This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at U Ottawa chapter.

High-intensity Interval Training (HIIT) for non-gym members dominated fitness trends in 2014. According to the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM), 2015 will be the year of bodyweight training. Is bodyweight training not your cup of tea? Find out which other fitness trends we can expect to see in 2015:

1. Bodyweight Training

Bodyweight training is a form of strength training that uses your bodyweight as the form of resistance. Think push-ups, sit-ups, and planks. Bodyweight training is ideal because it uses minimal equipment or none at all. It is therefore cost efficient, can be done anywhere, and the exercises can be modified for any fitness level. If you don’t have a mat or space in your dorm, both the Montpetit and Minto gyms provide mats for you to do your workouts.

2. HIIT

While it’s not predicted to top the charts again this year, HIIT is still going to be a very popular form of exercise. HIIT workouts involve quick bursts of exercise in which you give it your all, followed by a short recovery period. This cycle of high intensity then recovery is repeated throughout the workout. HIIT workouts are great for collegiettes because they’re quick and convenient and can be incorporated into many different types of workouts. Don’t want to go to the gym? You can do a HIIT workout just by using the stairs in residence! If you prefer being outside, grab your skates and head over to the canal for your workout.

3. Working out with educated and experienced fitness professionals

Getting professional help with your workouts will ensure that you’re doing the moves correctly and prevent injury. There are plenty of fitness classes available at the University of Ottawa run by experienced fitness instructors! Find out more on the geegees website.

4. Strength Training

Strength training is just that…working out to increase your physical strength. Strength training builds muscle, burns fat, and increases endurance and bone density. If you don’t have your own set of weights, you’re in luck because both University of Ottawa gyms have plenty of different weights for you to use for free. There are also weight-training programs that you can register for through the university.

5. Personal Training

A personal trainer will ensure that you’re performing exercises correctly and will help you develop a workout plan that’s optimal for you specifically. There are plenty of personal training options offered through the university, whether you want to do one session or 20 sessions.

6. Yoga

There’s no need to ditch your yoga mats as yoga is expected to continue to rise in popularity in 2015. According to the ACSM 2014 Predicted Top Fitness Trends Survey, yoga ranked 10th place in comparison to this year’s 6th place ranking. There are plenty of ways to try out yoga, whether it be using online videos in your room or attending one of the university’s free yoga classes.

7. Telemetry

There are many wearable devices and apps currently on the market to help track, monitor, and optimize your workouts. If you’d rather not spend money on gadgets, then try out some of these fitness apps instead!

What fitness trends do you hope to see in 2015?

References

http://stronglifts.com/strength-training-key-to-building-muscle-losing-fat/

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jill-s-brown/fitness-trend-forecast-fo_b_5753458.html

http://www.acsm.org/about-acsm/media-room/news-releases/2014/10/24/survey-predicts-top-20-fitness-trends-for-2015

http://globalnews.ca/news/1716623/hiit-tops-list-of-fitness-trends-for-2015/

http://www.self.com/flash/fitness-blog/2014/11/biggest-fitness-trend-2015-will/

http://dailyburn.com/life/fitness/high-intensity-hiit-workout/

http://www.acsm.org/about-acsm/media-room/news-releases/2013/10/25/survey-predicts-top-20-fitness-trends-for-2014

Picture Links

Photo 1: https://outsidebeautyinsidehealth.files.wordpress.com/2014/07/pushupchallenge_thumb.jpg?w=700&h=391

Photo 2: http://www.healthybalancefitness.com.au/wp/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/HIIT.jpg