Raise the Bar
  • Home
    • New to Triathlon?
    • About >
      • Contact
      • Mission
      • History
    • Blog
    • Sponsors
    • Privacy Policy
  • Team
    • Members Only >
      • Log in
      • Team Directory >
        • Directory Guide
        • Manage your Directory Listing
      • Discounts >
        • Multisport & RTB Lite Members' Sponsor Benefits
        • Multisport Members' Event Discounts
        • Swim Member Sponsor Benefits
        • Swim Members' Event & Training Discounts
      • Team Calendar
      • Race Plans
      • Helping Teammates
    • About the Team
    • Sign Up!
    • Where we are >
      • RTB South
    • Benefits >
      • IM free entries
    • Team Sponsors
    • Team FAQs
  • Training
    • Swim >
      • Coached Pool Workouts
      • Open Water Wednesdays
      • Swim Workout Library
    • Bike
    • Run >
      • Monday Night Track
    • Coaching Referrals
  • Events
    • Volunteer Here!
  • Store

The Top 10 Fitness Trends for 2019: What Triathletes Need to Know

1/9/2019

0 Comments

 
With specialized fitness studios popping up on every corner and trackers donning nearly every wrist at the gym, some fitness trends are hard to miss. Others, such as yoga and High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT), are old news playing new roles training world as they adapt to our digital, wellness-focused culture. Whether your training plans for the new year include mixing it up at the gym or sticking to your home trainer and treadmill, being in the know about these ten fitness trends for 2019 (according to worldwide survey conducted by the American College of Sports Medicine) will help you make the most of your tracked and true workouts.
Picture
  1. Wearable Technology: From straps to apps, just about anything a triathlete can dream of is trackable. For an up-to-date list of the best fitness trackers for triathletes, check out this comprehensive review.                                                 
  2. ​Group Training: Research shows that working out in a group setting increases motivation and adherence to fitness programs. To get the most out of exercising with others, choose your partners wisely. Researchers at Kansas State University found that people who exercised with someone they thought was better than them (perception is key) increased their workout time and intensity by 200 percent! In 2019, you can stop trying so hard to beat the guy who keeps getting on the podium and invite him to join you for a few workouts instead.

Picture
3.  High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT): Interval training is time efficient, improves cardiovascular fitness, decreases boredom, and increases weight loss. If you still haven’t incorporated HIIT into your swim, bike and run workouts…well, this is a judgment free zone, but in 2019, it’s a no-brainer; the benefits of HIIT are undeniable.

4.  Fitness Programs for Older Adults: I know, I know. You were with me until this one. It’s a Boomer thing, but the point here is that exercise programs geared toward “older adults” are serious business. The aging population is fitter, richer and living longer than ever before. If you are a triathlete who believes sixty is the new forty, you can find both camaraderie and serious conditioning in age-specific gyms and classes.

5.  Bodyweight Training: It’s completely free, functional, requires no equipment, improves strength and flexibility simultaneously, and protects your joints. Planks, push-ups, lunges, squats and their endless iterations will increase your lean body mass without lifting weights or leaving your home. Google “bodyweight training for triathletes” for tips and examples of the best exercises for you.

Picture

6.  Employing Certified Fitness Professionals
: Huh? What you need to know about this one is that gyms and other fitness facilities are not just hiring anyone anymore.  Formal education and legitimate certifications are more important than ever before, so before you book a personal training session or sign up for specialized training, inquire about your instructor’s educational background and expect to be impressed.
​

7.  Yoga. Hot yoga, Yogilates, Power Yoga. By now we’ve pretty much heard it all when it comes to yoga. Refer to this article for a review of the benefits of yoga for triathletes and a link to my favorite at-home yoga videos.

8.  Personal Training. When you are a committed athlete who knows how to plan a workout, hiring a personal trainer may seem like an unnecessary luxury. But the popularity of personal trainers is increasing for good reasons. Working out with a trainer can help even the most knowledgeable triathletes break through training plateaus, avoid injuries and stay motivated.  

PictureHolly Pennington
9. Functional Fitness Training. This trend covers a wide variety of exercise tests and approaches specifically designed to improve quality of movement for everyday activities unique to the individual. For triathletes, shifting the focus to quality, rather than quantity, of movement is a worthwhile investment in racing longevity. Specialized tests such as the Functional Movement Screen (offered at OPT) can identify inefficient movement patterns that place triathletes at greater risk for injury and underperformance.

10.  
Exercise is Medicine. This global health initiative encourages primary care providers to prescribe physical activity for conditions such as diabetes, depression, cancer and hypertension. As a triathlete, you have plenty of other reasons to stay active but reframing exercise as medicine is another powerful reason to keep on racing.
    
 Now that you are in the know and there are plenty of new – and free – things to try this year, what will you do differently in 2019?  

Written by   Holly Pennington, PT, DPT/Outpatient Physical Therapy



 
Picture
0 Comments

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

    Raise the Bar

    Race reports, upcoming events, news, and more, from RTB.

    RSS Feed

    Picture
    Picture
    Picture

    Archives

    September 2023
    July 2023
    April 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    July 2020
    June 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014

Picture
Picture
Home
Calendar
Contact Us
​About
Team
   Join
   Sponsors
​   FAQ
RTB Events
   Lake Meridian Tri
   Black Diamond Tri
Training
   Swim Workouts
​   Classes & Clinics
  
​
Event Services
   Timing
​   Equipment Rental
Photos from sindy.monzon, Rosmarie Voegtli
  • Home
    • New to Triathlon?
    • About >
      • Contact
      • Mission
      • History
    • Blog
    • Sponsors
    • Privacy Policy
  • Team
    • Members Only >
      • Log in
      • Team Directory >
        • Directory Guide
        • Manage your Directory Listing
      • Discounts >
        • Multisport & RTB Lite Members' Sponsor Benefits
        • Multisport Members' Event Discounts
        • Swim Member Sponsor Benefits
        • Swim Members' Event & Training Discounts
      • Team Calendar
      • Race Plans
      • Helping Teammates
    • About the Team
    • Sign Up!
    • Where we are >
      • RTB South
    • Benefits >
      • IM free entries
    • Team Sponsors
    • Team FAQs
  • Training
    • Swim >
      • Coached Pool Workouts
      • Open Water Wednesdays
      • Swim Workout Library
    • Bike
    • Run >
      • Monday Night Track
    • Coaching Referrals
  • Events
    • Volunteer Here!
  • Store