Gyming is a great way to improve your mental and physical health, it makes you look attractive and for many people it is equal to therapy. So, in all, it is probably one of the greatest inventions by mortals. But, not everyone is the same. Different people have different requirements.
It can be the case that gyming might be unable to fulfil them. For example, many people feel that they can perform well and with more intensity in a group activity, and gyming is a solo thing. Or, they just don’t like the idea of lifting weights. Many girls stay away from gym thinking that lifting weights will make them manly, which is certainly not true.
Whatever the reason is, gyming is not option for them. For such people, there are some awesome alternatives which can be as healthy, if not more, as gyming. We will talk about these different types of workouts, that doesn’t require for you to lift. Although, there is an exception, but we will get to it later.
Tabata
Tabata is a type of HIIT, it which intensity should be maximum for a very short period of time. In tabata, you have to do 20 secs of high intensity exercise followed by 10 secs of rest. And, you have to repeat this 8 times. Now days, you will see many people doing Tabata workout for 30-20 minutes.
Actually, that kills the whole point of it. Doing tabata for 20-30 minutes makes it a normal HIIT. Plus, the core concept of this type of workout is that, you have to give your 200% in those 20 seconds and you have to do it 8 times. Including, 10 secs of rest, it amounts to complete 4 minutes.
Many people argue that, the study was conducted in a controlled environment with pre-determined set of activities, and hence it may not be as effective for normal people in normal situations.
First of all, any study done on the effects of any workout is done in a controlled environment and a normal person can’t go to that level of correctness, this doesn’t mean that there will be no effect. The effects can be a little less, but not totally non-existent.
A study was conducted by Auburn university at Montogomery professor; Dr. Michele Olson, suggested that by doing tabata, the participants lost, on average, 13.5 calories per minute and for some the metabolic rate was also doubled for as long as 30 minutes.
Benefits of Tabata
Short-duration – A correct Tabata workout should only last for 4-minutes and hence it is not at all time consuming. You can do it 5 minutes before taking a shower.
VO2-max – VO2 max stands for volume of oxygen maximum. It means the maximum amount of oxygen your body can absorb in a unit time. So, the more oxygen your body can absorb the better it is for you. Tabata is known to increase V02 max.
Design it on your own – This is probably the best part about Tabata, you can design it on your own. You can choose which exercise you want to do in those 4 minutes. It can range from lifting to body weight exercises. You can do the same exercise in all the 8 intervals or you can have a different exercise for each interval.
Who should join it?
Tabata is extreme high-intensity workout and it is for young people. 16-25 years old. Although, beginners can do it, but it is highly advised to people with no previous physical fitness background to train your body with something less intense before going into Tabata protocol.
Zumba
Zumba is nothing but a form of dance. The main idea of Zumba is being in a happy environment where performing high intensity exercises would seen much effortless. The best part of Zumba is that it swiftly shifts between low-intensity and high-intensity moves so that your body gets enough time to recover between two high intensity intervals.
Zumba helps you to train your entire body in one session. If you are someone who desire a healthy body and don’t care about big muscles then this is the thing for you. Although, this doesn’t mean that it won’t help you build the muscles.
Even if you are a gym going person who likes pumping iron, Zumba can be a much better and fun alternative for your regular cardio.
Doing workout with a bunch of people helps you perform better and for more amount of time.
Benefits of Zumba
Sweating – One thing that is surely going to happen when you join Zumba class, is that you are going to sweat like a pig. Although, contradicting to popular belief, sweating doesn’t make you lose more fat. But, it has numerous other benefits, like, it gives you healthy skin, drives out salt from your body, etc.
Fat-lose – Zumba is probably the best and the easiest way to lose fat. Although, the amount of fat you lose depends upon the duration of each session and how much effort you are putting into it. One hour of Zumba can burn 400 to 500 calories.
More oxygen – Since, in Zumba, you have to constantly move your body, hence, your lungs start taking more oxygen. After a period of time it will increase your lung capacity.
Endurance – In our day to day life, a person requires endurance more than he requires strength. And, Zumba helps build both aerobic and anaerobic endurance.
Who should join it?
Unlike Tabata, Zumba is not very high intensity. In fact, it switches on and off between medium and low intensity. Hence, it is good for pretty much everyone. Even if you are old you can still join it. Lots of men think that it is for women only, but it is not true. The endurance that you gain from Zumba can be used in other physical training.
Crossfit
Crossfit is becoming more and more popular among the fitness freaks and this popularity is well deserved. In Crossfit, you have to do all sort of exercises, that will challenge your strength and your endurance. The problem with gyming is that it gets monotonous with time. When your body gets into a routine of doing same things, then it stops growing at a healthy pace. I don’t say growing in terms of size only, but also growing in strength and endurance. Plus, after a time people start getting bored and end up quitting.
