Many of you can’t have failed to notice that the past few years have seen a surge in popularity when it comes to going to the gym. This has been especially true for 2017 with more and more exercise classes springing up every week, each more exciting and unique than the last. With many obscure activities being turned in to classes it might be easy to get a little lost when trying to decide what to sign up for, so here is our foolproof guide to the most popular workout classes of the year…
1. Hydro
What we are referring to here is basically any exercise that can be undertaken underwater. The most popular of late is circuit training – but yes, you guessed it – in a giant pool, which makes it all the more challenging.
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2. Floating Yoga
Any of you who consider yourselves dab hands at yoga and are looking to go that extra mile; this class is for you. Taking place in a pool where everyone has their own floating board, floating yoga will bring new levels of difficulty to all of the balances you were familiar with on dry land.
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3. PiYo
Priding themselves on the fact that they won’t leave you feeling like you’ve beaten up after each session (like the previously popular Insanity workout), the inventors of this concept have taken the core workouts of Pilates and added them to the strength and flexibility elements of yoga in order to create ‘PiYo’.
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4. SoulBody Barre ‘Unhitched’
The Soulbody team have decided to take the hugely popular barre training programme (that used to require a built-in ballet barre) and make it more mobile and accessible by introducing a handheld body bar and ball. This class has proved hugely popular, especially seeing as more gyms can now run it without having to build a ballet studio.
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5. Swing Train
First came Zumba and now we have ‘Swing Train’. Inspired by energetic dance moves of the 50s, this all-over workout class will have you dancing the Charleston in no time.
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6. Flying Fantastic
Much to their fans’ delight, there is now an entire set of classes dedicated to aerial workouts, run by the hugely popular ‘Flying Fantastic’ team. This includes aerial yoga, static trapeze, aerial hoop and many more.
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7. WaveShape
You only have to look at any surfer for a second to know that they keep in ridiculously good shape through their sport. Therefore, it isn’t surprising that a new workout has been put together, incorporating all of the key elements required for surfing.
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8. Pound
You’ve just got to love an exercise class that has the tag line: Rockout. Workout. And rocking out is exactly what you get to do with this distinctive routine that even requires you to bring your own drumsticks.
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9. Team Spinning
Spinning has undeniably gained a ridiculously huge amount of popularity of the past few years with new classes springing up every day in order to meet demand. However, the newest craze actually makes it in to more of a team sport and sees 2 teams in the class pit against each other.
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10. Rowing
There are many that say that rowing is the new spinning with more and more gyms investing in a row studio where classes can take place just like spinning. Watch this space.
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