Throughout history, different fitness trends have taken the world by storm. Fitness classes paved the way for fitness culture to become a mainstream phenomenon. Some popular examples include aerobics, Taebo and Zumba. To discover how niche exercises grew to become global fitness trends, simply continue reading.
Pilates:
Pilates first became popular in the 1970s when a man named Joseph Pilates started teaching body resistance exercises which were designed to increase flexibility and to lengthen and stretch the body. While Pilates was originally created to help ballerinas become stronger, leaner, and more flexible, Pilates quickly became a worldwide trend and has remained a popular staple in the fitness culture.
Aerobics:
In the 1980s aerobics became a popular trend and gyms around the world started to offer group based aerobics classes. Aerobics was extremely popular as it is a balanced workout which incorporated cardio exercises, flexibility training and muscle training. Aerobics was also seen as a fun workout as it incorporates choreographed dance moves as well as high intensity exercises. Due to its high intensity aerobics was effective at helping individuals lose weight and tone muscles.
Aerobics also became a hit workout trend as a wide variety of celebrities released their own aerobics workouts on VHS tapes. Two popular examples of which were Jane Fonda and Richard Simmons.
Taebo:
In the 1990s aerobics was replaced by aerobics with Taebo, a fitness program which mixed martial arts moves with dance moves. Tae Bo was invented by a taekwondo teacher named Billy Blanks and featured kicks and punches which were performed at a fast pace in order to increase cardiovascular fitness. At the time Billy Blanks released Taebo workout videos which could be completed at home and trained Taebo instructors who would teach classes around the world. Taebo was an effective workout as martial arts moves quickly elevate your heart rate and tone your body.
Zumba:
In the 2000s Zumba became the most popular workout craze. Zumba is a dance-based exercise which uses upbeat tracks. It features energetic, fast paced Latin dance moves that have been inspired by traditional salsa moves, tango moves, and flamenco moves. While Zumba enjoyed the height of its popularity in the early 2000s, Zumba is still popular to this day and most gyms around the world still offer Zumba classes. This chart from compare the market tracks levels of popularity these fitness trends reached.
Crossfit:
In the past decade Crossfit rose in popularity and became a competitive sport. Crossfit was originally designed as a form of exercise which would challenge individuals to become skilled at a wide variety of physical challenges. As examples, individuals at Crossfit branded gyms will usually run, row, jump rope, lift Olympic style weights, and complete pull ups during a regular training session. While some competitive cross fit competitions incorporate unorthodox challenges such as swimming, mountain running, and handstand walks into their competitions.
So, if you are looking to improve your health and wellbeing it’s well worth trying out some of the popular fitness trends listed above. If you are someone that is more works out more consistently with other people, you may want to follow the trend data to workout with like minded individuals in the fitness community.
2018 ·