First, the bad news: These new Christmas trainers won’t run on their own. Happier news? Back on the New Year’s fitness wagon doesn’t mean working out seven days a week and sweating silly on the treadmill at Barry’s.
This year, London’s fitterati is working hard to deliver some shiny new tricks and trends you might really want to stick with: think 15-minute workouts, gamified dance sessions in the metaverse, and feel-good, low-impact classes. In fact, it will leave you feeling energized until the end of January, and maybe even beyond.
From cashing in on your gym membership (yes, you read that right) to yoga classes that sync up with your cycle, this is your 2023 fitness mega guide. Let’s do this.
Micro dose your workout
Don’t let January’s gym scare put you off. Good news for those who like to use exercise for a mental boost (of course… anyone?): According to new research from Asics, it only takes 15 minutes and nine seconds to rejuvenate with exercise, so you don’t always do hours of heavy classes or 10 minutes to get that endorphin rush. you need to be programmed in a thousand runs.
Gunnar Peterson, F45’s head of athletics, agrees that efficiency will be a leading exercise trend this year as our lives become increasingly chaotic, and Peloton trainer Ally Love says she’s increasingly encouraging clients to focus on what she calls “one person strength”: whether it’s 50 sit-ups or just 50 sit-ups. Focus on one small thing you want to accomplish that day, whether it’s a 10-minute class. “If you can do one thing, no matter how big or small, it suddenly becomes achievable,” he says.
Seven-minute workouts are among the most popular workouts on YouTube (see PT Lucy Wyndham-Read’s seven-minute workouts, each regularly watched by more than 96 million), and 60-second #standing abs workouts on TikTok with over 22.7 views If you have time to fit in 30 minutes, the 12-3-30 workout is another top fitness trick circulating on TikTok, which involves walking at 3 mph on a treadmill for 30 minutes at a 12 percent incline. According to Google, there was a 309 percent increase in searches.
Meanwhile, EMS (Electro-Muscle Stimulation) training – a favorite of A-listers like Tom Holland and time-poor City slickers – is another ultra-efficient workout poised to break into the mainstream this year, thanks to new London studios like Feel Electric, Ironbody. Harmony and Fluctuation. It’s said that just 20 minutes connected to electric pulse machines is equivalent to 90 minutes at the gym. The perfect lunch break hero for anyone experiencing an afternoon slump.
Pilates is the new yoga
Pretend that this is some kind of hot new trend and you’ll laugh out of the reformer machine, but pilates will have an even bigger moment in 2023 thanks to its low-impact, body-extending results. Ask Harry Styles, Kate Moss and Kendall Jenner, who are among the 70 percent of exercisers who say Pilates is now replacing yoga as their main form of exercise.
“I always explain to my clients that Pilates gets your body back where it needs to be,” says Hollie Grant, award-winning pilates instructor and founder of women-focused Pilates PT. “Modern life involves a lot of flexibility; looking at phones, sitting in front of laptops, driving, and our bodies almost forget what they are designed to do. Pilates fixes that. It improves your posture, strengthens weak muscles, which in turn reduces back pain and fatigue.”
Australian fitness brand Strong Pilates will open three studios in London in February, and F45 recently launched its new pilates-focused sister studio, FS8. The first studio in the UK has recently opened in Fitzrovia’s Great Titchfield Street.
Sync with your loop
If 2022 is the year women’s health hits Parliament, 2023 looks like the year it finally hits the gym. More than 40 percent of women who exercise regularly believe their menstrual cycle has a negative impact on their training, and reportedly listen to fitness studios.
Boutique London studio Ten Health & Fitness has recently added on-demand pelvic floor classes and pre and postpartum physics sessions to its women’s health services, and Grant offers private pre and postpartum pilates sessions through its platform, The Bump Plan. Elsewhere, corporate fitness subscription Gympass has launched a shiny new menopause center on its online platform; and Psycle recently worked with NHS doctor Frankie Jackson-Spence to develop a four-week ‘Psycle with your Cycle’ program as part of her home fitness offering. Classes are designed to work in harmony with the different phases of your cycle, reducing inflammation, improving blood flow and raising energy levels.
