Fitness fads
Aerobics classes
This eponymous exercise involves physical activity for a sustained period of time (often 30 minutes to an hour) and an intensity high enough to break a sweat but low enough to facilitate aerobic respiration.
In the 1970s, aerobics classes and videos became a popular way of getting exercise. They involved a mixture of rhythmic dance movements, strength training and stretching for a set period of time.
Potential benefits of aerobic exercise include:
- muscle strengthening (particularly the respiratory muscles), as well as improved blood flow to all of our muscles
- burning of body fat
- increased endurance (via increased storage of glycogen within the muscles)
- improved ability of muscles to use fats during exercise rather than intramuscular glycogen for energy
- improved muscular ability to recover from high-intensity exercise.
Many other exercises also fall within the heading of 'aerobic exercise', such as calisthenics - exercises using your own body weight as resistance, like star jumps and push-ups - and skipping with a rope and hula-hooping (our next two fads).
Skipping rope
A popular childhood activity, skipping with a rope is simple and only involves one piece of equipment. Its intensity can be varied by using a slower 'double-skip' or a higher intensity 'single-skip'. Athletes also use it for training: boxers are a well-known example.
Because skipping with a rope is an aerobic exercise, potential benefits include muscle strengthening (particularly the respiratory muscles, legs and lower body) and burning of body fat.
Hula hooping
This circular endeavour has Egyptian and Greek origins, from 500 BC. In the 1950s, the hula hoop became a fad toy in its plastic form.
Because it's a low-intensity aerobic exercise, the potential benefits of hula hooping include burning body fat, strengthening the back, thigh, waist and abdominal muscles, and improving the circulatory system, when done for long enough. The record for time spent hula hooping is 74 hours. (Talk about endurance!)
Yoga
This activity originated in India (perhaps as far back as 3000 BC), where it was considered to be a mental and spiritual exercise, as well as a physical one, with the aim of improving your overall health and wellbeing. It became better known in the UK and elsewhere from the late 1800s onwards.
There are several different types of yoga. The three main focuses of Hatha yoga, for example, are exercise, breathing and meditation. It involves holding still in specific poses: some poses encourage muscle strength, and others encourage flexibility.
Although yoga is not an aerobic exercise, some studies say it is helpful for the cardiovascular system because it can reduce blood pressure and other risk factors, perhaps owing to stress reduction. Proponents of yoga also say it increases lung capacity because of the focus on 'mindful' breathing.
Pilates
Like yoga, pilates focuses on conditioning the body rather than on aerobic activity. With origins in the 20th century, pilates lacks the longevity of yoga but is nonetheless practised by tens of millions of people. Pilates focuses on core strength and stabilization, using your own body for resistance, and aims to improve muscle flexibility, strength and endurance.
Vibrating belts
First designed in the 1960s, these contraptions contract your abdominal muscles for you, claiming to tighten up your midsection by 'melting' body fat. This claim was disproven, but today there are machines that encourage your entire body to vibrate. These machines claim to improve strength and prevent muscle loss by stimulating the muscles to flex and tense up repeatedly. There is no formal research to back up these claims, however; read these two clashing interpretations and decide for yourself:
Fitness shoes
Wouldn’t it be good to work out while you're going about your day? Designed by biomechanists at London South Bank University, these shoes have an undulating insole that aims to act like a wobble board, activating your muscles on each step. Their case studies say the bottom, hamstring and lower leg muscles are activated more - sometimes up to 30 per cent more. Critics of the shoe question whether the shoe itself offers any real fitness benefits other than perhaps encouraging you to get out and walk more.
Take it a step further
One of the latest fads in fitness is 'barefoot running': either running barefoot or wearing a shoe that simulates barefoot running. Do some online research to find out what this fad is all about. There are a few things to think about:
- What do the product's proponents, such as its manufacturer, say?
- What are the product's potential benefits?
- What are the product's potential risks?
- Is there any formal scientific research into the potential health benefits?
- What do critics say about the fad?
Alternatively, think of any other fitness fads that you've encountered and take the same approach.
This article is part of the online content for ‘Big Picture: Exercise, Energy and Movement’.
Image: A child hula hooping. Credit: Fiona Pragoff, Wellcome Images.
References and further reading
- Food and Fitness: A Dictionary of Diet and Exercise, Michael Kent, Oxford University Press, 1997.
- Pilates J (1945, 1998). Pilates' Return to Life through Contrology. Incline Village: Presentation dynamics.
- Ross A, Thomas S. (2010). The Health Benefits of Yoga and Exercise: A review of comparison studies. J Alt Comp Med 2010,16(1):3-12.
- ‘Our technology’ at FitFlop
- Hula hoop world records
- The truth about toning shoes