With the beginning of the new year, we offer you tips for getting maximum fitness, and benefiting from walking, and we also warn you about trends that claim to be beneficial for your health, but they are not.
Stay away from obsessing over counting steps so as not to spoil the fun of walking
Christopher House and Jay Kelly write in The Telegraph that counting steps has become something of an obsession.
“Maybe the magic number is 10,000, but frankly, once you get out of early childhood, no one will care about your walking skills,” the authors said.
The authors added, “Walking is the wind at your back, the sun shining on your face, the buzzing of a bee, and the bar that ends with the walk. In contrast, exercising is like a gym with a musty smell in the air, terrifying drum music, and no Grass under your feet. Pedometers belong in the world of artificial exercise, not in the world of human walking.”
Therefore, it is important to walk whenever you have the opportunity, enjoy it, and do not link the benefit to the step counter.
On the other hand, you should not underestimate the power of walking as an exercise. Whether you’re walking in the wilderness, doing it wearing a weighted bag or just around the block, walking can be a great way to improve your physical and mental health.
Experts say this simple exercise can help combat some forms of chronic pain. If you have back problems, walking is not an immediate solution but it can play a role in managing the discomfort.
Walking also improves mood, and for some people, one of the biggest benefits of exercise is the way it lifts their spirits.
Don’t like to exercise? Try fartlex
Gretchen Reynolds, writing in the Washington Post, wrote that if you’ve decided to get fitter in 2025, you’re in luck, because almost any exercise will lead you toward that goal. But of all the exercise options available to you, few will be as effective, simple, adaptable, and fun to show off as fartleks.
“Fartlex exercises are a very good way to improve fitness,” says Ulrik Wisloff, head of the cardio research group at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology in Trondheim, who has studied exercise and health for decades. “I do them and recommend them to people who say they don’t like exercise. Because it never makes you bored.”
What is the meaning of the word “fartlex”?
For generations, competitive athletes have used high-intensity, structured training, usually on the track or treadmill, to increase their speed and endurance. This type of vigorous training will make you faster, but it is also exhausting, requires experience and planning, and is rarely a fun idea for anyone.
This is where the term “fartlex” comes into play. The word “fartlex” means “fast play” in Swedish. The term is usually attributed to Swedish Olympic decathlete and running coach Gösta Holman, who is said to have developed the concept in the 1930s, after the Swedish cross-country team had been repeatedly defeated by their Finnish neighbors during international competitions.
However, Fartlex training is more than just entertainment, it is also one of the easiest ways to boost the intensity of your favorite exercise, making it better for you.
How do you practice fartleks?
To start your fartlex training, head outside and warm up for a few minutes in whatever activity you enjoy most—whether it’s walking, running, biking, unicycling, or snowshoeing—and then choose a landmark a short distance in front of you, which could be a tree or a box. Colorful mail or unusual rock pile.
Speed up your workout until you get there. Then return to your original pace, let your heart rate and breathing slow, and find another milestone to reach.
Vary the distance between these goals, aiming for maybe 30 minutes of fartlex exercises once a week at first, then you can increase it.
Fitness trends that experts hated in 2024
Fitness advice on social media can be full of misinformation and impossible promises, Talia Minsberg wrote in the New York Times, talking about the fitness trends that experts warn against.
No single exercise can give you ripped abs, and just because someone has a large following doesn’t mean they’re qualified to offer fitness guidance, said Dr. Amy Commander, director of the lifestyle medicine program at Massachusetts General Hospital.
If you’re planning to achieve a fitness goal this year, it’s wise to avoid any fitness plan that promises a quick and easy fix. If something sounds too good to be true, it probably isn’t. Focus on finding movements you enjoy and building a regular habit, rather than the latest magic workout.
The following are trends that we advise you to stay away from:
75 Hard Challenge Trend
The 75 Hard Challenge trend spread last year, and its supporters claimed that the key to mental and physical strength lies in following a set of daily rules for 75 days that include: exercising twice for 45 minutes, maintaining a strict diet, drinking a gallon of water, and reading at least 10 pages. Of non-fiction books, among others.
Although the idea of transforming yourself in 75 days may seem attractive, the challenge is completely unsustainable, says Victoria Sikely, a physical therapist in New Jersey.
She added that exercising twice a day, especially if you’re new to exercise, “is a good way to hurt yourself and create completely unrealistic expectations about exercise.”
To build a healthy exercise habit, start simple and find an activity you enjoy enough to do regularly. And if you have a specific fitness goal, consider hiring a trainer or personal trainer who can work with you to develop an individualized plan.
Weight loss trend in a specific area
Whether it’s side planks to tone your abs or Pilates to tone your arms, TikTok and Instagram are full of videos claiming that there’s one move or exercise that will help you lose weight in one area of your body.
But you should be wary of anyone who promotes “getting weight down,” or the idea that certain exercises will lead to a targeted weight loss, says fitness expert Rae Richlin.
While you can strengthen different muscle groups by working different parts of your body, you cannot target where you lose weight.
Instead of looking for one move that can do it all, do a full-body strength training routine twice a week (like push-ups or weightlifting). If you prefer to exercise at home, you can still build strength with little or no equipment.
Trend “what I eat in a day”
Many fitness influencers share detailed videos of their meals and snacks, often including calorie counts and protein breakdown.
Although these posts may seem like harmless entertainment, they often promote diets that do not suit everyone’s needs.
In some cases, comparing your diet to what you see on social media may encourage eating disorders, says Megan Featherston, a sports nutritionist in Kent, Ohio.
It is also worth noting that these posts may not be accurate. What someone shares may not be what they really eat on a daily basis, especially if they make their living promoting sponsored products.
If you’re looking for guidance on what to eat to support your fitness goals, you’d be better off making an appointment with a registered dietitian or sports nutritionist.