This is Part II of my Top 10 Fitness Predictions for 2011.  Please see below for Part I.6. Long duration workouts are out.  If intensity is to become more popular than long distance training will be out.  The harder you push the shorter you can go.  And vive versa.  Everyone's time is at a premium and we want the best results in the fastest way possible.  It used to be that being in the gym 2-3 hours a day five days a week earned you respect amongst your peers.  Now they're more likely to see this amount of time in the gym as a waste.  Unless of course you're a pro athlete working on a variety of different elements in that time.  Most likely this doesn't apply to you.7.  Increased demand for higher quality nutrition.  Previously we weren't as aware of which foods were toxic to us and should be removed from our nutritional plan.  Next we learned which foods we should be eating and tried to include more of them.  Lastly we start to see that there are various grades of the foods we should be eating and people are opting for the highest quality possibility.  The perception that quality nutrition always has to cost more is beginng to fade and more are making better choices during their grocery store trips.8. The hips are cool. For a while there everything was about the core. Everyone wanted core stability. They wanted core strength. They wanted core to fix their bad back. And they wanted core to help them in their sport.Well guess what? The emphasis is going to switch more to training the hip complex. There will be more attention to strengthening the hips. There will be more attention to aligning the hips. And there will definitely be more attention to mobilizing the hips....

As we close out 2008 I thought I would take a look into my crystal ball and share with you where I see the fitness industry heading in 2009. So here are my Top 10 Fitness Predictions for 2009.#1 - A decrease in overly intense workouts on day 1In 2008 and with the popularity of the movie 300 we saw a number of people trying to replicate the workouts performed by the actors in that movie. While these workouts had a number of great components to them what we saw happening was the general public attempting the same without proper coaching, instruction, planning or periodization. Picture the individual with low back pain attempting Olympic lifts. Or the person with knee instability doing 50 box jumps in a row. Subsequently we have realized an increase in rhabdomyolysis (damage to muscle tissue), injury and burn-out. In 2009 the hype that came with this movie will have died down and hopefully the negatives associated with it as well.#2 - Less training on balance toysThis one may take a while but eventually the fitness world will realize that standing on a half ball doing biceps curls does not make your biceps stronger. 'But it burns more calories when I have to engage my core to stand on the ball' is the quick answer from some 'trainers'. The answer should be if burning calories is your goal then choose activities, resistances and workouts that burn the most calories. Besides a less than effective way to train for caloric consumption, standing on a balance toy causes the foot to over-pronate, lengthens the ground reaction time during plyometrics and results in a decrease in power production. The athletes and parents of athletes should be paying attention to the last sentence and questioning what is the purpose of the...

Last year I took a look at the trends I was noticing in fitness, saw what my colleagues were doing in other parts of the world and sampled some of the new innovations coming down the line as health products. As while some of these developments are simply fads I believe some of them to be true changes in the industry and here to stay.Below are my 2010 Fitness Predictions that I can now look back and grade myself. How did I do?1. Barefoot Running - Have you tried ditching the shoes? Maybe you own a pair of Five Fingers or some Nike Frees. Have you read the book Born to Run? There are definitely more products, gear and information related to barefoot running. I think we'll see this trend continue in 2011.2. Recovery & Regeneration - There is some evidence that we're more aware of the necessity to recover between workouts. More gyms have foam rollers and more people are using them. There are still a lot gains and results being left on the training room floor when you consider the number of people walking out of the gym without a post-workout shake.3. New Cardio Programs, Equipment and Classes - There maybe wasn't so much an explosion in new program and equipment so much as we saw more people doing intervals of some type as opposed to the regular slow, steady-state cardio they were used to. Consider as the well the number of people performing some type of metabolic resistance training where they alternate between resisted sets to achieve an elevated heart rate and you see people continuing to try something new when it comes to good old cardio.4. Saving Time & $$$ - Part of this one has to do with the economic situation and part of it is due to wanting...

