Fitness Trends to Try

Summer’s here and many of us are tackling summer fitness goals (for me, it’s a 10K). And nothing inspires us to hit the gym quite like bikini season, but sometimes our go-to treadmill routine fails to hold our fitness attention. I’ve rounded up some of this summer’s hottest fitness trends that not only get us excited and inspired to get fit, but also provide a second-to-none, fat-blasting workout.

Aerial Yoga Suspend all your worries

Summer is the perfect time to run off and join the circus! Aerial silks are the most popular apparatus, but aerial work can also be done on the static trapeze, hoops or straps. These classes are tons of fun and look more like hanging out on the playground than suffering through a workout. That said, just because it’s fun doesn’t mean it’s not challenging. Once your feet leave the floor, you really get to focus on developing core and upper body strength.  

Barre

 Previously I mentioned How much I enjoyed doing barre, these classes remind me of the ballet classes I took  when I was younger. They’ll develop tons of core and lower body strength in these classes (hello, quads of steel!), but that strength will be balanced out with tons to hip-opening, flexibility-building stretches, making it a great complimentary form of exercise for runners and cyclists. An added bonus: those ballet-influenced moves will help give you ballerina-perfect posture. I always feel two inches taller coming out of barre class!

SURFING 

In this class you're on a mechanical surfboard that moves and shakes while you have to use your core to keep your balance while following the instructor through a series of exercises such as squats and jumps.

Boutique High-Intensity Training Classes

Although High Intensity Interval Training has lately been at the forefront of fitness trends, incorporating it into a small group environment has given it even more popularity. Kari Saitowitz, founder of The Fhitting Room, a New York-based High Intensity Training boutique studio, says that High-Intensity Training in small class environments “brings together the best elements of group fitness and a personal training session. You will get all the energy, motivation and community of an awesome group exercise class, as well as the personal attention and education of a great personal training session.

Boutique Boxing

With boxing gaining traction within the realm of celebrities and models, it’s no surprise that boutique-boxing Studios are popping up around the country. SHADOWBOX, a boutique fitness boxing studio located in New York City, provides a full-body workout that incorporates body weight exercises with high-intensity rounds of shadowboxing and heavy bag work (an average of 1000-plus calories are burned in a 45-minute class). The space boasts a 40-person heavy bag studio for group classes, which you book just like your spin bike, and a vintage boxing ring for one-on-one training.

What are your fitness goals for this summer, and what are your favorite ways to add some fun to your regime?