Bad news, dudes. It looks like our passion for Zumba and SoulCycle might not be paying off after all. According to celebrity trainer Anna Kaiser, the boutique fitness trend could be sucking the life out of your workout.
Kaiser, who trains stars like Kelly Ripa and Sarah Jessica Parker and founded the boutique studio AKT InMotion, said in an interview with Business Insider,
There's just so much expansion happening in that area of fitness and not everyone is doing it well, because it's hard to create a comprehensive program. It's easy for people to get addicted to one thing, and that's where they can go wrong.
It seems to be the limited scope of these specialized workouts that's the real problem. As Kaiser went on to say,
All of these companies were really focused in one modality, so you have to go to three different studios to get a comprehensive workout. It's really frustrating and kind of a waste of time.
Specifically, cycling leaves out too many muscle groups to make it an efficient, long-term workout. As Kaiser explained,
Now that people are doing it [indoor cycling] five or six times a week or more ... the majority of the work is being done in their quads and hamstrings, their knee is constantly in a state of flexion, they're never straightening behind their knee, there's no core or arm work that's really doing anything for your body. You're just working [the same] muscles over and over again.
In her studio, she offers a mix of classes so members can get a full-body workout throughout the course of a week. That being said, it all comes down to elevating your heart rate and working up a sweat. You could be throwing monster truck tires into the air or jackhammering a freeway with your bare hands, but if you're not sweating, Kaiser says, it's not a workout. Just tell that to Michael Phelps.
Citations: Celebrity trainer reveals a common mistake people make while working out (Business Insider)
