Toronto’s hottest fitness trends

The Canadian Physical Activity Guidelines, intended for people aged 18-64, suggests 150 minutes of moderate to intense physical activity per week, and of that, strengthening the major muscle groups should be twice a week. For Torontonians who are bored of the same old running, swimming, or traditional ball games, there are more and more options to be active with the support of a group and instructor. 

YOGA – The ancient Indian art, adopted by the west in the last century, has become one of the main physical activities in the new millennium, and an effective means of relaxing the mind and getting rid of stress and tension. More and more members of both sexes practice the local eco-friendly version of Bikram Hot Yoga, so-called Moksha Yoga, which is practiced in a room heated at 40 ^oC, and which originated in Toronto in 2004. For those craving novelty, we recommend a few branches of yoga currently trendy: hang from silks in aerial yoga in Fly Studio; practice topless or with no clothes in naked yoga— so called YogiBare classes—in the Thompson Hotel; you can even achieve a greater level of meditation in Ganja Yoga.

SPINNING – Group conditioning class that involves riding a stationary bike in dictated intervals. In North America, the first specialized spinning centres opened in the 1990s, and today the majority of fitness clubs offers these classes as well. Spin classes often take place in a darkened room, with loud music and an even louder instructor. No special accessories are required, although there are special spinning shoes for those who exercise often. If you want to be on trend and spin well, the current hot-spots are Rocket Cycle in retro ‘90s-style, Spokehaüs where you spin in candlelight, or Torq in Leslieville where the bike tracks your workout and sends you the results via e-mail.

CROSSFIT – High-intensity group fitness activity, originally from California, which combines elements of HIIT (high intensity interval training), weight-lifting, gymnastics, and plyometric training. It uses weights, steps, mats, medicine balls, jump ropes, and similar equipment. One hour of exercise is divided into four sections: a warmup, skill/strength training, the WOD (Workout of the Day), and a cool down. Crossfit is very inspiring for those of a competitive nature, but set yourself some boundries: this discipline has led some to overtrain, and there are recorded cases of rhabdomyolosys, a condition in which damaged skeletal muscles break down due to excessive strain.

BARRE  - Trendy group exercise that combines elements of Pilates, yoga, and classical ballet. In certain exercises, it calls for the same barre used in ballet, hence its name. Regardless of its apparent grace, barre is a higher-intensity exercise that engages all the main muscle groups and improves balance and the body’s elasticity. Besides the ballet barre, other exercises make use of mats, light weights, balls and resistance bands. Madonna and Natalie Portman both have their own barre trainers, but we can train collectively in studios such as The Extension Room, Pure Barre, Barreworks on Yonge St., and Generate.

ZUMBA – Originally from South America, this fitness program is great for you if you are a fan of dance and you want to burn 500-1000 calories in an hour. Some instructors insist more on the workout portion, while others focus more on complex choreographies.  Zumba is danced to well-known songs, specially arranged for this purpose. There is even a whole business around clothes optimal for Zumba training: wide pants, light sneakers, and open tops, all in bright colours and sometimes with the Zumba logo.

[Zumba, photo: americanexpress.com]

KETTLEBELL – Yet another popular HIIT exercise, which uses the eponymous cast-steel weights as its main equipment. This kind of weight came from 17^th-century Russian and was called girya. They were used in training for the Soviet army at the beginning of the 20^th century, and in 1940 it became a competitive discipline. The main movement in this exercise involves swinging the kettlebell behind, and then forward up to eye level; that is, movements that imitate shovelling or traditional farm work. Besides the existence of actual kettlebell fitness classes, various other classes use these weights as parts of their strength training exercises.

COMBAT – If you are the action type, and you need added motivation to run around and exercise, you can go to specialized paintball combat centres. Dressed in soldier’s uniforms and armed with a weapon, you run across obstacles and shot at the opposing team in order to beat them. These games are sometimes organized in big outdoor shooting ranges, and can sometimes last up to 10 hours. Even thought it is a very physically intense activity, the slogan on the promotional poster looks a little strange: “Shoot your friends.”