Which workout should you pick?

With dozens of new fitness studios opening in Indian cities, you now have access to a wide range of workouts to stay fit, well beyond the regular gyms. Life's in a rut?

Try some salsa and kickboxing to take care of that extra energy. Want to shed some kilos? Start spinning and weight training. Want to work on flexibility and core? How about some yoga and zumba? The choices are endless. Here are 10 easily available workouts that you can choose from today...and why they might be perfect for you!

Zumba: An hour of high intensity zumba can burn 400 to 600 calories, while strengthening your core and engaging your muscles. Add dance like movements, fun tracks to move to and you've got yourself a workout that you'll enjoy. Zumba comprised of a set of high tempo aerobic and bodyweight exercises, and has progressively difficult stages for those of you who believe in truly pushing yourself to achieve fitness results.

Zumba fact: Make sure that you progress in movements and engagement to avoid hitting an early plateau.

Kickboxing: If you're looking for a great fat burning and body toning workout that keeps you coming back, then kickboxing is the workout for you. Kickboxing burns approximately 800-900 calories per hour and builds speed, agility, strength and good form through some basic moves. Moves are combined and intensified to form workout routines that could even involve sparring, if you're up for it. Kickboxing is creating waves in most Indian cities as the new get-fit-now workout routine.

Kickboxing fact: Be prepared to sweat. A lot. Remember - the slower you move, the lesser you workout and the fewer the calories burnt per hour.

Spinning: Every second gym or fitness studio offers group-spinning classes with dedicated instructors. Several outdoor cyclists opt for spinning in the monsoon or winter months as a decent alternative to outdoor cycling workouts. Choose spinning workouts if you're looking to build stamina and resistance.

Spinning fact: Be prepared for a room full of sweaty folks with loud music (sometimes even disco lights!) and an instructor with a headset. To get the most out of a spinning workout – pay attention to what the instructor says.

Cycling workouts: If it's the real thing you want, then you don't even need a gym to start sweating it out on a cycle. Try urban cycling workouts. If biking through the city makes you feel nervous, simply go for early morning rides when the streets are empty and the air is fresh. An hour of moderate cycling can burn anything from 400 to 800 calories an hour, giving you a well-rounded workout that'll grow on you as you get used to cycling through your city's streets.

Cycling fact: Invest in a good bicycle and protective gear. Time yourself, and experiment with uphill and downhill cycling – yes, your city can offer you all this and more.

Skipping workouts: If you can jump rope for 10 minutes, then the skipping workouts might help solve your dilemma of how to clock daily workouts. Skipping as a cardio activity can easily be alternated with bodyweight exercises for a home workout. Since it's quite taxing, skipping burns approx. 400-500 calories an hour. Of course, skipping for an hour is near impossible for us mortal souls, but you can target 15 minute sessions spread through the day for similar results.

Skipping fact: Target a set number of revolutions. Buy a skipping rope with an in-built counter, and set goals of 100, 200, 300, or 500 revolutions in the shortest time.

Dancing workouts: With studios offering everything from street jazz to salsa and bollywood bhangra these days, Dancing is increasingly available to us city folk. Dancing engages your core, builds on your muscle range of motion through functional moves and keeps your heart pumping for that cardiovascular goodness. Although dancing workouts start out as low intensity, as you progress, they get tougher and therefore burn more calories eventually.

Dancing fact: Be sure to invest in a good pair of dancing shoes, and remember – the key is progression, so work hard to move up to higher levels.

Yoga: While yoga may not aid quick weight loss in its slower forms, it works wonders for joint flexibility, core strength and muscle tone. Forms like Iyengar yoga and Power yoga have made their presence felt in several new fitness studios that promise body-sculpting results as well. With 250-350 calories burnt per hour, yoga is a great way to stay in shape for those looking to maintain rather than lose. All you need is a yoga teacher and a yoga mat.

Yoga fact: Yoga also helps improve posture and breathing technique, which helps us fight daily stress more effectively.

Aerobics: Simple aerobic classes focus entirely on cardiovascular exercise. This can be as intensive as you want it to be. From 300 to 600 calories burnt per hour, aerobics depends on quick movements to build momentum and encourage weight loss as a by-product. A great way to avoid lifestyle diseases like diabetes and hypertension, aerobics class are now increasingly adding elements of resistance and strength to take their workouts further.

Aerobics fact: Simply practicing the same aerobics movements everyday isn't enough. Progression in intensity is key to reaping maximum benefits from aerobic activity.

Weight training: Weight training is a highly effective method to stay fit well into your middle to older years. As we age, our body's metabolic rate decreases. Through weight training, we build more muscle and evade slow metabolism since muscle burns calories more efficiently. Choose between weight training at the gym, or buying weights and following a home workout, but weight training is one of the best practices for healthy weight management, and immunity boosting.

Weight training fact: The right diet, rich in essential food groups is essential for a weight-training programme. You need to nourish your body to follow stringent weight training workouts. Read more Personal Health, Diet & Fitness stories on www.healthmeup.com.

Source Sasha Gusain

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