8 Fitness Trends for 2013

Have you noticed the New Fitness Trends that are taking your hood by storm? 

A new survey of fitness trends shows body-weight training, including back-to-basics exercises like push-ups, planks, and pull-ups, is expected to be one of the Top 8 fitness trends of 2013.

People have been using their own body weight for centuries as a form of resistance training, but this is the first time it is trending, because gyms are now packaging it as part of exercise programs. Apart from that, body weight training, marathon running, and self monitoring are all on the list of fitness trends for 2013. Here is a list of things we see increasing exponentially this year.

photo credit: Virgin Active

8 Fitness Trends you will be seeing in 2013:

1. Functional Training Classes Will be all the Rage

Functional fitness as using strength training to improve balance, coordination, force, power, and endurance to perform activities of daily living. Functional fitness programs are designed to reflect actual activities done as a function of daily living and are often used in fitness programs for older adults.

2. Body Weight Training Will be Hot at Your Gym

Body-weight exercises use minimal equipment and include push-ups, pull-ups, planks, and squats.

3. Marathon/UltraMarathon will see a surge in participation

Running will take center stage as more and more people across the globe challenge themselves to get faster, better, stronger. We will see a spike in the number of participants like never before as people see the need to keep fit via this basic act of moving your legs one foot in front of the other, in one direction i.e. running!

4. You’ll Cut Your Workout Time In Half

High intensity Interval training (HIIT) would mean that you could get the same work out and intense calorie burn, by working smarter, not longer. For example, instead of 20 minutes of steady workout, alternate between spurts of high/low intensity periods instead. This burns more fat and reduces workout time if you are in a hurry.

5. You will Start Self-Monitoring

Self-monitoring will go mainstream this year, thanks to an increasing number of smartphone apps that help you easily store data on your own behavior e.g. Nike+ running app, and a collection of wearable devices, from Nike Fuel to LarkLife, that do all the work for you.

6. Even Your Folks will have an App!

About 38 percent of the health apps that smartphone users download are fitness-based. And that number is only going to get bigger. That means we’ll total nearly a billion downloads over the next three years.. even your folks will have some fitness or diet application or other to suit their lifestyles!

7. Children with obesity will take Positive Steps towards weightloss

Exercise programs aimed at the problem of childhood obesity are also a major fitness trend. Schools are increasingly partnering with commercial and community-based physical activity programs to prevent and treat rising childhood obesity rates.

8. Fitness Will Stay A La Carte

With lifestyle gyms and boutique specialty studios flourishing you will see an increase in yoga and pilates studios, TRX, CrossFit, poll dancing, all manner of dance classes, and specialized gym centers. The trend will be towards something like mixing, yoga, pilates with CrossFit or Zumba, but it’s all ala carte and tailored to individual preference.