Carolyn Hansen: The rise of personalised fitness trends

Technology and fitness

Whether you love working out at home or at the gym, gone are the days of monotonous routines. Fitness routines have gone virtual, offering immersive workout experiences. Love to climb mountains? You can with a virtual workout and the right equipment. Prefer a challenging dance class? Virtual reality makes the choices nearly endless.

This exciting trend not only makes workouts more engaging but also more accessible to a wider range of people, regardless of their location. All you need is a connection to the web via phone or computer to open an endless array of possibilities.

The newest technology includes wearable fitness devices that not only track steps to sleep patterns but provide personalised workout suggestions based on the information gathered. They have become invaluable tools for anyone looking to improve their health and fitness levels and their cost has gone down substantially in the past few years, making them more readily available.

They even have a variety made especially for children. Start them early and make them aware of how much exercise they are actually getting in one day via these little but powerful gadgets.

With the help of artificial intelligence (AI) and advanced analytics, personalised fitness is another area of high growth that is becoming the norm. It offers exercise routines and nutrition plans based on specific goals, body types and preferences.

Mindfulness in fitness

Mindfulness is a way we discern how we interact with each moment in the day. Whatever we are doing in the moment requires our “mindful” attention.

This practice has now taken centre stage in the fitness world, playing a pivotal role when it comes to combining physical activity with mental wellness. Eastern holistic methods that focus on reducing stress while enhancing mental clarity like yoga, tai chi and other similar practices are seeing a huge surge in popularity.

Mindfulness methods are not limited to Eastern meditative type practices though.

These practices work for fitness/strength training routines as well. In fact, mindful weightlifting was a topic recently discussed by Arnold Schwarzenegger, the famous bodybuilding world champion who said of mindfulness weight training: “You’ve got to be inside the muscle. This is the difference when it comes to building a championship physique.”

This places one’s awareness totally in the moment, on the muscle being built/used. If you think of awareness as energy, you can easily understand why putting all your energy on one subject would increase your chances of success rather than splitting it into pieces of thought.

Fresh air workouts

If working out inside is not your cup of tea, then the great outdoors offers a multitude of options and continues gaining popularity. From park boot camps to outdoor yoga, the benefits of fresh air and natural surroundings are being embraced as essential physical fitness components. Weather permitting, being outdoors and breathing fresh air while working out is never a bad thing.

Exercise efficiency

High-intensity interval training or HIIT and other similar regimens offer short but intense workout sessions. Since time has now become such a valuable commodity in our modern, very busy worlds, these workouts are perfect for any busy schedule/lifestyle. They have proven their value as effective workouts that take less time but are still effective when it comes to burning calories, building muscle and increasing cardiovascular health. You might say they are your best ROA – return on time invested.

Beyond exercise for health and fitness is its power partner, nutrition. Without proper nutrition, none of the above is possible, at least not long-term. The way we fuel our bodies is undergoing a transformative shift to align with broader health and lifestyle choices.

Driven by a combination of health, environmental and ethical reasons, the current trend in nutrition among athletes and fitness enthusiasts is for plant-based diets. Plant-based diets are linked to stronger hearts, better weight management and a reduced risk of certain diseases. Many health-conscious individuals are now finding plant-based diets to be the most effective when it comes to improving their fitness performance and recovery times, offering optimal levels of carbohydrates for energy, anti-inflammatory properties and efficient muscle recovery.

Functional foods

The focus is no longer on just how many calories a certain food offers but has expanded to include the functional benefits of food. Superfoods chia seed, turmeric, quinoa and berries offer dense nutrient profiles and increased health benefits such as improved immunity and anti-inflammatory effects. Integrating these types of foods into our daily diets is what supports our overall health while enhancing our physical performance.

Whether a plant-based diet is your choice or a focus on eating nutrient-dense, functional foods, proper nutrition is a must. It is the cornerstone of health and fitness.

All these health and fitness trends promise a more comprehensive, mindful and personalised approach to our health and a future where fitness continually becomes more accessible, enjoyable and effective for everyone involved.