Break out of the typical gym workouts; try out these cool alternate fitness routines to stay in great shape

Throw a 'fit'!

Break out of the typical gym workouts; try out these cool alternate fitness routines to stay in great shape





So you're the fitness conscious type. And you love to be in shape, but you're bored out of your wits, thanks to the same old, boring workout sessions at the gym. Want to break out? Alternate fitness is the order of the day and fitness centres, dedicated to out-of-gym exercises, across the city are mushrooming like never before. Take bootcamp or belly dancing for instance. While toning one's body, they teach one some great moves too. Happiness guaranteed.
Fitness instructor Vinata Shetty agrees that monotony is the primary reason for quitting the gym. Dancing is the buzzword now. Actor and fitness freak Neha Dhupia is addicted to Zumba. "It's like partying yourself into shape. It involves fast and slow rhythms coupled with resistance training so that you tone and sculpt your body while burning fat and having fun."
Vinata explains, "Those who have been working out for a while look for something that provides both mental and physical stimuli." While yoga is internationally numero uno, Vinata points out that there are different forms of it. Some entail stretching along with strengthening and is very hard to do. Indians mostly stick to pranayams when it comes to yoga. She lists out a few alternate fitness regimes that include MMA (Mixed Martial Arts), kickboxing, bootcamp among others. Let's have a look at some hot favourites…
Boot camp: Pure adrenaline rush! Beachside obstacle and agility training is a cardio, strength and fat burning program. The workouts involve calisthenics like push-ups, jumping jacks, crunches and other body weight exercises. The challenge is to take your body to its limit.
Kickboxing: It refers to a group of martial arts and stand-up combat sports based on kicking and punching. One popular form is aerobic or cardiovascular kickboxing, which combines elements of boxing, martial arts, and aerobics to provide overall physical conditioning and toning. Go kick some butt!
Belly dancing: It is a total body workout. And contrary to the belief that it is a great abs workout because of its name, most of the basic moves in belly dance are driven by the legs, not by the abs.
Water Pilates: It combines the resistance and fluidity of movement in water with the core exercises of Pilates. It uses several exercises to strengthen the core muscles, improve flexibility, increase joints' range of motion and create lean muscles.
Yoga: It helps build strength and flexibility, reduces stress and tension and increases overall health, energy and vitality. There are both physical and mental yoga exercises.
Tai Chi: A natural way to fitness, improving health, healing and wellbeing is the aim of this ancient art, which is essentially gentle mind-body exercise. The tai chi movements are performed with slow, continuous and controlled techniques so as to protect the joints while simultaneously providing relaxation, concentration, balance and
coordination.