As time goes on, fitness trends seem to come and go as quickly as fashion goes in and out of style. Here in the 21st century, we’re no longer sweating to the ’80s with Richard Simmons or toning our abs in a mere eight minutes, but health, fitness, and exercise fads are more vibrant than ever before. Nowadays, fitness fads are guided by hard science and spirituality, and many individuals are experiencing real results in a more timely fashion. What come next are brief descriptions of four of the most popular fitness trends and fads of the early 21st century.

Hot Yoga

Yoga has been around for many, many years, but hot yoga is something that has come into popularity more recently. Hot yoga, as you may have guessed, is essentially regular yoga with temperatures that have been significantly increased. Normally, yoga is practiced indoors with temperatures set somewhere 70 degrees. Hot yoga, though also conducted indoors, is typically done under temperatures in the realm of 100 degrees. It is believed that the higher temperatures of hot yoga aid in helping participants to become more flexible and more easily hold differing poses. That aside, the heat and humidity of the higher temperatures also contribute to more sweating over the course of a session of hot yoga, making for an overall better workout than standard yoga.

CrossFit

In simplest terms, CrossFit is working out in a competitive sense, only you’re competing against yourself. There are a finite number of CrossFit workouts, each of which is designed to strengthen different muscle groups in the body. The more and more each of these workouts are completed, the sole focus for CrossFitters is to improve either the time to complete the workout or the number of total repetitions in the workout. The core belief of CrossFit is that a concerted effort of the mind on consistently improving in workouts will ultimately help the body improve in physical stature.

Muscle Confusion

Muscle confusion is a unique philosophy that seeks to build muscle by literally confusing muscles in the body. So how do you go about confusing your muscles? The answer to this lies in trying to prevent muscle memory. Muscle memory is the notion that as you perform a given exercise or motion repeatedly, your muscles grow used to performing that exercise or movement, and no longer need to be strengthened or toned. Thus, muscle confusion fitness regimens set out to train and build muscle groups to their maximum, and then perform different exercises in an effort to confuse the muscles. The idea behind it is that as muscles are confused, they will continue to tear, grow, and tone. The fitness program known as P90X by Team Beach Body is the most notable fitness program leading the way in the world of muscle confusion.

Interval Training

Interval training is another philosophy of exercise with some legitimate science behind it. Instead of using hot temperatures and stretches, cramming as much physical activity into as short a time as possible, or confusing your muscles, interval training uses intermittent periods of high-impact and low-impact exercise to optimize a cardiovascular workout. The idea behind it is to keep your heart rate at or near the target rate throughout the duration of a workout. Surely, trying to maintain high intensity throughout a workout can leave you exhausted before you finish, but with interval training, that isn’t so. Brief break periods allow you to take a quick breather without having your heart rate return all the way down to what it normally is when you are at rest. In today’s world, cardio workouts and interval training are almost entirely synonymous.

Taylor Thomas is an experienced writer who has written for a number of notable publications. As a lifestyle expert, Ms. Thomas is able to offer advice and insight on a multitude of topics, including those pertaining to health news.

Taylor Thomas is an experienced writer who has written for a number of notable publications. As a lifestyle expert, Ms. Thomas is able to offer advice and insight on a multitude of topics, including those pertaining to health news. http://www.lsinewsroom.com/

Author Bio: Taylor Thomas is an experienced writer who has written for a number of notable publications. As a lifestyle expert, Ms. Thomas is able to offer advice and insight on a multitude of topics, including those pertaining to health news.

Category: Sports
Keywords: Health News, Fitness, Fitness Trends