2016 Fitness Trends

Back in January, I compared my personal fitness trends to the projected 2015 fitness trends: I listed mine as:

Rumba, which I’m still doing at the gym three times per week,

Running–I completed a marathon in June,

Yoga on a daily basis,

CrossFit, which I loved, but I never went back because running took up most of my time this year,

Outdoor activities—our dog makes sure we do plenty of that.

It’s not 2016 yet, but the American College of Sports Medicine is already looking ahead to the 2016 fitness trends. You can see the report here.

Here’s how I feel about each one of ACSM’s 2016 fitness trends:

1. Wearable Technology

No, thanks. I can see the benefit for a lot of people, but I don’t care, as of yet, to get caught up in all that data. I don’t even have a GPS watch. I don’t even run with music.

2. Body Weight Training

Love it. It’s very effective, and you have no excuses: your body is always with you, and if you’ve got your body, you can get a great workout in. It gets so much more creative than just push-ups and squats. Work with a trainer to get some ideas or look on YouTube for at-home body weight workouts. My friend Dave at Make Your Body Work is the best when it comes to this.

3. High-Intensity Interval Training

The report defines it as “short bursts of high-intensity exercise followed by a short period of rest or recovery and typically takes less than 30 minutes to perform”. It definitely makes for a great workout; you can get a lot of good work done in a short period of time. I wouldn’t recommend it for beginners–the difficulty level could turn a new exerciser off.

4. Strength Training

I started lifting weights when I was 18 years old and it’s been a huge part of my workout regimen ever since…until recently, interestingly enough. I stopped lifting when I started training for the marathon back in February. It’s definitely a great idea to complement your running with lifting, but I was devoting so much time to those runs, I didn’t have the time or energy to hit the gym afterward. I did yoga and pilates for my strength training. Next time I do a marathon, I will include regular lifting sessions.

5. Educated, Certified, and Experienced Fitness Professionals

Uh, yes. I once went to a continuing education course where some of the participants (ALL of whom were supposed fitness professionals, that’s why they were there) didn’t know how to design an exercise for the triceps. Those people are out there, teaching fitness. It’s worth the search to find someone who knows what he’s doing.

6. Personal Training

Especially if you’re new to exercise, working with a personal trainer is a phenomenal idea. You learn proper form and you have someone to push you during those days when you really want to quit. It’s great for anyone who enjoys having someone else design their workouts and appreciates personalized attention.

7. Functional Fitness

There are lots of weight machines at the gym I never touch, because the movements don’t translate to real life (leg extension and adductor/abductor machines, for starters). Functional fitness is about improving your daily quality of life, making it easier to climb stairs and open jars–the things you do on a daily basis. This is truly exercise for everyone, even if you don’t want to be a bodybuilder, sculpt a six-pack, or run a five-minute mile.

8. Fitness Programs for Older Adults

If you never stop moving, you’ll never have to stop moving. It’s so important to continue to use the bodies we have as we get older, keeping them at their best so we can move as comfortably as possible through all the days of our lives.

9. Exercise and Weight Loss

Exercise is a key component to a healthy lifestyle and it can certainly aid in weight loss, but remember this: you shape your body in the gym, but you size it in the kitchen. You have to keep nutrition in mind if you want to lose weight.

10. Yoga

My favorite! I’ve learned so much about my body and myself since starting yoga. It will be on my list of trends for the rest of my life. Have you tried it yet? Start here.

11. Group Personal Training

An affordable way to get personalized instruction. There’s a lot of motivational power in the group, as well.

12. Worksite Health Promotion

I’m so glad to see more and more companies including health-related benefits and incentives. The productivity of a company increases greatly when its workers are healthy and happy.

13. Wellness Coaching

Even though exercise is my main area of expertise, I can’t help but stray into other areas of wellness when I write this blog–because truly, there’s so much at play when it comes to staying healthy. True wellness is mental as well as physical, and a balanced lifestyle includes eating well, moving, eliminating stress, and educating ourselves about everything we’re putting on, in, or near our precious bodies. Having a wellness coach is like having a cheerleader and a guide, someone who helps you change your bad habits.

14. Outdoor Activities

Moving is great; moving while getting in touch with nature has extra benefits.

15. Sport-Specific Training

My friend just said to me today, “Maybe if I trained specifically to play tennis and if I could see those improvements on the court, I would actually enjoy going to the gym.” I said, yes, yes you probably would. Training for the marathon kept me ultra-focused; knowing that race was coming up kept me from even considering skipping a run.

16. Flexibility and Mobility Rollers

I need to use mine more.

17. Smartphone Exercise Apps

I don’t use any. Can say with a fair degree of certainty that I never will. If they help you stay on track, great. They would just slow me down, and it would it take me ages to choose one.

18. Circuit Training

I’ve been teaching circuits since I started teaching fitness, period. They’re a fantastic way to get your heart rate going up and down, and they’re suitable for just about anyone. Even within one class, you can have an athlete and a senior doing the same circuit because they each get to work at their own pace, and there’s time to help people modify the exercises.

19. Core Training

Remember, your core is not just your abs. And truly, any total-body workout will include plenty of core work. Yoga, pilates, kickboxing, and weightlifting (especially free weights) will all incorporate your core whether you do crunches at the end or not.

20. Outcome Measurements

Tracking your progress helps you stick with your program. I don’t advise the scale as a means of measurement; but actual circumference measurements, fitness tests (like how fast you can run a mile), or events (like CrossFit competitions, 5K races, or even that marathon) are a great way to compare how you are now to how you were a year ago.

Are any of these trends on your workout radar for 2016?