Trendy!
The fitness world has its trends just like any other area of life. Over the past 70 years some interesting ideas have come and gone (and let’s be thankful some of them are gone). In the 1950s it was calisthenics and hula hoops. Interestingly, calisthenics has made a huge comeback in recent years thanks in large part to popular YouTube channels. Hula Hoops remain a toy, but definitely not a fitness tool.
In the 1960s, it was all about gadgets; massage/fat belts (see above) and Trim Twist to name two, but there were more. And they never really went away, they simply morphed into modern versions. There’s the belly burner: *
And vibrating fitness machines: *
In the 1970s fitness trends took a slightly better turn, Arnold Schwarzenegger popularized the sport of bodybuilding for the masses and Jazzercise was getting people moving, albeit in some strange clothing. But who am I to judge? I grew up on the 80s and 90s with some pretty outlandish styles.
Speaking of those outlandish styles, remember Richard Simmons or Jane Fonda’s workout videos from the 1980s? During the 80s, “8 minutes to (fill in the blank muscle)” became wildly popular. Also, Nordic Track was becoming a massive seller. The 80s saw a distinct trend toward aerobic activity, but at least it was movement. And while the 8 minute videos may have fooled someone into thinking that was all the time you had to invest to be fit, at least it recognized that any level of activity is beneficial. We did get some resistance training trendiness, but it came via the thigh master. Not exactly a way to improve total body health when you are focusing on such a small area of muscle.
In the 1990s, Taebo was huge, as was boot camp style workouts and the Bow Flex home gym. The popularity of Bow Flex was encouraging as it was recognition that resistance training is beneficial to your health.
As we strode into the new millennium, aerobic trends saw another big surge with Pilates, kick boxing, spinning, Zumba and exercise gaming on your video game console. During our current decade, resistance training is back en vogue, as we see with the rise of CrossFit and YouTube fitness channels.
What do most of these trends have in common? With the exception of some of the 1960’s gadgets (that never really went away), they encourage movement, which is definitely a positive. The type of movement and popularity seems to lean heavily toward aerobic activity. I believe that is based on a foundational misunderstanding of the value of cardio. A misunderstanding which places too much importance on cardio’s role during a fat loss phase to the detriment of weight training. I believe if more people understand how important it was to resistance train, we’d see more trends which involved people moving iron about.
As it stands, it seems weight training has ebbed and flowed every 20 years or so. In the 50s it was in the form calisthenics, or using your body as resistance. In the 70s, Arnold almost single handedly made bodybuilding and weight training something that was on everyone’s radar. In the 90s, Bow Flex again made it trendy to train to improve muscular strength, size and tone. And now, CrossFit has gotten tons more people into the gym to move some weight around, whether it be the iron and their body weight. CrossFit is likely the most successful trend in terms of getting females to resistance train.
I am very happy to be a trainer during the rising tide of resistance training. I am a firm advocate of resistance training and I hope to help educate as many people as possible on its benefits. I would love to see a shift towards less aerobic trends and more weight training. Why? As we age, we lose muscle mass and bone mass and resistance training helps to maintain both, which I cover in more detail in a future blog. Further, weight training is a stimulus for your body to keep its hard earned (and necessary) muscle while you are in a fat loss phase. Cardio is fine if you want to burn a few extra calories, train for an endurance event, or give your heart and lungs a bit more of a challenge. However, it’s not the only way to train your heart and lungs. Ask anyone who has done a challenging set of high rep squats and they will tell you the inside of their chest was screaming in agony as well their legs, but I digress.
All of these trends at least recognize that doing nothing is not optimal for our health. Our life is fairly easy thanks to modern conveniences. No matter how you feel about that, there is no going back. Simply living life was exhausting pre-industrial revolution. But over the past 200 years we have succeeded to automating many tasks that were formerly done via human labor. While the world around us and our ancestors has changed drastically in two centuries, human physiology has not. The fitness trends that pop up are recognition that we have extended free time and our bodies will function better if we take some of that time to challenge them.
If you are looking to join the resistance training trend and challenge yourself, reach out to me, I’d love to guide you on your way.
* I am not endorsed by nor do I endorse either of these devices.
