40 Atypical Diet Fads and Exercise Ideas Throughout the Decades

30. Keto Diet Probably the most popular diet craze in the world right now is keto. The ketogenic diet involves restricting carb intake and increasing how… Trista - September 16, 2019

30. Keto Diet

Probably the most popular diet craze in the world right now is keto. The ketogenic diet involves restricting carb intake and increasing how much fat is in your diet. This helps to put your body into ketosis, so you get hungry less often as your body is burning your fat for energy.

When your body goes into ketosis, ketones are produced by the liver. The body will burn fat instead of carbohydrates to fuel the brain. This diet has been remarkable in helping children and adults with epilepsy reduce the number of seizures they experience. Keto involves doing a lot of math to make sure that you are getting an adequate amount of fat each day to keep your body in ketosis.

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31. Intermittent Fasting

A concept that tends to go hand in hand with keto is intermittent fasting. This concept involves spending a large portion of your day in a fasting state. For example, you may be fasting for 16 hours a day with an 8-hour window in which you are permitted to eat.

You can also get stricter with your guideline, like fasting for 20 hours a day and eating for four or fasting for 24 hours at a time. Fans of intermittent fasting believe that eating all of your allotted calories for the day will make you end up eating less than if you were able to graze and snack all day long. Other positives of intermittent fasting include better sleep quality and higher energy throughout the day.

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32. Exercise Gaming

Who doesn’t love video games? There are many different types of video games to choose from, including exercise games. Many people use exercise video games to improve their fitness.

A significant trend in the last few years was the Wii console. This gaming system included handheld controllers that required your whole body to move with them. Interactive games like tennis, bowling, and even fencing could get your heart pumping while you had fun. The Wii also has games for playing sports, doing Pilates, and dancing. The Wii has an additional console, the Wii Fit that was great for checking your weight and working on balance and fitness.

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33. New Technology

Where would we be without our smartphones? Our phones link us to friends and loved ones all over the world. They can also help us stay active.

The app stores on our phones provide a wealth of resources for getting fit. You can find cardio apps, weightlifting apps, yoga apps, and more. There are also GPS trackers that can measure heart rate, map your location, and keep track of your fitness stats. Watches and wearables like the Fitbit and Apple Watch make counting steps and stairs climbed easier than ever. You can even use these devices to monitor your sleep patterns and calories burned.

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34. Dancing

Like we mentioned before with Jazzercise, dancing for physical fitness is hotter than ever! So many people love to have fun while they workout and dancing makes it possible. If you go to your local gym, you will most definitely find a dance class or two on their schedule.

One of the most popular types of fitness dance classes is Zumba. This Latin-infused dance class has been around since the early 2000s and has thousands of loyal followers. It’s a great way to dance to catchy music and learn new dance styles like samba, salsa, and merengue. For a fun cardio workout that will sweat, take an exercise dance class!

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35. Exercise Gimmicks

Although there is a lot of great fitness technology out there, there are also a lot of hokey gimmicks. Many of them are not worth the money, but there are a few gems out there. Good exercise gadgets include TRX Suspension Training, kettlebell training, and the BOSU Balance Trainer.

The bad gimmicks to avoid are ones you may have seen on a late-night infomercial. Things like a band you wear around your waist to stimulate fat burning or a chair that you sit in and move side to side to create abs. There are also wheels that you hold onto and do crunches to help you define your waistline.

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36. Amateur Athletes

A surprising trend you may not have considered is the rising popularity of amateur athletes. In the past decade, the amount of beginners training for a marathon had nearly doubled. Many amateur runners are training hard to qualify for marathons around the world.

So many resources are available for marathon runners these days. There are online marathon training programs that allow you to train without a coach or running club. New marathons start each year, making it easy to find one to race in. Also, training periods have become shorter, so people with full-time jobs have no problem training for a big marathon.

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37. Shoe Trends

For those who work out frequently, especially runners, having the proper footwear is essential. Lately, there has been a rising trend in anti-shoes. People are looking for shoes that make you feel like you are barefoot, walking on sand.

These shoes usually have a curved sole and multiple layers. The idea behind this anti-footwear is to activate more muscles as you walk. They also help to provide shock absorption for joints and improve posture. Many brands advertise these shoes as a way to get fit without going to the gym. You can find this style of footwear in the Skechers Shape Ups or Reebok EasyTones.

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38. Extreme Weight Loss

With the obesity rate climbing each year steadily, more and more people need losing weight. Many people have hundreds of pounds to lose. This has led to the popularity of many extreme dietary measures.

We’ve mentioned several extreme methods before like the Master Cleanse Diet and the Macrobiotic Diet. Another trend that has become more common in the last decade is weight loss surgery. Many people see it as a quick fix, but it’s not an easy solution for weight loss. For several years, the TV show The Biggest Loser showed overweight people dieting and workout for hours each day to drop much weight.

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39. Core Training

A physical ideal that so many people try to achieve is the six-pack. There is an obsession with abs and strengthening the core. So many workouts focus on working out the collection of muscles located in the torso that is tasked with supporting the spine and helping with stability.

Core training is a major part of the fitness industry. It used to be that crunches were all that were performed to gain abs, but now there are so many practical exercises out there. Fun moves like planking, mountain climbers, woodchops, and knee tucks can all succeed at strengthening your core and abdominal muscles.

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40. Lifestyle Changes

One of the best ways to get fit and be healthy is to make a complete lifestyle change. While it would be great if a fad diet like the South Beach Diet could get us to our goal in no time, that’s not realistic. More often than not, the weight you lose on a fad diet will come back once you stop.

That’s why there has been a recent trend of completely overhauling your lifestyle. Committing to a way of eating for life instead of for a short time can help you become healthy and strong in a safe way. It also helps to take so much pressure off yourself if you don’t see a certain number on the scale or a particular clothing size in your closet.

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