Future of fitness

Wish you could peek into the future? Well, we think we just did! Last week we checked out one of the most exciting developments to hit the fitness industry in the last few years. Group fitness experts Les Mills and fitness wear brand Reebok have teamed up to launch their amazing new take on group exercise, Immersive Fitness. It’s the future of fitness. Immersive Fitness takes the traditional Less Mills classes that you may have tried in your local gym – Grit, BodyCombat, BodyJam, BodyBalance – and gives them a high-tech makeover.

The new concept sees classes taking place in a dark room, in front of a giant wraparound screen. The class interacts with the action on screen to bring a whole new level of fun to the workout. BodyCombat sees you taking on ‘space invader’ style aliens and spaceships, kicking and punching them into oblivion. In the Grit class you squat, jump and leap to avoid flying objects that seem to come out of the screen at you. BodyJam feels like a rave as coloured lights flash around the screen and pulse in time to the music. And BodyBalance sees you enjoying the stunning landscapes of New Zealand as the mountain views are projected onto the screen in front of you and the moon, the setting sun and the passing birds are used to help you align yourself and your gaze. Pretty impressive, huh!

This innovative partnership has also launched The Trip, a supped-up spin class which transports you to other worldly landscapes and sees you following the road or mountain path on the screen in front of you – pounding up the hills, speeding down the slopes and leaning around the corners. It’s an amazing experience, and really takes you out of a ‘spin’ mindset and into a ‘bike riding’ zone – taking the corners at speed feels so much like riding the real thing on a road we thought me might fall off! And when the cycle is done you ride off into the glorious sunset accompanied by a flock of birds – what a way to wind down! It may sounds techy, but really it’s all about upping the fun factor of your workouts. Knocking out alien invaders, speeding through futuristic cities and relaxing on mountain tops – and getting a great workout while you’re at it – is a great way to get your fitness fix.

Unfortunately, it’s likely the concept will take a while to get to your local club, but when it does, it will be a real game changer. So that got us thinking what does the future of fitness look like? How do you think we’ll be working out in 10 years time, 20 years time or even 50 years time? Will we be wearing 3D specs? What crazy new equipment will people come up with? We want to hear what you think! So drop us a tweet @WeHeartLiving with your ideas.