5 fitness trends for 2017

2 mins to read

Personal trainer Andrew Cate reveals his top five ways to workout to help keep you in shape for the year ahead.

Wearable technology

Smart watches, heart rate monitors, GPS devices and digital fitness trackers continue to evolve, appealing to the tech savvy.

With the ability to monitor many aspects of your activity, and in some cases your sleep patterns, wearable health devices are capable of tracking medically useful health information.

The data can then offer some unique insights into your lifestyle, allowing you to make adjustments and strive for healthy targets such as step counts or kilojoules burnt. Data can be shared on social media or with like-minded online communities, offering support and even some friendly rivalry.

There's also a motivational boost that many experience from using wearable technology, especially at the beginning of a new fitness program.

Over 55's fitness

As our population ages, gyms, trainers and innovative fitness programs will increasingly cater for people aged 55 and over.

Some gyms are already exclusive to over 55's, while personal trainers can expect to see more retiree's filling up their schedules. Over 55's will continue to seek out the benefits that exercises has to offer, especially to boost quality of life and slow, or even reverse the effects of aging.

This population group value exercise programs that cater to individual needs such cardiovascular health and joint mobility .The over 55s also can benefit greatly from resistance training, which may help to maintain or improve balance, increase bones density, and counteract age related muscle loss.

Kettlebell training

Kettlebells are effectively a dumbbell where the handle is at the top, rather than in the middle. This unique distribution of weight allows you to perform some dynamic, multi-joint exercises that combine speed and resistance training to offer a wide range of benefits.

For example, the kettlebell swing is a total body workout in itself, incorporating cardio, flexibility and strength in the one exercise. Importantly, kettlebell training helps to counteract the negative effects of prolonged sitting, by strengthening the core, lower back, buttocks and shoulders.

Kettlebells are also ideal for people who prefer to work out at home, as they are relatively inexpensive, and don't take up too much space. However, good technique is vital, so seek out expert help if you have any concerns.

Fast fitness

With lack of time now a virtual modern epidemic, time-efficient workouts will continue to be highly sort after. Programs that offer to boost fitness and burn fat in 15 - 20 minutes or less will appeal to those of us who struggle to find the time to be active, or are too busy for longer workouts.

While it might sound like a fitness gadget infomercial, short and intense exercise circuits can still deliver results.

They key is intensity- a cornerstone of interval based training and circuit challenges such as CrossFit. For fast fitness think combining short sprints with explosive, whole body exercises such as jump squats, burpees and cycle kicks.

These type of workouts combine strength, flexibility, power, and agility, and are more suited to those more advanced in their level of fitness.

Fitness apps

With smartphones now a constant companion, they can serve as a very handy training partner when it comes to health and fitness.

There's a vast range of food, fitness and fat loss apps for both apple and android users, helping to boost your diet, activity levels, motivation and results.

Just like wearable devices, smartphones (when combined with the right app), have sensors which can provide valuable data and feedback for exercise enthusiasts. This can range from tracking tools and pedometers to programming guidance and exercise demonstrations.

There are coaching apps and challenge apps, training diaries and community apps that offer motivation and rewards for your efforts.

Either free, or at minimal expense, there's a smartphone fitness app for everyone.