Top fitness trends

Want to know what’s hot on the fitness scene right now? We’ve rounded up the top fitness trends to watch out for, so you can stay ahead of the pack.

HIIT
You what? HIIT or High Intensity Interval Training is ridiculously popular right now. The basic concept is that you push yourself really hard for a short period of time, then follow this up with a short rest period and repeat this sequence. You can apply HIIT training to a huge range of activities from running to rowing and kettlebells to kickboxing. It’s all about moving away from steady state exercise, where you stay at the same pace and intensity for the whole session – i.e. a long run or gentle cycle ride – and pushing your body to a higher intensity. Fancy trying it? Check out Fitness First’s Tabata classes, Soho Gyms’ Insanity classes or Virgin Active’s twentyfour class.

Fun runs
Fancy doing something to challenge your running this summer, but can’t face the prospect of a marathon or half marathon? Stick to a shorter distance and add a good dose of mud, colour or neon! There are loads of fun running events popping up all over the country and they make for a great day out with your mates. We love the look of the Colour Run, the Electric Run and the Tough Mudder events. Want to find out more? Check out our round up of the best fun runs.

Triathlon
For some people, one challenge is never enough. Step up, triathlon. This triple threat is growing in popularity with events springing up everywhere. These days the sport is amazingly accessible with beginner events, workshops and shorter super-sprint distances available for those who don’t fancy the full whack. Human Race events offer a pretty comprehensive schedule of triathlon events, check it out at humanrace.co.uk.

Yoga combos
Yoga is as popular as ever, this is one fitness trend that’s in it for the long run. But recently there have been some wild and whacky additions to the traditional practice. Voga – a combination of yoga and vogueing, obvs – has been a big hit in the capital, yoga with your dog or ‘doga’ has also been bringing a new meaning to our downward dogs, and Formentera Yoga is now offering naked yoga retreats – yup, really. Plus yoga retreats and holidays are bigger than ever! It seems these day that whatever your passion, blend it with yoga, and you’re onto a winner.

Online workouts
Perfect for time-strapped busy bods, online workouts are all the rage. And with awesome studios like Barrecore and hiitgirl making workouts available online, why wouldn’t you? We love YogaGlo too – it’s packed with awesome yoga workouts and you can choose the teacher, style, level and duration you prefer. Check out our fave online classes here.