Trendy Workouts Tons Of New People Tried In 2021

As far as years go, 2021 did its very best to underwhelm most of us, and by all accounts it succeeded. The wax and wane of the coronavirus pandemic meant that we spent one foot indoors and one foot out, not knowing whether doing one thing or abstaining from another would expose us to one of the Greek alphabet-themed variants that now make up COVID-19. There were the continuing problems that were dragged up by ailing global supply chain, so that if you thought 2021 was going to be the year you could get on your new bike to go places, you either had to wait to take delivery, or have your hopes dashed altogether. Let's not even talk about the inflation that caused many of us to do a double take whenever we went shopping.

And while no one would blame you if you figured this year was best spent in sweat pants and leggings, there would have been those of us who decided to try and get off our couches and get fit. To those of you, we salute you ... and we use our crystal balls to take a guess that these are the workouts you would have tried in an attempt to get fit.

While life gradually pivoted back to a new "normal" in 2021, there was still an element of hesitancy and an "is-it-or-isn't-it-safe" mentality when it came to the idea of working out in a gym. As such, fitness provider Les Mills said it saw a majority of fitness buffs going for a happy mix of in-person and at-home workouts, in what it said was a 60:40 ratio. Livestream and on-demand digital classes managed to retain some level of popularity, as did the idea of returning to the gym to work up a sweat, making omnichannel fitness cool one way to go.

By the time the beginning of 2021 came around, a great many of us had gotten well and truly sick of the great indoors, which is why so many of us chose to pick up our running or biking gear to head outdoors. And it didn't matter what you did, because Marie Claire says being allowed outdoors for a limited amount of time meant we were taking advantage of the time we had to just appreciate the gift of fresh air. So think jogging, walking, trail running, and biking — in short, anything that would entice you to mask up and head out.

Megan Rapinoe does it. Ayesha Curry does it. Candace Cameron Bure does it. Kate Hudson says she is "obsessed" with it (via Shape). There was even a time when President Joe Biden made headlines because we weren't sure if he was going to move to the White House with it. We're talking about the Peloton bike, whose ad campaign came under some criticism in 2020 but by 2021, it seemed everyone was raring to get on one. It certainly didn't harm the brand that individual Peloton instructors developed a fan following of their own, although the brand did suffer a bit of a hit when it the Sex and the City revival turned it into an accessory (spoiler alert) into the passing of Mr Big.

Year two of living under a global pandemic meant many of us couldn't get to do the things that we might have wanted to do, like take part in a marathon in Boston, New York, or London. Or even scale mountains like Everest — which is where virtual races and virtual challenges came in. The idea was to take part in a global sports event from the comfort of your own city while competing against other like-minded athletes around the world. At the end of the event, some competitions even offered a certificate or a medal to acknowledge your achievement (via Runnin' for Sweets). Avid bikers could also take part in what Elle referred to as "Everesting" which involves you trying to scale the height of Mount Everest on a bike, but from the comfort of your own home.

While some sought to push themselves in 2021, there were also others who decided it was time to take a more wholistic look at fitness because — let's face it — anxieties that made their way to the surface thanks to factors that included COVID-19 didn't exactly disappear in 2021. The need for a fitness routine that also include a balm for our mental and emotional well-being made certain that there was a place in 2021 for what Today referred to as "restorative fitness genres": yoga, barre, and Pilates. Fitness experts like Sadie Lincoln of Barre3 said it was a "wonderful development" that those who sought to get fit didn't just do that to get the body they'd always dreamed about, but that: "For the first time ever, the larger community is now seeing more and more people replace those thoughts about an ideal body type with learning how to be more present and mindful within their own bodies in fitness."