The new trend in fitness is functional. That means adjusting our fitness routines to help us in the real world. Being fit no longer means just having bulging biceps and defined quadriceps that are just for show, it means being able to carry a large bag of groceries up a long flight of stairs without getting winded and having to stop. It means being able to pick up a 30 lb. two year old while she is screaming and not throwing your back out. It means being strong and healthy for real life adventures and situations.
Equipment that can help you build functional fitness include stability balls, free weights, medicine balls, Bosu’s, cable weight machines and more. Functional fitness means not isolating a muscle for the exercise but engaging many muscles, just like everyday life does. We almost never isolate a muscle during everyday life but are always using a combination of many of our muscles and almost always using our core muscles.
This trend in functional fitness is one reason why classes like pilates and yoga have become so popular. Calisthenics and other exercises that utilize just your body weight are also becoming more popular.
You can read an interesting article here at functional fitness.
