Over the last 12 months, the fitness industry has drastically evolved in order to provide ways for people all over the world to stay fit and healthy, whilst locked down at home.
Without the daily commute and a non existent social life, as a nation we rediscovered a passion for exercise and globally, a whole host of innovative and creative new fitness trends have emerged.
As gyms in the UK are due to reopen next month, we take a look at the hottest fitness trends that are set to stick around as we head into summer...
Wearable tech
Whether you use it to track your steps and heart rate or how many kilocalories you’ve burnt and flights of stairs climbed, the last year has seen the rise in popularity of wearable fitness tech. There’s good reason for it too, as research shows using a fitness tracker for just 12 weeks can help increase and maintain your overall physical activity for years to come.
If you’re yet to venture into the world of fitness tech, but are keen to push your workouts to the next level, a MYZONE heart rate tracker is a great place to start. This wearable belt converts real time data into effort points, to encourage you to increase input to reach a higher zone.
Members can get their hands on a MYZONE belt with an exclusive discount from our online shop.
Virtual Challenges
Large scale sporting events such as the London Marathon haven’t been able to take place for over a year now and it’s still unclear as to when they'll make a return. Fitness fanatics with a competitive streak, have turned to virtual challenges, in order to give their training a focus and show off their achievements to fellow enthusiasts.
During 2020, tracking app Strava’s community grew by about two million new athletes each month, with more than 1.1 billion activities being uploaded to the platform in the last 12 months. Our love of virtual challenges is expected to stick around into the summer, as we strive to push our fitness further and stay connected.
Download the Village App to get involved in our regular challenges and compete against other Village members, to encourage you to keep active.
Share your challenge results with us on Instagram.
Our new found love of walking
With little else but Netflix to keep us occupied, lockdown has seen many of us become keen walkers, with our daily step count going through the roof.
As we head into summer and the weather improves, despite the easing of lockdown, our new found love of walking is likely to continue. Although it’s no replacement for a serious sweat session on the gym floor, keeping up a regular walk as part of your exercise routine will help to improve your cardiovascular fitness and is the perfect low impact activity for rest days.
Quicker the better
By now, you’re probably pretty well versed in the benefits of High Intensity Interval Training or HIIT. This summer get ready to maximise those benefits in a fraction of the time, with the emergence of micro HIIT workouts. Ranging from 3-20 minutes in duration, these short but intense training sessions will push your body to the absolute limit and are ideal for fitting into a hectic lifestyle! Whether you squeeze in short 5 minute bursts between zoom meetings at home or fit in a quick 20 minute gym session on your lunch, it’s all about maximum calorie burn in the shortest amount of time.
AMRAP- the new HIIT?
The fitness world loves an abbreviation and AMRAP or ‘as many reps as possible’ is a new trend to add to that ever growing list. As its name suggests, AMRAP requires you to do as much as you can in a set amount of time. Like Tabata or a traditional HIIT workout, AMRAP is a form of high intensity training that’s designed to challenge you to your limits within a short session.
However, unlike it’s popular counterparts, which involve fixed work and rest periods, AMRAP requires you to complete as many rounds of exercises as you possibly can within a set timeframe with no rest after each exercise. This pushes the body to its limits and creates a metabolic overload, which helps with endurance and muscle-building in the long run.
Connection between mind and body
The huge scale negative effects to our mental health of the pandemic, has really highlighted the importance of fitness for our mental wellbeing. Fitness has shifted beyond just aesthetics and our reasons for working out are drastically shifting towards the way it makes us feel. Although already a hugely popular form of exercise, this has led to an increase in the number of us giving holistic fitness as try. Classes such as yoga and Pilates, hold benefits for both the body and mind and allow us to take a much needed breather from the daily stresses of life.
Outdoor fitness
If there has been any benefit to come out of multiple lockdowns, it’s our rediscovery of our love for the great outdoors. Outdoor exercise has been proven to reduce symptoms of depression and anxiety, helping to boost mental health. Not to mention the benefit of getting a dose of vitamin D from sunlight exposure!
Whilst indoor group exercise is off the cards for the time being, we’re bringing outdoor exercise to a number of our clubs. The same great Village classes, just out in the open.
Take a look at the benefits of outdoor exercise.
