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People in 1910 would鈥檝e died of embarrassment if they saw some of 2010鈥檚 fitness trends. (Try handing a to a centenarian.) Other trends would've made a caveman proud. Presenting the top 10 fitness trends of the year, from the Paleolithic to the futuristic
10. iFitness
A quick search in the Apple store for 鈥渨ork out鈥 returns 157 apps, many of them designed to dictate your workout, keep track of calories burned, and keep you motivated. This is the year of the smartphone as gym buddy. But, as 国产吃瓜黑料鈥檚 Lab Rat asks in a new article, is that really a good thing?
9. Vitamin D
You need extra for bone health! No you don鈥檛! The great vitamin D debate raged this year, with people like Dr. Robert Heaney, a researcher at Nebraska's Creighton University, making lofty claims like: 鈥淲e won't know the true burden of chronic disease until we eradicate vitamin D deficiency.” But a study released in late November proved otherwise. 鈥淔or most people, taking extra calcium and vitamin D supplements is not indicated,鈥 Dr. Clifford J. Rosen an osteoporosis expert at the Maine Medical Center Research Institute, . The debate rages on.
8. Boot Camp
Blame the Biggest Loser, military mystique, and budget consciousness for the steady rise in Boot Camp popularity. At the end of 2009, the , a group fitness regimen based on military workouts and led by drill-sergeant-like instructors, would be the 16th most popular trend in 2010. Now they predict Boot Camp will be one of the top 10 fitness trends in 2011.
7.
Perhaps you, like many other Americans, first saw the shake weight while watching television with your extended family, when a harmless show like 鈥淐ake Boss鈥 was interrupted by women holding a device that looked like, well, um, er, you couldn鈥檛 say鈥攏ot in front of your conservative in-laws. Thankfully you weren鈥檛 the only one whose mind was in the gutter; in April. But the Shake Weight creators are getting the last laugh: The Shake Weight For Men ad on YouTube has registered almost two million views, and the weight itself , 2010.
6. The Gluten-Free Diet
It seems a lot of people with no prior history of gluten intolerance suddenly came down with in 2010.聽 (In all fairness, better screening properly diagnosed thousands of people who didn鈥檛 know they had it.) Brought on by a gluten protein found in wheat, the autoimmune disease can wreak havoc on the small intestine, causing diarrhea and fatigue. The answer? Avoid all foods containing gluten. The fad? have the disease, but sales of gluten-free foods have skyrocketed, leading one gluten-free specialty brand to in December.
5.聽 Tone-Up Shoes and Clothes听听听
If you don鈥檛 have the derriere of your dreams, 鈥攊f you just wear their shoes. No squats required. The theory is the shoes have unstable soles, so you have to work harder to stay upright and not fall over, engaging your muscles and toning your legs and bum. However a study funded by the American Council on Exercise found that none of the shoes provide any statistically significant boost in muscle exertion or caloric burn. But that hasn鈥檛 stopped companies from taking the tone-while-you-do-almost-nothing fad to the next level: , according to manufacturers, debuted in 2010.
4. & 3. P90X and TRX
Body-weight resistance workouts you can do anywhere were huge in 2010, with and leading the craze. P90X is a 90-day, DVD-based workout program that touts 鈥渕uscle confusion鈥濃攃onstantly challenging the muscles to do different movements鈥攁s the way to a better body. TRX is a simple band that you can hang from almost anywhere to intensify a weight workout. For the ultimate muscle burn, savvy exercisers have combined the two, performing many of the P90X moves on a TRX system. Editor Ryan Krogh, in an effort to get buff for the ladies, gave the P90X system a try. What did he think? Read all about it here.
2. Barefoot Running
Believers in barefoot running claim the practice encourages a more natural gait, and reduces injury by building up the muscles in the foot. The craze picked up speed with the 2009 release of . For people who want to experience running the way our ancestors did without getting dirty (or dirty looks), Vibram introduced their FiveFinger shoes, a thin sole meant to mimic barefoot running. Toes around the world have never looked better.
1. Paleo Fitness
Similar to barefoot running and the comeback of bodyweight exercises, fitness regimens that imitate what our ancestors were doing when they developed the first stone tools were hot in 2010. Frenchman Erwan LeCorre led the trend with his 鈥溾 or move naturally-branded routines.聽 Climbing trees, running barefoot, picking up logs, throwing rocks鈥攊t鈥檚 all a part of paleo fitness. And if you feel you鈥檝e lost your natural instincts to do such activities or feel stupid doing them alone, you can pay to have someone tell you and a large group of people what to do. Your Paleolithic ancestors would be proud of your effort. Maybe.
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