This year is exciting for the fitness industry, as we are now seeing the rise in popularity of a few fitness trends that have, to one degree or another, proven to be very useful. From Yoga to High-Intensity Interval Training, to the digital fitness boom, here are the most popular trends that health buffs ought to take note of this coming 2020.
The Focus on Both Physical and Mental Wellness
Even ancient civilizations were fully aware that a healthy body can’t come alongside an unhealthy mind, and that the two are inextricably linked. This necessarily means that physical wellness must go hand-in-hand with mental wellness and that it’s somewhat of a fool’s errand to try and separate the two. And, to this end, various fitness studios have made it their goal to focus on the development of both.
Indeed, this year, mental coaches who work to improve the psychological factors that are involved with one’s physical performance will be more popular than ever. Therefore, one can expect to see special areas within fitness studios dedicated to this kind of training become more popular, where people can harness the power of their focus, quiet their mind, and develop their mental well-being.
The Rise of Yoga Hybrids
This trend, which is also focused on both physical and mental well-being, is about Yoga this time, and the many hybrids of it that have, to some degree, become increasingly popular in recent years. One such Yoga hybrid is the combination of Yoga and HIIT. HIIT, or High-Intensity Interval Fitness Training, is a blanket term for short bursts of high-intensity workouts. This, combined with the muscle strengthening and toning of a Yoga work out, is said to be highly beneficial for building stamina and reaching target-neglected muscles.
It isn’t by far a new concept, as it was already trendy in 2017. Still, it is steadily increasing in popularity, not least because it claims to give the maximum amount of success in the shortest possible time.
Functional Training
Functional training is physical training that focuses on both the muscles and parts of the body that one uses in everyday living. Naturally, it’s a kind of physical exercise that’s attractive to people who want to make an investment in themselves and get better at doing what they usually need to do in their everyday lives. The training includes movements like squatting, pulling, lunging, deadlifting, etc. A majority of the movements are multi-joint and require forward-backward, side-to-side, and rotational movements to exercise the muscles as well as joints associated with those movements.
Glide Fit
Glide Fit is a kind of training that fuses both functional training and balance training—this latter being a kind of training that is focused on strengthening the parts of the body that allow one to be upright. The goal of Glide fit is to attain the benefits of conventional functional alongside the benefits of stability training with one package of movements. Unfortunately, don’t take out your credit cards just yet, since some aspect of glide fit is not for the inexperienced, and may require quite a bit of practice to get right.
Mindful Jogging
Of course, jogging has been around for longer than anyone can remember. But Mindful jogging is another variant that fuses the benefits of mindfulness meditation and jogging in one package that targets both one’s physical and mental well-being. It’s a simple method, really, and all it requires is that one focuses on his breathing, his posture, and the environment around him, at the exclusion of all else, while trotting about on a leisurely pace.
Digital Detoxification
Our gadgets and our reliance on both electricity and the internet is slowly controlling our lives, so much so that we’re lost without them. And a new trend that’s increasingly becoming popular is trying to do without them for the purpose of socializing and reconnecting with others in a more natural and non-digital manner. This, it is said—and said with good reason—works towards reducing stress. It also fosters a more profound sense of community between individuals, and overall, makes the world a more empathic and kinder place.
High-Intensity Interval Training
It is still the method of choice for most fitness buffs, and it’s been this way for quite a while now, with no sign of slowing down. HIIT means the performance of intense bursts of movements, like running, rowing, stair-climbing, or etc, that is intended to maximize workout in the shortest time possible. Practicing HIIT is to make an effective investment in one’s health, and it can be done anywhere. In fact, many people are doing it with great success. So this is one fitness trend that’s been around for many years now, but is also seen to increase in popularity this 2020. Indeed, most if not all of the fitness franchises, one can come across offer more than a few programs dedicated to HIIT.