Don't know if this has been on here or not yet but I don't remember reading it...
Flash-in-the-pan fads fade out fast
Don't laugh -- yoga in a steamy room with a stripper's pole could be next
By Jill Barker, For Canwest News ServiceAugust 24, 2009
I've been around long enough to see a few fitness fads come and go. Remember slide training? This 1990s cardio craze required participants to pull cotton booties over their shoes and glide side to side on a strip of plastic equipped with bumpers on each end. Sure, it got the heart pumping, but this speed skater-inspired workout lacked variety. After its 15 minutes of fame, it faded from view.
That's just one example. Tae Bo, jazzercise and step aerobics suffered similar burnout when the buzz died and consumers went looking for the next trendy workout that promised to burn calories, build muscle and lose inches.
Today's fitness fads all have the same thing in common -- a hype that never quite lives up to its promise. Need some concrete examples? Here are a few current flash-in-the-pan fads that have about as much staying power as leg warmers and thong leotards.
Hot yoga
Basic yoga is known for its longevity. And why not? It can be enjoyed by beginners and veterans alike and is available in many different formats from the mindful kripalu yoga to the more physical ashtanga (power) yoga.
There is even some documentation suggesting that practicing yoga can improve flexibility, postural alignment and reduce stress levels.
Hot yoga, on the other hand, relies on little more than a heated room (39 to 41C) to distinguish itself from more traditional yoga practices that have stood the test of time.
Promises of increased weight loss and improved health have proved difficult to verify scientifically.
Plus, the 26 postures that make up the practice soon become boring.
Hula hooping
I tried plugging "hula hoop" and "hooping" into Google Scholar and PubMed, databases for health-related research, and got nothing more than a few studies featuring three- to five-year-olds. Yet, despite a lack of evidence that swinging a large plastic hoop around your hips improves fitness in adults, a new use for an old fad has found its way into fitness clubs across North America.
The practice, called hooping or hoop dancing, relies on a series of 50 exercises performed with an adult-size weighted hoop that is larger and heavier than the ones kids use. Hoopers hop, skip, jump, and gyrate through the class, all while holding, twirling and tossing a hula hoop.
Before being labelled a killjoy, I'm sure I'd have a ball taking the class. I'm just not sure I'd make time for a repeat performance -- especially since proof of long-term fitness benefits is lacking.
Novelty workouts have their place but rarely rate a second visit, which is why they are here today and gone tomorrow.
CrossFit
This California-born workout is a hit among hardcore fitness fanatics who love a challenge. It is made up of strength, power, agility and speed exercises, and CrossFit enthusiasts create their own high-intensity workouts and post them on the Internet for others to try.
The popularity of CrossFit rests not just in its content, but also in its reputation. The emphasis isn't on technique or safety, but on performing an impressive number of reps with an impressive amount of weight or running as fast or jumping as high as possible as often as possible before calling it quits.
The ability for anyone and everyone to design their own workout without any knowledge of exercise design and safety will eventually be CrossFit's downfall.
Strip, pole or stiletto aerobics
More appropriate for a wedding shower than an exercise class, these theme-based classes are more fun than fitness. To qualify as exercise, the heart rate has to stay elevated at a certain intensity level for at least 10 minutes at a time. These 10-minute intervals are repeated at least three times for any improvements in fitness can be achieved.
Frankly, a good portion of the population finds it hard to follow these guidelines in a pair of running shoes, much less stilettos. And a stripper's pole has little basis with which to qualify itself as a piece of fitness equipment. As for the burlesque part of the class, it's the heart rate of the dancers, not the audience, that needs elevating for excess pounds to disappear and health to improve.
So while there will be smiles all around for the first few hip gyrations, those smiles won't last if the results don't materialize. Once people realize that strip aerobics won't make them look better with their clothes off, they'll start looking elsewhere for something that does.
© Copyright (c) The Province