This is always a fun blog post for me.  I like to try and look at what I noticed over the past year, what I saw working and where I think things are going for the coming year.Some of my guesses may be a little bit optimistic.  As in maybe these are things I'd like to see happen in the fitness industry.  And others will happen, it's just a matter of how soon and when others recognize them as well.So let's get to it.  Here are my Top 10 Fitness Predictions for 2011.1. More suspension training.  People seem to like hanging out.  I think it's a combination of the versatility and the challenge that comes with performing some type of suspension training.  Add to that the fact that each exercise can be quickly modified to a regression or progression and it allows this tool to work well in any group fitness setting.  Look for more gyms to offer suspension training classes.2. Less is more.  In life we all want maximal return on investment.  No one wants to spend their time, money or efforts on something that yields marginal results.  With sleep being the one exception we are going to see what is the minimal amount of training and caloric intake required to ellicit the best possible outcome.  In calculus I remember these questions as being 'max-min' problems.  What is the maximum return with the minimum cost?  More will look at their investment in health in this way.3. Simpler workouts.  You'll see more people perform workouts with less equipment.  It might be one set of powerblock dumbbells.  Or one kettlebell. Or one suspension trainer.  Or maybe even just their bodyweight.  Gone are the days of needing a variety of machines and accessories in order to complete a decent workout.  Gyms recognizing this...

As promised here is Part II of my 2011 Fitness Predictions. The deal was we needed 10 comments in order to receive the second half and now we're there. So here you go.Prediction #6 - Long Duration is OutI can remember when I started going to the gym as young guy and people who sit around and talk about how often they went to the gym and for how long. It was almost like a badge of pride the way some discussed what their schedule looked like. You would hear comments such as:'I go 2 hours a day 6 days a week' or'I do 2.5 hour each day during the week' ...etc.Wow! Can you imagine spending spending that much time in the gym? I can't! And I do this for a living.2011 will be the year more people understand the concept of workout density or getting more resistance-based work done in less time. Don't you think it would be much more impressive to have an incredible physique and have people wondering how you can achieve your look with only 4 hours per week in the gym?Prediction #7 - Increased Demand for Quality Nutrition More and more people are recognizing the importance of a quality nutritional plan. They are hearing the expressions such as 'you can't train yourself out of a bad nutritional plan' and making appropriate changes.No  longer can we use the excuse of ignorance. 'High fructose corn syrup is bad for me?'No longer can we see it is hard to find. Costco now sells almond milk, steel cut oatmeal, greek yogurt and buffalo burgers.No longer is it way too expensive. The costs have come down substantially for better quality nutrition and is actually less expensive in the long run than eating low, empty nutrition food.Prediction #8 - The Hips are the New...

When you get out of the shower are you happy with what you see? Based on the title of this blog I'm obviously talking to the guys here. Although there may be a few wives that quickly answered for them before their husbands had a chance. But seriously though are you happy with the way your body looks? No sucking in your gut. No standing sideways to the mirror. No adjusting the dimmer switch to create the perfect lighting conditions where you look your best. There are a number of things working against here and you can quickly see the difference a few decades can have on the male physique. From when we were teenagers and could eat anything any everything and burn off all this extra energy. To our twenties where we first heard the term 'freshman ten' or in some cases 'twenty'. And later to our thirties where some of the cool styles and fashion trends don't necessarily suit the body of the out-of-shape thirty something. And now that I'm in my forties I see more and more people of this vintage looking more like their parents than their kids. We look less like our high school grad pictures and more like the old pictures of relatives we would smile at when looking through photo albums. Why does this happen? And more importantly, is there anything we can do about it? Well to answer the first question would take more than a blog post unto itself. But the short answer is that we aren't the young kids smiling back at us in those pictures from summer vacation 15 or 20 years ago. We aren't producing anywhere near the same amount of androgens as we did up until our early twenties. The levels of testosterone, DHEA, androstenedione (Mark Maguire) in...