Hottest Fitness Trends

Tuesday, February 21st, 2006

Some of the new year’s Hottest Fitness Trends:

  • The newest offering at Crunch Fitness Gyms across the U.S. not only makes their female members look good in high heels, they make them exercise in them. Recently introduced, ‘Stiletto Strength’ classes consist of a 30-minute routine of Pilates and strength training, with the last 15 minutes spent strutting around in 3-inch heels.
  • At Equinox Fitness, new offerings include a sword-wielding class called Forza.
  • At Clay Health Club in New York City, members can tighten their abs with an Indian dance called Masala Bhangra.
  • In Bikram yoga studios, clients follow a series of yoga techniques in a room of 90 to 120 degrees.

You’re Never Too Old for Dodgeball shares some more fitness trends:

  • Chelsea Piers’ 25,000-square-foot gymnastics facility advertises the largest adult gymnastics program in the country, attracting both first-timers and professionals. Classes are split nearly evenly between men and women, instructors said. Participants hail the sport’s almost meditative effects, but the regulars’ sharply defined muscles point up other benefits.
  • The Seattle-based group Underdog Sports offers adult leagues for elementary-school staples — dodgeball, kickball and flag football.
  • The Sports Clubs Network — which has 135 U.S. health centers — offers hip-hop dance, a ballet workout and “urban rebounding,” exercises on miniature trampolines.
  • The ballet class offered by the Sports Clubs Network, the NYC Ballet Workout, can be done at home, too. Since it was created in 1997, more than half a million copies of its videos and DVDs have been sold, along with 100,000 instructional books.
  • With the influence of the
    Winter Olympics and the Fox TV network show “Skating with Celebrities,” figure skating is becoming particularly popular among adults.

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