Boot camp, strength training will top 2011 fitness trends

HOW MUCH YOU BURN








GOVERNMENT'S PHYSICAL ACTIVITY RECOMMENDATIONS


• Kids and teens should do an hour or more of moderate-intensity to vigorous physical activityeach day. That includes running, biking, swimming, walking, jumping rope, skipping, playing basketball or soccer and doing muscle-strengthening activities such as tug of war, modified sit-ups and push-ups.

• Parents and other adults should get at least 2 1/2 hours of moderate-intensity physical activityeach week, such as brisk walking, or 1 1/4hours of a vigorous-intensity activity, such as jogging or swimming laps, or a combination of the two types. These aerobic activities should be done in at least 10-minute bouts. This is the minimum amount. More is better.

• Adults should also do muscle-strengthening (resistance) activities at a moderate- or high-intensity level for all major muscle groups two or more days a week. This should include exercises for the chest, back, shoulders, upper legs, hips, abdomen and lower legs. The exercises can be done with free weights or machines, resistance bands, calisthenics that use body weight for resistance (push-ups, pull-ups, sit-ups), or carrying heavy loads or doing heavy gardening such as digging or hoeing.

• Older folks should follow the guidelines for other adults if they are able. If not, they should be as active as their physical condition allows. If they are at risk of falling, they should do exercises that improve balance.


Try sweating through a boot-camp workout class. Or lifting weights. Or doing exercises to strengthen your stomach and back.

These are among the top fitness trends for the coming year, according to the American College of Sports Medicine. The group surveyed more than 19,000 fitness professionals to come up with worldwide fitness trends for 2011, a survey the group has been conducting since 2007.

Boot-camp workouts, strength training and core exercises are among this year's top 20 trends. Pilates and balance training, listed in the past, didn't make the cut this time.


People are going "back to basics" with more regimented exercise programs as opposed to ones that require specialized instruction such as Pilates, says Walt Thompson, lead researcher on the trend study and a regents' professor of kinesiology and health at Georgia State University-Atlanta.

The popularity of Pilates may be slipping because of the economy, he says. The training required to teach the classes is expensive.

Boot-camp workouts

These structured, high-intensity workouts, modeled after military-style training, include cardiovascular, strength, endurance and flexibility exercises. The classes often combine sports-type drills and calisthenics.

"These workouts are not for the faint of heart," Thompson says. "Expect the workout to be led by a drill sergeant who has little to no patience for people lagging behind."

The programs are designed for the more experienced exerciser who wants or needs some additional motivation, or to try something different to spice up the workout routine, Thompson says. Class members move from one exercise to the next with little or no rest.

"Do not attempt a boot-camp workout if you have a previously diagnosed medical condition or are easily intimidated."

Core training

This trend stresses the strength and conditioning of the stabilizing muscles of the abdomen, back and chest, Thompson says. The workout emphasizes everything but your arms, legs and head.

Many fitness experts believe people with a weak core have poor posture, and those with strong core muscles can function better in all aspects of their daily lives.

Core exercises are an element of many popular fitness programs.

Push-ups, sit-ups and curl-ups are examples of basic core exercises, but some fitness professionals now use such novelties as kettlebells and stability balls, he says.

Strength training

Most people have a vision of bulky men as being the only people who lift weights, but everyone from teenagers to the elderly should be strength training, Thompson says.

The government's physical activity guidelines recommend that adults do muscle-strengthening activities at a moderate- or high-intensity level for all major muscle groups two or more days a week.

The exercises can be done at the gym or at home with free weights, machines or tried-and-true calisthenics. Many places offer free personal training s