It’s a new year and that means you are out in the gym sweating it out to follow up with a resolution to stay fit. The initial few weeks of the year saw a whole lot of new weird and whacky trends popping up online and in fitness studios promising weight loss and a fit body. Swati Nair takes a look at a few pretty intense and a little crazy trends
Dare to Bare
Naked Yoga tutorials are growing in numbers, with a few dedicated organisations also streaming asanas that must be done without clothes on, for best results. While a few practices fall under tantric yoga, others claims this style of Yoga as the purest and most sacred one. The Naked Yoga School puts up videos of naked yoga asanas online, where the demonstrator too is naked.
The website description reads: “ Nakedness is often viewed with shame and fear. This practice is geared toward removing this shame, fear and other limiting self-perceptions and instead bring you closer to pride, respect, honour, openness and acceptance”. One of the naked yoga enthusiasts in the city, Meiraj Ahmed says, open terraces are the place to be when it comes to practicing his routine. “My open terrace just gives me the freedom of going bare with dare,” he says. Meiraj does naked yoga in the comfort and serenity of the night. "I love the cool wind pushing me to my extent," he add
Defy Gravity
Gym enthusiasts have taken to actually defying gravity. Aerial yoga is a mix of the usual mat yoga with postures suspended from soft-fabric hammocks. You are required to pull yourself up, defying the gravitational forces, and explore floating and fluid movements. This allows a workout without compressing ones joints and spine. “I feel its affect on stomach, arms and upper legs,” says Tishya Relia, 24.
Sweat it Like Bruce Lee
The movie star, martial artist and cultural icon founded a non-classical Chinese Kung Fu system in 1967. Inspired by this philosophy is a hybrid style of fighting art Jeet Kune Do (JKD), which is getting popular among millennials who find interest in street style fighting and are Bruce Lee fans. “We customise it based on the client. Everyone does not fight the same way. It is a street oriented martial art and not a sport,” says Dhruv Chaudhuri, head trainer for JKD at MultiFit. Navneet Karanath, 24, says he prefers JKD as it trains his entire body. “There are no target muscles when it comes to JKD. It is a martial art that trains your movement, body reaction and response," he says.
Bhangra is my Cardio
While the world may be into the usual zumba, bokwa and power dance workouts, one group is trying to initiate a fitness regime around desi folk dances. Aarti Pandey, a trainer at myfolkfitness.com says, “People find it easy to catch up with this kind of workout because it is easy to move to local beat. Let’s say you are at a wedding and the dhol starts playing, your shoulder will start moving automatically”. The fitness regime includes different folks styles like Graba, Bihu and Bhangra among many others. “A mix of Garba, Bhangra and few other folk styles make up our cardio ritual,” says Aarti. The fitness routine is set to traditional folk music, she adds.
Boxercise
Based on the training boxers take to stay fit, this fitness routine is making a comeback this year, with several taking to this trend for a power packed workout. “The workout routine is a mix of cardio and boxing,” says Sally Jones, boxercise trainer and head coach at MultiFit. Sally says the routine concentrates on biceps, triceps and back muscles. “It can start with being a five minute workout and be extended till an hour,” she says. Sally informs that while she has been training people in the UK in boxercise for a few years now, she sees Indians taking to the regime popularly now.
Folk styles
and their
fitness
target areas
1 Chest - Rajasthani , Bengali, Rathvaa
2 Back - Koli , Rajashthani, Garba, Bihu ,
3 Biceps/ Triceps - Koli , Garba , Bihu , Rathvaa
4Shoulders - Bhangra, Koli, Chapeli
5 Core - Bihu, Garba, Bengali
6 Quadriceps/
Hamstring- Bhangra, Kargarttam, Kalbeliya
7 Glutes - Dam- khai , Bhadhaai
8 Calves - Kargarttam, Kalbeliya, Bhangra, Garba