Fitness is technified, digitized and focused: 12 booming trends

For their part, Dr. Helios Couple (@heliosparaja), researcher and professor at the UAM about exercise physiology, nutrition and metabolism affects the importance of personalization. «No one would think of complaining to his cardiologist that his neighbor’s pills do not take away from arrhythmias. Nor can we pretend that a training designed for a person is effective for another, although apparently similar objectives are lightened or pursued, ”he clarifies.

That is why Dr. Pareja insists on the need to be proactive In the choice of each action, since deciding to stand or sit Make a walk on the mountain. “The limiting thoughts They lead to limited realities, “he says. And with this what it means is that if we justify the overweight with issues such as genetics, the obesogenic environment, the economy, the politics or the price of the gym we are committed to perpetuating that overweight. »Instead of focusing on all that we cannot control we should focus on changing our perceptions and actions about everything that is under our control. is what I call Metabolic stoicism«, Argues a couple.

1. Greater specialization

Distance nutrition or nutrition programs have ceased to be the ‘low cost’ option of the face -to -face and the great opportunities are in niches. «A specialized exercise and nutrition plan for women over 50, for example, is more interesting than a generic to lose weight. There are several coaches and dietitians in that niche billing important amounts, ”reveals the expert of Fit Generation.

2. More and better mobile applications

According to the Annual Report on Fitness Trends of the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM), they are a growing option among experts in the sector. In fact, mobile applications are more refined every day. “Many help professionals provide their services through them and contribute to improving success in the consequence of customer goals since users properly monitor their progress,” says Marcos Gutiérrez.

3. Active aging

Those born in the ‘Baby Boom’ are already retiring. And to this is joined by birth reduction and increased life expectancy. But as the researcher Helios Couple requires, many older ones suffer from a bad physical condition. “This implies a great socio-health and economic risk taking into account that in the coming years many will reach 90 years or more but they will be physically dependent,” he says. That is why he believes that the only way to increase “disability free life expectancy is healthy or active aging. «Physical function is an excellent biomarker of health and the risk of mortality. Modifying the functionality of the elderly, they will live more and better, ”he argues.

4. Weight loss

Although he has already penetrated the discourse of the exercise as “polyper” to improve health, the reduction of weight is still contemplated as a growing trend. Of course, as Dr. Pareja points out the paradigm of cardiovascular exercise for weight control that reigned years ago is falling. “Simplifying that the effect of exercise for weight reduction is based on the caloric deficit generated by the energy expenditure produced by muscle contraction implies seeing a very small percentage of its potential,” he reveals.

5. Functional training

It was thought for athletes to train using the same sports actions with which they were going to compete. Then he cut the professions with physical involvement to improve the aptitude linked to professional demands. But now, as Dr. Pareja explains, it is something universal, since it helps to meet better and perform day -to -day activities with less effort and greater efficacy. It is interesting in adults when it seeks to generate a physical transfer with their daily actions.

6. Strength work

The scientific consensus supports the relevance of promoting force training that includes all the main muscle groups because, in addition to contributing to fat loss, it reduces the risk of injuries, cardiovascular diseases and diabetes; Improves mental health and fights the effects of aging, according to the director of the Master of Food on the physical activity and sport of the Oberta University of Catalonia (UOC), Laura Esquius.

7. Menopause, star niche

At this stage they appear suffocals, fatigue, tiredness and fat accumulates around the gut. In recent years the specific programs of nutrition, exercise and hormonal health have been multiplied to help in this period. Alberto García-Bataller, doctor of physical and sports activity sciences, reveals that during menopause it is vital to combine aerobic exercise of high intensity with that of strength to reduce symptoms, prevent osteoporosis and combat sarcopenia.

8. Mental health

«When we talk about cognitive training some think of puzzles or hobbies. However, physical training generates physiological responses that help modulate brain biochemistry or even change their morphology. This makes some types of exercise contribute to improving concentration and learning or preventing diseases such as depression or dementias, ”explains Dr. Pareja.

9. mindfulness

Reducing anxiety and stress are the objectives of programs that combine exercise with moments of calm, reflection, body consciousness and breathing. “Meditation can contribute to visualizing objectives and to improve sports performance,” explains psychologist Belén Colomina.

10. Smart devices

The portable technology It has been democratized by allowing any amateur user to value biomarkers in real time that a few years ago was unthinkable to know how oxygen saturation, blood glucose, the variability of heart rate, the galvanic response of the skin, body temperature … « The real challenge now is that the user is able to interpret the signals obtained by this portable technology in order to adapt their training to their physiological variables, ”analyzes Dr. Pareja, who affects the good use of portable technology and not As an excuse not to exercise.

11. Data and ‘Gaming’

We have gone from measuring little or nothing to being constantly monitored. And that, as Dr. Pareja explains, can be useful because “what cannot be measured, cannot be improved.” However, the expert alert of the double edge of technology. «Now we see many sedentaries with cardiomethabolic risks carrying Smart Watches that they insist that they stir their arm from time to time or in which they fulfill the bulle of the 10,000 steps to make them CRER that they are already in shape, ”suggests the researcher.

12. High intensity

The maelstrom in which we are plunged into acual society makes us want to be more efficient in everything. The UAM researcher points out that high intensity intervals training (Hiitfor its acronym in English) they achieve similar benefits to conventional ones but in a smaller time. In some cases the benefits are higher. They generate the ‘Afterburn’ effect (still burning calories at rest) and are good allies to increase basal metabolism for a longer time.

Finally, an extra mode can be highlighted another digital format that will continue to be a trend and that also has been following it for several years, which is the Podcast as a vehicle for disseminating specialized knowledge. Thus, the CEO of Fit Generation, Marcos Gutiérrez recounts his experience: «With only 17 episodes our podcast is being a success, so much that this year we will release a specific nutrition. They are podcast more than 50 minutes with an average time of very high playback. That rule that new generations do not pay attention to long -term formats is clearly denied with real figures in the hand ».

Also in ABC well -being, successful podcast formats such as the conversational ‘alphabet of well -being’ have been launched, with interviews with professionals from the field of psychology, fitness, nutrition or sexuality. And the monographic ‘we, the menopausal’ and ‘the dilemma of the perfect bodies (im).