Fitness Forecast 2016

So what will be in - in 2016?   Crazes in group exercise classes in UK gyms are ever-changing and can be ever-surprising!   It is good though to keep your body surprised in terms of the exercises you do.  This means your body has to keep adapting to change, rather than plateauing with a limited number of exercises.  

Online, exercise appears to be increasingly about Instagram Glam.   Despite it's long and spiritual heritage, Yoga's future looks to include yet more Yoga pose selfiies online. 

So will this obsession with body image and exercise carry on?   Or will there be some balance with body function over form as the reason to exercise?    Perhaps the large amount of published scientific evidence available will help persuade us of the greater benefits of getting and staying fit...

Meanwhile, evidence a while back suggested how effective High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) is in terms of increasing fitness.  And HIIT has certainly been a big hit in 2015.   However, the intensive nature of the training does carry a higher risk of injury when compared to lower intensity exercises.   Might this stop us and make us pause to think about how well our bodies function under stress?    Might we appreciate and understand more about our posture, flexibility, mobility and stability and the roles they all play in safely exercising?

For some, if you already have an injury, or other physical issue such as a back problem, then gaining all of the above is going to come first - before you think about speed, power and high intensity.

But might 2016 include a light bulb moment for more of us in terms of what we need to do to prevent injury?  Will we think about future-proofing our bodies before we go for the New Year burn (if we haven't gone for it already)?

Source: Amanda Mills

If that burn is going to be a run, then you may be part of the fastest growing sport in the UK right now.  And chances are, you might be wearing a new bit of wearable tech.  It will be interesting, in time, to know what difference wearable tech makes to the fitness landscape.   It's certainly a tool for those who already exercise.   I wonder if it will draw in many new exercisers?

Exercising at home with a fitness DVD or video has been the preserve of thousands (of mainly women) for years.   Now though, these are being replaced by a plethora of online exercise tutorials, some of which promise to accommodate every body shape and size.  But can they?  Can they replace a real life class where you can explain to the instructor that you don't feel 100% when you arrive and can give feedback the next week about how you felt after the class.

Going back to HIIT, it's interesting how scientific evidence filters down into the fitness industry and influences how we exercise.  2016 may see more findings about our obsession with how and when our bodies use fat as a source of energy - fat-burning.   These findings may well influence trends in how and when we exercise in 2016...

Keep on going!