The New Year is ringing in some exciting fitness trends that will make your exercise goals not only easier to accomplish, but also easier on your wallet. For many, the thought of establishing and engaging in a daily fitness routine is equivalent to having a root canal. But this year, fitness experts are aiming to slim down routines, costs and the time you spend huffing and puffing. Despite this, ultimate weight management and fitness results are expected to be better than ever. Sound like magic? Not really! These fitness plans are just common sense techniques that will pay off in spades. Here’s how:
Bodyweight Training: Bodyweight training goes back to a simpler and more streamlined time. Fancy equipment is being abandoned in favor of resistance bands and/or suspension cables that utilize your own body weight in order to build muscle. Experts say that this is a safer way to tone those pecs, and if you want to save some money on a gym membership, these exercises can be done at home. There is a wealth of moves available so that you can vary your routine and keep your motivation high.
Functional Training: Functional training is a complement to bodyweight training and is focused not on cardio and strength training, but on achieving balance between your muscles and joints, as well as better posture and balance. These moves are particularly helpful for the aging population, and those who spend a lot of time hunched over a desk. Functional exercises generally engage your whole body and tend to mimic and support everyday activities.
High-Intensity Interval Training (HIIT): High-intensity interval training is maintaining its popularity because you get much more bang for your workout buck. By combining short bursts of high intensity workouts with short rest periods (though these are still active rest periods), participants can burn more calories in a shorter amount of time, and keep on burning them throughout the day. Studies show that this type of training keeps your metabolism zooming for as much as eight hours after the routine, yielding great results and saving you that most precious commodity: time.
Maximizing Personal Training Sessions: Trainers are great motivators and who keep you on track and in tune with your fitness regimen. They can also cost a lot and take a big chunk of time out of your day. More and more fitness enthusiasts are getting together for small group training sessions rather than individual sessions. Not only do you get the benefit of a trainer’s expertise and motivation, your friends can also be a source of inspiration and motivation. Even cutting the cost of a training session in half is a big savings for both you and your partner. Make sure your trainer feels comfortable working with two or more people simultaneously, and, of course, find one who is interested in helping you meet (or even exceed) your fitness goals.
Better-Educated Fitness Professionals: If you decide to engage a trainer, you should have some great options out there. Now more than ever, professional trainers are beefing up their knowledge and skills in order to be competitive in today’s tight market. Certification is becoming—an essential for those who are serious about their careers – and those certifications should be accredited by the NCAA (National Commission for Certifying Agencies). This organization evaluates the quality of any certification that a trainer holds so that consumers are certain their trainers are both knowledgeable and safe in their training methodology.
Fitness Trackers: Fitness trackers and weight management tools have been around for a long time, but now, instead of logging onto your computer and entering data, your fitness tracker goes with you (worn on your wrist) wherever you go. When wearing a tracker, you receive an accurate record of how many calories you burn throughout your day (not just when you are exercising), and you don’t have to log on and manage the data yourself. You can modify your activities throughout your day to meet your goals, because you have up-to-the-minute information, and fitness trackers even record the quality of your sleep so that you can capitalize on getting essential rest.
Whatever your fitness goals are for 2015, finding the perfect regimen for you is right at your fingertips.