The 6 Best 2018 Fitness Trends You NEED To Try

A new year, a better you and a whole host of new ways to make fitness, FUN

Article by Lucy Gornall

LIIT

HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training) has had its fair share of the limelight over recent years but if all those burpees are getting boring, jump on the LIIT (Low Intensity Interval Training) bandwagon. HIIT’s calm little sister was big in the US in 2017 and now it’s set to hit the UK.

LIIT burns the same amount of calories as HIIT, but takes longer to complete and is nowhere near as brutal; it can simply be a walk or light jog. It’s quite a change to the high intensity version, which can take around 20 minutes and has us sweating it out with short, sharp periods of all-out work. LIIT however is almost relaxing and can actually be far kinder to the body.

Monty Simmons, Personal Trainer & Life Coach believes that undergoing endless HIIT sessions ‘isn’t sustainable’. Pushing the body can sometimes lead to injury, but LIIT is more about balance in your training regime.

‘When the body is pushed excessively, weaknesses in your system, muscle imbalances, skeletal misalignments and more will play havoc; leaving you riddled with aches, pains and injuries’, explains Monty.

He adds: ‘You don’t see world class MMA fighters training like they do in their pre-fight training camps all year round; they know it’s not sustainable. It’s no coincidence fighters notoriously injure themselves two weeks before a fight.’

Listening to your favourite tunes is great for LIIT motivation. Samsung Gear Sport and Gear Fit2 Pro have partnered with Spotify so you can listen to music without a smartphone nearby. Just download music onto your wearable and listen through the Icon X earbuds.

To make LIIT work even harder for you, change the direction you walk or walk in a curve. Research shows that walking in a curve can actually burn 20 percent more than walking in a straight line*.

So, grab your wearable tracker, get outside and start walking.

Virtual Reality

How about a scenic run along Australia’s Great Ocean Road, without actually leaving your front room? Although VR workouts have held their place on the fitness scene over recent years, Personal Trainer and Health Editor Lucy Gornall believes they will soon be more ‘readily available’. ‘Bkool is a virtual reality simulator that lets cyclists ride any route in 3D alongside other cyclists around the world, connected in real time. With the simulators, users actually experience the same sensations they would on the road,’ she explains.

There’s even the Omni by Virtuix- a small treadmill that when connected to a game, lets you jump, crouch and run with the treadmill keeping track of your every move.

Samsung have produced VR experiences in a variety of different areas including being able to experience a gym work out with Chris Eubank Jr.

Merged Workouts

We’ve already got Barry’s Bootcamp – think treadmills mixed with weights – and Barrecore, a brutal ballet-based workout that also incorporates light weights and resistance bands, but Diana Booty, Fitness Expert on behalf of The Harley Medical Group thinks we’ll see even more workouts offering the benefits of a variety of disciplines.

‘The forms it can potentially take are endless so it’ll be exciting to see which new concepts emerge over the next 12 months!’

Ashley Verma, Founder of DEFINE. London says clients are ‘getting bored at the gym’. In fact she’s created a workout that will keep people hooked. ‘I’ve merged the strength, fluidity, and endurance of ballet and other dance genres to create well thought out concept classes’, explains Ashley. So, what next? Tennis and yoga, perhaps?

Samsung wearable devices are perfect for workouts like this as they support dynamic workout tracking with auto activity detection including, squats, burpees and lunges, so as soon as you start moving, your watch will record it.

Rise of Recovery…

Relaxing the body post workout ensures we can keep training hard. Cryotherapy – defined as ‘the use of extreme cold in surgery or other medical treatment’ – has become the latest buzzword. According to London’s 111Cryo, muscles repair faster in the extreme cold and anti-inflammatory responses help alleviate swelling. Long term, Dr Sarah Brewer, GP and Healthspan Medical Director says whole body cryotherapy can improve athletic performance and recovery, aid sleep and weight loss and even slow the ageing process.

If being extremely cold doesn’t excite you, acupuncture and massages are other great recovery options.

…and Recovery Fitness

Yoga, foam rolling and stretching– to name a few – help iron out muscle imbalances and postural dysfunctions. You’re moving, as you recover.

Monty Simmons, Personal Trainer & Life Coach explains that ‘we must allow our body to replenish, heal damage and make ‘gains’. Otherwise you’ll never experience it performing at maximum output because you’ll constantly be washed out,’ he adds.

A gentle swim, done properly is great for opening up the range of motion for various muscles. Keep tracking your movement in the pool with the Samsung Gear Fit 2 Pro; water resistant up to 5 ATM2. With the Speedo partnership, wearers are able to track their stroke rate and pattern as well as laps and times.

Day to Day Fitness

Lunch break walks, standing desks or taking the stairs instead of the lift; it’s not just about thrashing out a 30-minute gym workout anymore – we need to maintain an active state throughout much more of the day. In 2018 we’ll see even more onus on day to day fitness, making sure we’re moving much more throughout the day.

With the rise of wearable technology, it’s easy to track movement and be reminded when we need to get moving; ideal for office workers who are often sat at a desk for hours. Trackers such as the Samsung Gear Sport, have reminders to move if we have been inactive for a period of time. They don’t just track fast paced exercise like running and cycling, but can track day to day fitness like walking and your daily steps. Plus with the caffeine and water tracking feature, you can keep on top off your hydration too.

Whichever 2018 fitness trend suits you, Samsung encourages you to #GoBeyondFitness, to push new boundaries.  Meaningful progress only comes from defying barriers. What can you achieve in 2018?

CREDIT: *Research by Ohio State University

Imagery sourced from iStock.com and available for editorial use.

Samsung’s new wearable devices:

• Gear Sport, a sleek and versatile fitness-focused smartwatch that is water resistant;
• Gear Fit2 Pro, an upgraded GPS sports band with smart features;
• Gear IconX, a second generation of the company’s ground breaking cord free earbuds.

Receive a 3 month The Gym Group membership when you purchase either a Samsung Gear Sport, Gear Fit2Pro or Gear IconX 2018 from a participating retailer. http://www.samsung.com/uk/offer/gear-gymgroup/ *

*Redeem online at www.samsung.com/uk/offer/gear-gymgroup between 30-60 days after purchase. T&Cs apply.