Gym closures, and Zumba over Zoom: Covid changed the way we workout

"The personalised infographics and reports from these devices like tracking bodily responses to energy expenditure and discovering what is going on inside the body will improve the health, fitness, and general well-being of people in all age groups. It projects fitness goals to shoot for, lets you record your exercise statistics, and gives reminders to boost motivation. Further, it detects changes that may occur to your heart rate, records your heart rate, daily burned calories, and step counts. All in all, health and fitness wearables move towards self-care and let you stick to a healthier diet, exercise more, and have a sound sleep. In addition, to track health irregularities, self-monitoring will become the norm. It enables users to take responsibility for their behaviour rather than placing blame on external factors,” Dr Bhargava adds.

Rise of home gyms and workouts

During the pandemic, when all gyms and fitness centres remained shut for months, and masks became compulsory, many resorted to staying active within their homes. Workouts evolved noticeably in 2021, thanks to pandemic-led lockdowns across the country. And fitness professionals say that they are expected to evolve even more in the coming year.

Luke Coutinho, Holistic Lifestyle Coach- Integrative and Lifestyle Medicine and Founder, YouCare - All About YOU, says, “Last year, we realized that workouts do not have to happen in the gym, and that is here to stay. You can get a decent workout at home by including a variety of exercises like - bodyweight, rope skipping, stair climbing, fitness bands, kettlebells, provided you are disciplined enough to do it regularly and are creative to make it fun.  Additionally, the way we approach fitness and exercise has also changed. Today, people are not just focusing on different workouts they can do but also on why they should. As a result, we predict that people will approach workouts beyond sculpting muscles, take a more scientific approach, and focus on feeling good, smart recovery, and preventing injury.”

Hybrid gym workouts

During the lockdown last year, many gyms started providing the online mode of personal and group training to their members. Istayak Ansari, MD, UFC Gym India, says that hybrid gym workouts will remain hot in 2022.

He says, “After the reopening of gyms the vast majority of people returned to the traditional method of in-gym training. However, there are still a few people who are taking it slow and being cautious about returning to a gym. These people still prefer the online mode of training and it serves as a great option for gym-goers when they do not have the time or convenience to hit the gym.

Hyper-personalized online workouts

Personalization is not new, of course. Having said that, workouts tailored to a particular individual’s biomechanics are going to be bigger in 2022. Fitness professional Nawaz Modi Singhania, founder of the fitness centre BodyArt, says that trainers and services that are dedicated to assist people and design their online workouts customized to specific needs with the help of their personal data and lifestyle will be popular.

“Also, online cardio group cross training will be a big trend. It will give you what you otherwise just can't get out there – a safe group interaction where you get a fun, exciting, lengthy cardio component to keep your heart, lungs and Immunity in top gear, keep fat and inches off and co-morbidities thereby largely at bay. Stretching and muscle work are usually incorporated in these classes,” she explains.

Sustainable fitness

Keeping the current scenario in mind, sustainable fitness is a trend that will be in focus in 2022.  Chirag Barjatya, fitness coach and nutritionist, explains, “That's the only way and that's how it should be. Sustainable fitness is all about things that you can sustain for the rest of your life, and that means no fad diets, not depriving yourself of your favourite foods.”

One of the biggest drawbacks that people face while starting and maintaining a healthy lifestyle is fitness resistance, Barjatya says.  This can be overcome by welcoming fitness in the form of a sustainable workout routine.

“For a person to achieve maximum physical fitness through sustainable fitness, a balance between physical, mental, and emotional health is required. Studies suggest that in order to remain sustainably fit, one should vary their workouts and include different exercises in their daily routine. These should be adopted in such ways that it develops your metabolic system, cardiovascular system, and overall strength... Sustainable fitness without any unethical ways can help maintain and improve our overall health, and also get the most out of our workout time,” says Barjatya.

HIIT helps to increase VO2, or maximal oxygen uptake.

High-intensity interval training (HIIT)

HIIT remains hot in 2022. HIIT exercise programs are time-effective as they use bursts of high-intensity exercise for short periods.

Vijay Thakkar, fitness entrepreneur, functional medicine coach, and the founder and CEO of 48 fitness, says: “With limited time at hand and efficient workouts being the norm in the modern world, HIIT will be one of the hottest trends in 2022, and is the world's most favourite workout because it yields results with simply 30 minutes a day of training. Thirty minutes a day and five sessions a week are all we need to fulfil the guidelines for adults' physical activity by the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM).”

Dr Bhargava adds, “A short burst of high-intensity interval training from anywhere between three minutes to 20 minutes is what people will continue in 2022.” The healthy stress on the body resulting from exercises such as jump squats, burpees, box jumps, pull-ups, press-ups, etc. stimulates the production of primary regenerative cells in the body. “It helps to burn a lot of calories in a short time, increases metabolism even hours after the exercise, improves oxygen consumption, helps you lose fat, to name a few. What is important here is the fact that as there are many types of exercises under HIIT, but not all exercises will help you reach the desired results. Consult a fitness expert who can suggest you the right exercises as per your body needs,” he says.

Holistic health and wellness

Getting your head in the game and training your mind along with your body will be a big 2022 trend. The focus is slowly moving away from the ‘vanity of fitness’ (a certain kind of abs or hips, for example), to include physical well-being as well as emotional, mental, and spiritual fitness.

Thakkar says, “Working out recharges our mental batteries and allows us to perform better in every aspect." He adds that overall wellness and working out for performance and not just to lose weight will be focus areas in 2022.

Istayak adds, “People are getting more conscious about fitness and health rather than just achieving that summer body. Approach to working out is more holistic now which includes a mix of traditional as well as functional training, yoga, meditation, as well as combat sports or self-defence training.” The exercise mind set of most people is moving away from just running after ‘a thin, slim body’ to overall health and mental wellness.

(Representational image) Yoga improves overall balance and flexibility.

Yoga to get a boost

Yoga got a boost during the pandemic because of its easy accessibility and health benefits and because it focuses on breathing practises. The pandemic made people comfortable with practising yoga at home via Zoom classes or through apps.

Namita Piparaiya, Yoga and Ayurveda Lifestyle Specialist, Founder – Yoganama, says, “People are accustomed to practising yoga via a screen. And this trend is set to stay in 2022 as more Do-It-Yourself Yoga apps and platforms will continue to emerge. Self-practice, which has always been the norm in traditional yoga schools, will find more takers mainstream, because people will personalise their practice by choosing their preferred style and pace of yoga. Something that was not possible to do in group yoga classes, can be easily achieved via apps that help you choose the perfect practice for everyday mood and energy levels.”

Low-impact exercises like cycling

Thakkar says for people who took up regular exercise during the pandemic (essentially beginners), a low-impact workout like cycling is perfect. Cycling, he adds, is here to stay in 2022 and beyond.

“With the surge of innovative options available in indoor cycling, with virtual reality and other hi-tech options integrated within the format, and the convenience of setting it up in small spaces such as at home or in the office, adherence to exercise and enhancement of cardiovascular health is unprecedented. We have seen some very young and healthy-looking individuals losing their lives to heart attacks and other artery diseases. That can somewhat be attributed to not great cardiovascular functionality. That would be more focused, it seems, for 2022,” he says.

Also read: Long-distance cycling fitness planners for Month 1 and Month 2