Fitness trends for 2013

Dr Kenneth Gardner, Contributor

Much more attention is being focused on strength development these days, and this should continue well into 2013.

Strength exercises are at the core of weight loss, weight gain and body-building exercise prescriptions. Currently, body-weight exercises are very popular in the fitness community and many fitness facilities are including more body-weight activities in their standard routine to make our movements more natural and efficient. Thus, there is a shift in the trend from exercise machines and exercise equipment to body-weight exercise programmes.

Many of the basic exercises that were done in the past, such as push-ups, pull-ups, sit-ups and planks, are targeted with the use of body-weight exercises. Currently more emphasis is being placed on the natural movements of our body and how we can use and move it more efficiently, and prolong our involvement in the activities. As more persons find it difficult to afford gym equipment and facilities, body-weight exercises can provide a good alternative without the financial challenges.

It is envisioned that more persons will appreciate the benefits of a healthy lifestyle and seize the opportunity to get involved in fitness activities. This should create the need for more qualified persons in the field to provide their services so that beginning fitness enthusiast can be sold on the idea of making physical fitness a part of their lifestyle. Therefore, with these anticipated trends, more persons may need to avail themselves of the personal or professional development that will position them to facilitate such growth in the fitness community.

Obesity is on the rise in both adults and children, so it is expected that more persons will appreciate the need to participate in physical activities to stem the tide of obesity and our increasingly sedentary lifestyle. As more and more physical activities are engineered out of our lives and we spend more time watching television, more time on the computer and the telephone when this is complemented with the high-caloric junk food that completes the cocktail, the outcome will be more overweight, obesity and their associated health risks.

The current trend in functional fitness is to make it more personalised so that incidences of injury are reduced while simultaneously improving balance, coordination, power and endurance to perform activities designed to reflect actual activities performed in our daily lives. Core training exercises, plyometrics and interval training are always current.

Core training focuses on the strength and conditioning of the stabilising muscles of our midsection. Thus, exercising the muscles in the hip, lower back and abdomen improves our trunk strength and ability to perform our daily activities. Plyometric exercises involve forceful jumping or springing activities. They provide a very useful avenue to develop power, and this provides a viable option to the traditional weight training because even with light weights we can reap significant benefits.

Exercising via the interval training route has become increasingly popular because it produces quick results, especially when the intense effort segments are twice as long as the recovery intervals.

Dr Kenneth Gardner is an exercise physiologist at Holiday Hills Research Center; email: yourhealth@gleanerjm.com.