Not Working Out: The 6 Worst Fitness Trends of 2010

As 2010 comes to a close, we’d like to take a moment to pay tribute to six of the most ridiculous fitness trends of the past year:

1. Taizo, the Robot Personal Trainer – In what may be seen as an attempt to put personal trainers everywhere out of work, Japanese techies created Taizo the exercising robot, which was designed to lead fitness classes for senior citizens. Its goofy smile and specialization in seated exercises was supposed to put seniors at ease, but instead, the 28-inch fitness guru confused and irritated its clients. Plus, owning a Taizo could mean blowing your retirement savings; one costs nearly $9,000 USD.

photo: Skechers.com

2. Shape-Ups – Brought to us by the folks at Skechers, the same folks who unabashedly airbrush their celebrity endorsers to within an inch of their lives. Skechers claims that Shape-ups sneakers help tone your legs and glutes and lose weight, just from walking. But the reality is that if you’re active in any pair of shoes, you’ll burn calories.

photo: Nintendo.com

3. Video Games – Of course working out should be fun, and yes, maybe it should involve a bit of competition, but challenging your fitness buddy to a game of Wii tennis shouldn’t be considered a valuable form of exercise. Head out to a real court and you’ll quickly realize how much more there is to the sport then a well-timed wrist motion aimed at your TV.

4. Pole Dancing – Sure, hoisting your body up a metal pole takes some serious arm strength, and stretching your ankle above your head increases flexibility, but any exercise class that has you strapping on a pair of four-inch stilettos instead of cross-trainers has us concerned. And then there’s the whole “empowerment” promise; we think laying into a punching bag would feel slightly more empowering.

5. Big Yoga – The niche markets in yoga are constantly expanding, and this year was no exception with the rise of Big Yoga. Meera Keer, author of Big Yoga: A Simple Guide for Bigger Bodies, believes that the popular image of the rail-thin yogi can discourage those who may benefit most from the practice. Instead, she wants to segregate all the overweight yogis so that they’ll use her program instead. But we think that even bigger yoga enthusiasts (pun intended) can find what they’re looking for in one of the many other welcoming yoga classes widely available around the world.

photo: Cirque du Soleil.com

6. Aerial Silks – Before infiltrating gyms and studios, Aerial Silks, or Tissu, was seen only in circus tents — and that’s probably where it should remain. Not because we don’t think flipping and twisting around a long piece of silk suspended from the ceiling isn’t awesome, but unless you’re willing to commit some serious time and money to this practice, you’re more likely to resemble a fly caught in a spider’s web than a Cirque du Soleil cast member.