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BODY SHOP: Top fitness trends for 2011

Think sweating through a military-style boot-camp workout class. Or hoisting kettlebells. Or focusing on exercises to strengthen your stomach and back.

These are among the top fitness trends for the coming year, according to the American College of Sports Medicine. The group surveyed more than 19,000 fitness professionals to come up with worldwide fitness trends for 2011.

Boot-camp workouts, strength training and core exercises are among this year’s top 20 trends. Pilates and balance training, listed in the past, didn’t make the cut this time.

People are going “back to basics” with more regimented exercise programs as opposed to ones that require specialized instruction such as Pilates, said Walt Thompson, lead researcher on the trend study and a regents’ professor of kinesiology and health at Georgia State University-Atlanta.

Boot-camp workouts

These structured, high-intensity workouts, modeled after military-style training, include cardiovascular, strength, endurance and flexibility exercises. The classes often combine sports-type drills and calisthenics.

“These workouts are not for the faint of heart,” Thompson said. “Expect the workout to be led by a drill sergeant who has little to no patience for people lagging behind.”

The programs are designed for the more experienced exerciser who wants or needs some additional motivation, Thompson said. Class members move from one exercise to the next with little or no rest.

Core training

This trend stresses the strength and conditioning of the stabilizing muscles of the abdomen, back and chest, Thompson said. The workout emphasizes everything but your arms, legs and head.

Many fitness experts believe people with strong core muscles can function better in all aspects of their daily lives.

Push-ups, sit-ups and curl-ups are examples of basic core exercises, but some fitness professionals now use such novelties as kettlebells and stability balls, he said.

Strength training

The government’s physical activity guidelines recommend that adults do muscle-strengthening activities at a moderate- or high-intensity level for all major muscle groups two or more days a week.

The exercises can be done at the gym or at home with free weights, machines or tried-and-true calisthenics.

— Gannett