What’s up with Weird Workouts?

Welcome to diet and fitness podcast, a free audio podcast sponsored by Diet.com. This is your fit fun and fabulous host, lady diet ready to give you the skinny on the latest diet, fitness health tips and news.

What’s the deal with all these weird workout trends lately? Unconventional exercises are popping up at gyms all over the country! Instead of using tennis shoes and a jump rope, some of these new workouts involve things like stilettos, video games, stripper poles and swords! How are people getting into shape with these items and why are they so popular? This week I take a look at four unusual exercises and determine whether they’re more than just fad-fitness!

Trade in your gym shoes and buy some pointy red stilettos to get in shape! When I discovered people were exercising with stilettos, my first thought was “wow, I can’t even stand in heels.” The whole secret behind stiletto classes is that the instability of the heels makes you work on your stability more by using your core muscles. Heel-strutters work the floor, dancing and stretching in stilettos to improve balance and work their legs. If you aren’t near a gym like Crunch where the class originated, you could always just buy a pair of heels and start dancing!

Speaking of dancing, Dance Dance Revolution (DDR according to people in-the-know) is taking the world by storm. It really is a revolution! Instead of sitting, staring at the TV and only working your thumb muscles with the controller, DDR gets your whole body moving. Kids and adults alike are having fun busting a move and trying to keep up with the game. DDR gets your heart pumping and provides the illusion that you’re not really working out, just having fun. And whether you want to admit it, it is fun.

You don’t have to go to a strip club to pole dance anymore. Just go to your gym instead! That’s right – many women are taking to the pole to work out their upper body muscles, gain strength, have fun, and feel sexy. Classes usually include a warm-up, 45 minute cardio stripping, and a cool down. Don’t worry, joining a pole dancing class doesn’t mean you have to take any clothes off when it’s your turn. You can however order your own detachable pole for your home! Companies like Xposefitness offer a pole and even an instructional DVD starting at under $300. Happy stripping!

Sword-fight your way to weight loss… and feel like a samurai warrior. Sword aerobics classes are a growing trend lately for people bored with traditional cardio workouts. High-intensity sword fighting improves coordination, concentration, and upper and lower body strength! This exercise phenomenon might be a result of popular movies lately, like The Last Samurai or Kill Bill. If you can’t find a class anywhere, there are exercise DVDs and books available like Forza: The Samurai Sword Workout to help you get started. And let’s be honest, who doesn’t want to feel like a samurai warrior?

Fitness centers everywhere are realizing they’ve got to churn out new and attention-getting classes like the ones I’ve just mentioned to keep people coming and keep them motivated to get in shape. You can’t help but wonder what they’ll think of next! Check your local paper or call up the gyms in your area to see what classes they’re offering. You might be surprised at what’s available.

If you have any comments or suggestions about today’s podcast or any fun health diet or fitness tips please feel free to email me at podcast@diet.com

This is Lady Diet signing off…