2011 Hot Fitness Trends

FITNESS experts reveal the fitness trends to watch. According to a recent study at the American College of Sports Medicine, the workouts we be huffing and puffing away to in 2011 are a move away from calming, relaxing routines such as Pilates and balance training. Instead, we’ll be sweating and swearing outdoors at boot camps, pumping iron and even, returning to the fad of 97, spinning.According to the lead researcher Walt Thompson, people are going "back to basics" with more regimented exercise programs as opposed to ones that require specialized instruction such as Pilates.“There’s a move towards group-style training,” agrees Michael Cunico, Fitness Manager for Fitness First Gyms. “It’s a reflection of our addiction to social networking to want to exercise with our friends. We’re so busy these days, that for time-poor people, a session with friends is a good excuse to catch up.

The new military fitness workout

Outdoor training sessions have been growing in popularity during the past few years, but are set to soar in 2011.

"Outdoor training is a fantastic motivator and you get more out of the sessions than if you were doing a similar routine yourself,” says Cunico. Fitness first is introducing an outdoor training programme for groups of no more than 15 people per instructor. “It’s great for those who don’t want an military-style workout, but still want the results you get from a regular outdoor workout which uses your body to exercise, rather than static gym equipment,” he says.

The new Pilates

If you’re tired of your Pilates floor work or machine-based classes, then check out a new type of session combining the expediacy of a Power plate machine with Pilates exercises.“By using the Power plate machine to ‘fire’ the muscles more effectively and in a shorter time frame, it assists the user to tone and target core and other specific muscles quicker,” says Catherine Giannitto, director of Polestar Pilates.While Power plate classes are already popular, Giannitto believes that this marriage of the two workouts will be extremely popular with time-poor clients as sessions are only 30mins.

Virgin Active Health Clubs

Recognising that people are time-poor, as well as its 30-minute Express classes Virgin Active will be introducing ‘fusion classes’, which combine at least two forms of exercise to ensure that your 50 minute burn works out your entire body.

“We’re introducing yoga, combined with a cycling class to give a more well-rounded, and holistic approach to exercise,” says Christian Mason, National Operations Manager for Virgin Active.Other fusion classes include a combination of Power plate with boxing, “to work the upper and lower body” and a boxing and cycling combination.And keep your eye out for the new kid on the block: FreeFORM. You stand on a disc the size of a flattened soccer ball, which is balanced on wheels (similar to those on rollerblades), and perform the exercises led by an instructor.

The new WiiFit

Want to bend it like Beckham or get a glow like Giaan? If you’ve exhausted your WiiFit with your current workouts, then there’s a new personal training programme, EA Sports Active 2, which promises to provide customisable workouts for users.

Using arm and leg straps, which have built in motion sensors and heart rate monitor, you can keep track of calories burned and how much harder you need to workout. Choose from more than 70 workouts, including aerobics or mountain biking and choose how hard (or not) you want to work.