In Crossfit, everyday is a new day with different exercises.
This is what makes it so unique and effective. Because your body has to face a new challenge everyday, it never hits a plateau. Plus, having new workout everyday keeps the excitement alive.
Secondly, Crossfit is a group activity. That means, there will be several people performing the same task as you. A sense of competition drives you to perform at your best. As it is a combination of weigh training, endurance training and cardio, it helps you stay healthy and increase strength, while building muscles.
Benefits of Crossfit
Time-saving – Crossfit is a high-intensity workout with very little resting time in between. So, even if you want you can’t go on for a very long time. And, those 20-30 minutes you invests will reap maximum benefits.
Strength an muscle – There are many workouts that work for on your strength and many that work on your muscles. Crossfit works on both. Apart from them, it is very effective way to increase your anaerobic endurance.
Confidence – You meet anyone who does Crossfit, you’ll sense a radiating confidence. Doing Crossfit makes you feel like an Alpha, like you can deal with any situation, where it is physically challenging or mentally challenging.
Who should join it?
If you are between 15-40 years old. You can join Crossfit. Although, it will be much helpful if you have a physical fitness background. For example, if have been gyming for years then you can definitely transition to Crossfit.
HIIT
HIIT stands for high-intensity interval training. Tabata, as I have mentioned, is even more intense type of HIIT. In this, we have to perform a large number of exercises over a short period of time. In fact, the more you can do the better it is. For example, your are given 30 secs to do burpees, you can do 5 burpees in that time or you can do 10.
The more you do, the intense it gets and more you gain.
HIIT usually doesn’t involve any weights. But, you can use weights if you want. Then it will be more of a Crossfit then HIIT. Like, Tabata you can design your own HIIT workout and for most of the cases you don’t even need a professional trainer. You can do it at your home or join a HIIT group if you like group activities.
HIIT can really exhaust your muscles and therefore it requires you do get enough rest. 2-3 times a week is more than enough. And, if you want to do more than that then you’ll have to keep your diet accordingly or take supplements for quick recovery.
Benefits of HIIT
Improved cardio vascular system – After 5 minutes into HIIT, you’ll feel like you heart is going to explode and it is a good thing. Doing HIIT would improve, your heart condition and its ability to pump blood. HIIT is used by athletes from different fields.
Do it at home – You can play a HIIT video on youtube and start with your HIIT session. You don’t require any machine, weights, benches or racks. This makes HIIT very cheap. The money you save, you can use it for buying nutrition because when you do HIIT you must have highly nutritious diet. With lots of protein, carbs, vitamins and minerals.
Fat-burn – You can burn a lot of fat with HIIT. If you are into cutting phase, then you should definitely include 1-2 HIIT sessions in your schedule. It not only burn calories, but as it targets multiple muscle groups at a single time, it increases the production of testosterone.
Muscle building – Although, it is a type of cardio, but it still helps you build muscles. Of course it also depends upon the exercises you do.
Who should join it?
A person with age ranging between 15-30 years. Although, no previous gymnastic experience is compulsory, but it would be better if you have done weight training or any other type of physical activity in the past.
Pilates
It you have a chronic back or shoulder or neck pain and you are tired of getting hurt in the gym, then pilates is just the thing for you. In this, sudden movement are avoided and are replaced by soft-smooth movements that helps to strengthen the muscle without exaggerating the pain.
Pilates emphasise a lot on your core muscles. Having good and strong core muscles not only improves your posture, but also gives you overall strength. The strongest of men have strong core muscles. Of course, what you do in a Pilates session also depends a lot on your instructor.
A good instructor will choose exercises that are particular to your needs.
You might have seen, on TV, people doing pilates on a complicated machine, while it is true that some pilates exercises need machines, but not all. In fact, most of the these exercises can be done on the floor without the need of a single piece of equipment.
If you have enough money, then you can afford a person pilates instructor, but if you don’t then you can join a group. You just make sure not to choose an instructor who takes too many clients in a single session. He/she won’t be able to focus properly on each person.
Benefit of Pilates
Less chance of injury – Since all the movements are controlled and instructed the chance of injuring oneself is very slim. Even if you have previous injuries, pilates can work around it.
Strength muscle – Pilates can help you to strength your muscles without bulking up. It is good for women who want toned bodies without gaining huge muscles.
Flexibility – Pilates makes you more flexible.
Who should join it?
Anyone who is looking to strengthen the core muscles or who wants to get rid of the back pain or want to be in a healthy physical and mental state can join it. No age limits.
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