Body Balance Fad or Functional

[Alan Armstrong]

Have been attending one of the latest fitness trends for one month now, that is called body balance, containing a mix of Yoga, Tai Chi, Pilates and Meditation.

A 90 minute class once a week, not sure of how useful or helpful it would be, but gave it a try anyway.

Being the only Male in the class is the most obvious thing but no one seems to mind so far, including the female instructor.

Skeptical at first, standing on one leg in different positions and holding low stances, with a few classic yoga poses, then a little meditation, there seems to be nothing out of the ordinary for a maist, except that it is practiced as being complete in itself for reliving stress and relaxing and not as a prelude to something else.

Practiced with chilling out music, low lighting with soft spoken instructions and commentary during the meditation at the final stage of the class.

I asked myself, why keep going to a class that doesn't have anything apparently new for me, to be something useful, except that balance is a very important ingredient or factor for maists to have.

By focusing my energy on balance for one class a week has been surprisingly worthwhile for improving techniques throughout the rest of the week.

The most impressive thing in my mind is the instructor, a none maist, that can perform all of the movements to perfection, without a single wobble, something which anyone would appreciate having.

Here is an example of what body balance looks like:

https://youtu.be/zF4EkZuOmzU

What is your experience or opinion on this topic, is this body balance really a trend or is it possibly something more than a fad maybe functionally something very sound?

[bushido_man96]

It sounds like "the next big thing" that someone has come up with to market in the fitness industry. Something "new" seems to pop every few years...there was TaeBo, then Pilates jumped in, yoga was probably the first. P90X made a big splash for a while. Now it seems like its spinning classes and CrossFit.

There'll be something new to look at next year, too.

[Alan Armstrong]

It sounds like "the next big thing" that someone has come up with to market in the fitness industry. Something "new" seems to pop every few years...there was TaeBo, then Pilates jumped in, yoga was probably the first. P90X made a big splash for a while. Now it seems like its spinning classes and CrossFit.

There'll be something new to look at next year, too.

Of course body balance is a fad, but if it keeps the blood circulating and the heart ticking, till the next latest trend arrives, it will definitely do for now.