: Unmonitored gyms ended up near the bottom of all exercise options ranked by the fitness pros.