Summer Fitness Trends to Try

Summer’s here in earnest and many of us are tackling summer fitness goals (for me, it’s a 10K). But that doesn’t mean we can’t have a little bit of fun with our fitness. Take a break from your usual training and try something a little different.

Summer is the perfect time to run off and join the circus! Aerial silks are the most popular apparatus, but aerial work can also be done on the static trapeze, hoops or straps. These classes are tons of fun and look more like hanging out on the playground than suffering through a workout. That said, just because it’s fun doesn’t mean it’s not challenging. Once your feet leave the floor, you really get to focus on developing core and upper body strength. Aerialists also almost universally say that its one of the best ways to increase body awareness. Aerial arts involve a lot of upside-down tricks, and you’ll need to think about how you move your body in a whole new – and much more challenging – way once you’ve inverted.

Joy’s mentioned previously how much she loves barre , and she’s got me on the barre bandwagon too! These classes remind me of the ballet classes I took in elementary school in the best possible way. You’ll develop tons of core and lower body strength in these classes (hello, quads of steel!), but that strength will be balanced out with tons to hip-opening, flexibility-building stretches, making it a great complimentary form of exercise for runners and cyclists. An added bonus: those ballet-influenced moves will help give you ballerina-perfect posture. I always feel two inches taller coming out of barre class!

At least some of your summer workouts should involve the beach! Back in high school, I tried my hand at surfing and I was really bad at it. In fact, never have I had so much fun being so bad at something. There’s something inherently calming about being out on the water. Stand-up paddleboarding (SUP) gives you all the chill surfer vibes in a way that’s much more accessible for beginners. It’s a complete body workout that will really help you cultivate a strong sense of balance. (Everything’s a little wobbly on the water.) And since this is a workout that needs to be done outside, you’re guaranteed to reap some of the health benefits of being out in nature . For the multi-taskers out there, you can even combine your SUP workout with your yoga class, as many SUP schools offer SUP yoga classes where you learn to do yoga poses while balancing on your board.

What are your fitness goals for this summer, and what are your favourite ways to add some fun to your regime?