Evgenia Koroleva, founder of ONE LDN, launched an eight-week program called The Female Curve for women looking for a more comprehensive way to use their hormones. It covers a two-month period and offers a completely bespoke fitness and nutrition program tailored to your menstrual cycle: consider exercises based on where you are in your cycle; Weekly meeting with The Curve’s trainer team; instant messaging with your own personal coach; and progressive menstrual guidance on everything from meal plans to emotional well-being.
Dr Tamara Alireza, functional medicine practitioner at Skinfluencer London, says another reason for the increase in exercises like pilates is this increased interest in women’s menstrual cycles: The slow-toning and low-impact nature of exercise releases endorphins and improves blood flow. reduce fatigue; focusing on the pelvic floor muscles improves blood flow and promotes relaxation; and focusing on diaphragmatic, deep breathing improves concentration, promotes a positive mindset, and allows the rib cage, abdomen, and pelvis to stretch. “Stress is one of the biggest causes of menstrual problems like irregular periods, pain and mood swings,” she says. “Taking deeper breaths and practicing mindful meditation based on yoga help reduce stress and therefore the hormonal effects of stress.”
rent, buy
Rental ski equipment and formerly beloved designer suits are now the norm, and even secondhand sportswear is out in 2022 (see sites like GoodFit, Re Run Apparel, and Bamboo Apparel) – could the same revolution happen for our unused gym memberships? Definitely, according to Altho, the free new fitness app that lets busy (or lazy) gym goers earn between 60 and 90 percent cash back by lending their memberships—perfect if you’re on vacation or having a busy week where you can don’t hit the gym.
“You can be an avid gym member who goes to the gym on Monday, Wednesday, Friday, but your membership is not available on Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday. So you can pre-fill those days to rent for the rest of the year,” explains founder Matthew Mansell. Sharing is caring.
meta is better
Okay, so we’re not all going to spend 2023 doing HIIT classes in the metaverse and lightsaber training in space. But for those struggling to find the motivation to exercise normally, VR is proving to be an increasingly fun (and affordable) option. According to a recent study in the journal Psychology of Sport and Exercise, adults who did biceps curls with a VR headset reported a 10 percent lower pain intensity than those who did the same workout at the gym.
The magic lies in gamification. The FitXr is widely regarded as the Fiit of the VR world, with optional daily classes from boxing to dance HIIT (bonus: there’s a multiplayer mode so you can workout with up to six friends). Meanwhile, Les Mills’ new Bodycombat VR app – recently named the world’s #1 fitness VR app by Meta – pits players against martial arts challenges in intergalactic deserts and neo-urban skylines, extra points for effort and technique, and new immersive rowing. towing brand imersU ROW lets you row from the comfort of your home on the Tokyo 2020 and Paris 2024 Olympic rowing courses. If you missed the Oculus headset over Christmas, don’t panic. Apple is said to release a VR headset in late 2023.
stay cool
Sweating through a HIIT workout may seem like the only way to warm up this winter, but fitsperts say the cold can actually be a fitness superpower. According to Google Trends, searches for “cold therapies” have increased 38 percent since 2021-22 because London’s fitterati embraces the benefits of not only working out our bodies but also healing.
The good news is that you don’t need to jump into a freezing lake to get your blood flowing and repair sore muscles (in fact, please don’t). Monk, a smart new ice bath company, recently received funding from BrewDog founder James Watt, and the first units sold out in a matter of days thanks to the company’s mission to bring cold water therapy to the masses through an at-home bath. control from your phone (no plumbing required – just fill with water and dive in).
Meanwhile, many of London’s smartest athletes swear by the CoreTx, a Stanford-approved palm cooling device used to cool users’ palms between strength exercises and said to reduce fatigue, reduce heat stress and increase the likelihood of sticking. an exercise program. Users so far say the performance benefits are “better than steroids.” Cold girl winter?