Start your new year right
2018 has been a great year – ruled by our hearts, mind and souls. We’ve seen wearable technology, strength training and yoga grow in popularity, and more people have realised that it’s far better to be fit and healthy than to be a couch potato. Sure, there still may be no proven right way to work out, and fitness looks to dominate our personal agendas once again in 2019. Here are the trends that we see taking off, that will help you achieve and maintain your best self over the next twelve months:
Look after your body (and it’ll look after you)
2019 will see your workout – no matter what you do – truly become a body and soul experience.
Next year will also see your workout focus shift to recovery, as more of us realise that we don’t have to beat ourselves up and hurt every day to feel the benefits of the exercise we’re doing. Sure, foam rolling is great – but sleep, saunas and massages are definitely better.
Wearable tech will also evolve over the next twelve months, lending a hand to help us optimise every part of our lives. As tech gets better at tracking sleep, we’ll be able to optimise our sleep patterns – meaning that 2019 might be the time where we finally get a good night’s sleep!
Treat your brain right
If there’s one thing that will be on our minds in 2019, it’ll be mindfulness. We’ll be learning more about how our brains respond to exercise, and how beneficial it can be for our mental health. 2018 saw the launch of mindful running – like the Nike X Headspace partnership; its popularity will continue into the new year. Maybe you should ring the new year in with a good meditation app.
So, it goes without saying that mindfulness stands to infiltrate our workouts. If you’re not already embracing your inner peace, 2019 is a great time to start. Of course, the best way of doing this is through being in the great outdoors. Sports like climbing come with a whole host of mental health benefits, as your mind and body are forced to focus on the matters at hand, as opposed to other issues. If that fails, yoga is also the way forward: try and make time for a class (or try it at home), before or after your workouts.
See your workout evolve
Imagine hybrid HIIT. 2019 will see your HIIT become more compact – with workouts no longer exceeding thirty minutes, but still being a great way of keeping your fitness up and staying healthy.
Group training will also gain traction in 2019, with more of us realising that, actually, working out is better together. Expect to see your local gym offering more kickboxing, Zumba, spin and aerobic classes – let’s just hope that the fashion doesn’t come back to boot.
You may be surprised to find your work and workouts merge in the coming months. An increasing number of offices are giving their staff workout areas, and gyms are offering their members areas working spaces. Sure, you might not feel like finishing a workout and then sending some emails now, but you might have a change of heart.
Plan (eating) ahead
Forget eating the typical five-a-day. Welcome the elderberry: a new addition to the fruit bowl. Famed for its use in natural medicine, elderberries have significant anti-inflammatory and antioxidant effects – and taste great in your morning porridge.
If you regularly find yourself rolling your eyes at what’s in your fridge: don’t panic. 2018 saw searches for “nutrition plans” skyrocket, meaning that 2019 will see mindful eating come to the table – and helping us build healthy relationships with the food we’re eating.
Unsurprisingly, superfoods like acai and matcha will continue to appear in our cupboards. Their mass health benefits will help give your morning smoothie a lift, helping you to power through the day.
Brace yourself: the Smart Home fitness revolution is coming
See your workouts become on-demand in 2019. With many gyms and personal trainers now offering workouts that can be streamed into your home, it seems almost natural that you’ll soon be able to receive encouragement from your Google Home or Alexa. There is also a whole range of dedicated tech for working out at home, including the motivational Mirror, for convenient personal training.
The virtual workout will soon become the norm: you’ll soon be able to exercise effectively from the comfort of their homes – or from wherever we are (providing there’s a working internet connection). You’ll also start seeing more workout spaces in hotels and airports – so that nobody misses out on working out when they’re on the move.