When Olympia Cure first tried on rebound boots (ski-boot-like shoes with flexible plastic ovals attached to the bottom), she “felt like a kid on a trampoline.”
Soon after, the Chicago fitness enthusiast and part-time roller skating instructor founded Cure. Unleashed Movementis similar to a space-age group rebound class that does step aerobics on stilts. Since December, she says she has lost 5 pounds and her stamina has also increased.
a 2019 ClassPass Survey They saw an 82% increase in participation in non-traditional fitness classes, including trampoline training, bungee fitness and dance cardio, compared to the previous year.
But classes like Cure and other trendy group workouts like bungee fitness, trampoline jumping, and drumstick routines have become objects of derision for some people. Millions of people post videos of themselves cracking jokes on sites like YouTube and TikTok. Middle-aged woman doing something other than exercise.
While traditionalists may view unconventional workouts as fads with no scientific backing, proponents argue that these new methods can increase motivation and make exercise more accessible and enjoyable. To do.
However, with so much information and limited time, choosing the best training method can be difficult. Research alone shows that flying bungees should be avoided. But what about those who don’t like weight benching or are nervous about CrossFit? Is there such a thing as perfect training? Here are the opinions of experts.
Exercise buckets are important
Large-scale, high-quality studies on trampolines and other fitness trends are scarce, but the studies that do exist are suggest Improves balance, cardiovascular health, and pelvic floor muscle structure. It’s also easier on your joints and generally more fun, resulting in a lower level of perceived exertion.
However, the value of Weightlifting and High-intensity aerobic exercise Weight loss has been around for years. recent research Weightlifting has been shown to reduce cardiovascular disease mortality in women by a whopping 30 percent.
(Lifting weights is also suitable for middle-aged women.
But author Mike Roussel says: Strength: Field manual The nutrition expert says it’s less about specific workouts and more about ticking specific fitness boxes.
“You need cardio training and you need strength training, and having both is the ultimate fitness resume,” he says.
For your cardio “bucket,” Roussel recommends aiming for low-intensity cardio (you can talk while moving) and high-intensity bursts. Low-intensity aerobic exercise strengthens parts of the heart, lowering blood pressure and resting heart rate. High-intensity aerobic exercise makes your heart work harder and forces your body to use a different type of fuel. This is called metabolic flexibility, and it promotes longevity and disease prevention.
Then there is the “bucket” of resistance. Increasing strength and power contributes to longevity, Roussel says. One reason for this is that lean body mass helps prevent falls and fractures later on, and it’s easier to maintain muscle later on. “It’s like saving for retirement,” he says. “You’re going to spend money, but at least the money is there.”
(Here’s how weightlifting affects your body and mind.
As if that wasn’t enough to make barbell-haters reconsider, resistance training also contributes to brain health.
“It’s like a physical Sudoku,” he says. stacey simsan exercise physiologist specializing in women’s athletics. “Wordle and Sudoku are good for your neural pathways, but strength training is even better because it strengthens your muscles, improves metabolic control, and improves your brain health.”
Sims recommends thinking of resistance training in terms of three planes of movement: quad-dominant/glute-dominant (squats), upper-body push/pull (bench overhead press), and posterior movement (deadlifts and Cossack squats).
“And then depending on what people are doing in their lives, we’re going to look at the different aspects of movement and the different exercises that can be incorporated into that,” she added.
Evolution of fitness trends
This isn’t the first time a trendy workout has come under fire. In the early 20th century, calisthenics and calisthenics were sometimes considered too basic and rigorous to be suitable for everyone. Home training came into the spotlight in the 1950s and into his 1960s, but programs like Jack LaLanne’s simple approach and lack of individualized instruction led to injuries. It was criticized as having potential.
The aerobics craze of the 1970s and 1980s, made popular by Jane Fonda, was criticized as a high-impact exercise that could damage joints. At the same time, bodybuilding was heavily criticized for promoting unrealistic body images and using steroids.
(A kinetic phenomenon born in a prison camp.
In the 1990s, step aerobics and spinning drew attention for their risk of repetitive strain injuries, while yoga and Pilates were dismissed as too gentle or ineffective for weight loss. The 2000s saw the rise of functional fitness with CrossFit, but boot camps and HIIT faced criticism for their high injury rates and intense training, as well as being potentially dangerous for beginners.
From the 2010s to the present, boutique fitness studios were sometimes seen as elitist due to their high costs, while digital and at-home workouts raised concerns about a lack of personalized instruction.
find balance
For both Sim and Roussel, the best training is one that takes into account real life. Russell calls this a “gray area.” It’s the place where your fitness and nutrition goals align with your travel, parenting, party, and other goals.
Instead, he says, the secret to success is embracing the nuances and realities of your real-life demands: start with what you enjoy and then add in any athletic elements that are missing.
(Gait is the sixth vital sign.Here’s how to do it right. )
“You have to look at that motivation element,” Sims says. “If you love walking, I’d tell you to put on a weighted backpack, so it gives you that extra resistance and forces you to push. You’re still doing what you love, but now it has an element of resistance training.”
For students of Olympia Cure’s Rebound course in Chicago, the motivation factor opened the door to regular fitness.
“A lot of our residents say there aren’t any affordable fitness options around us that will trick their minds,” she says. “They want to do something that will make them think, ‘I’m not actually working out. I’m just having fun.'”