Variety – good not only for spicing up life, but also pushing through training plateaus. Your body adapts to change, which means that if your routine never changes, neither does your body. Mixing things up is more fun too: many a makeover has been undone by monotony. So forget the treadmill, let the barbell gather dust. Here are six new ways to make a new you in 2017.
HIIT Yoga
Best For: Busy Schedules
Do all the things you should be doing – cardio, weights, stretching, meditation – and you’d never leave the gym. To slash time spent in sweats without curtailing results, gyms are now bolting classes together to work body, brain and everything in between. HIIT yoga makes the most of rest time by switching between 10 minutes of burpees and 10 minutes in downward dog. Repeat for an hour. Feel fit and happy. Hopefully. Where: hiityoga.co.uk Duration: 1 hour How Much: From £16 per class
Flatline
Best For: Telling People You Survived
To partake in Gymbox’s new class, you’ll have to sign a death waiver and organ donor form. Billed as the world’s hardest workout, the space in Farringdon, London is equipped with paramedics, a sick station and oxygen tanks. Is it a gimmick? Yes. But even if it won’t kill you, chucking Atlas stones while wearing a 12kg weighted vest will probably make you wish you were dead. Where: gymbox.com Duration: 45 minutes How Much: Membership from £65 per month
DNA Training
Best For: Getting Better Results Faster
HIIT works. So does steady state. So does weightlifting. Atkins gets results, but so do juice cleanses. You could waste time and money sampling them all. Or you could look at your DNA to see which approach should get the best response from your body. It won’t tell you how many reps you need to do, but it might mean you never have to go on a treadmill again. Where: davidlloyd.co.uk How Much: Membership from £94.50 per month
Boxx Method
Best For: Looking Like The Right Kind Of Raging Bull
Stallone. De Niro. Gyllenhaal. Teller. All proof that boxing builds a better body. It also involves it being pummelled, which is perhaps why it’s always been a niche training technique. However, get rid of the second pair of fists and you’ve got high-intensity fitness with added stress relief. With Boxx Method, you don’t even need a gym – just shadow box along with the videos to pummel your beer belly. Where: theboxxmethod.com Duration: 15 minutes three times per week How Much: Membership from £7.99 per month
Crawling
Best For: Burning Fat The Fun Way
Your personal trainer is going to have to stop calling you a baby, because 2017’s biggest fitness trend is to take training cues from infants. Crawling has already swept (well, toddled across) America and is now hitting the UK – just bolt three minutes of all-fours scramble onto the start and end of your workout. The idea is that holding yourself in prone positions is like a plank with added movement, which hits your core, chest and shoulders and also offers cardio benefits. It’s rather more enjoyable, too. Where: gymbox.com Duration: From 3 minutes How Much: Membership from £65 per month
Hypoxic Chambers
Best For: Lance Armstrong Results (Without The Extra Help)
The higher you go, the thinner the air gets. Less oxygen means you can’t fuel your muscles effectively, so your body adapts by producing red blood cells, which capture more of what little oxygen is available. Because you can’t go up a mountain three times a week, gyms are introducing hypoxic chambers, with artificially thin air that mimics the effects of training at altitude. The results are impressive. That you’ll tap out at half your sea level personal best, less so. Where: thirdspace.london How Much: Membership from £159 per month
