TUESDAY 3 FEBRUARY 2015 • [email protected] • www.thepeninsulaqatar.com • 4455 7741 inside Frozen heats CAMPUS up Japan box • MES organises Quran felicitation office in 2014 ceremony P | 4 P | 8-9 RECIPE CONTEST • Send in your best recipe and win a dinner voucher for two We’re not about to say goodbye P | 6 to CrossFit or high-intensity interval training, the pop stars of FOOD 2014. But health experts expect • Grains and greens people to gravitate toward meet again, in tidy little packages workouts they can do anywhere and look for ways to judge their P | 7 performance this year. HEALTH • ‘Mini brain’ in spinal cord helps us balance P | 11 TECHNOLOGY • Are there any trustworthy sources for downloading software? P | 12 FITNESS LEARN ARABIC • Learn commonly used Arabic words TRENDS and their meanings P | 13 2 PLUS | TUESDAY 3 FEBRUARY 2015 COVER STORY Trends in fitness for 2015 Much of what’s anticipated to win hearts and body in 2015 has been around for a while, but some of the following trends may play an even bigger role in your fitness routine this year. By Danielle Douglas-Gabriel f you’re sporting a heart-rate monitor while bang- ing out your last set of push-ups in a class of three people, you’re on the cutting edge of fitness. I Even if you just manage to do one of those you’ll be on trend for 2015, a year that trainers say will be defined by a return to basic exercises and the continued integration of technology. We’re not about to say goodbye to CrossFit or high- intensity interval training, the pop stars of 2014. But health experts expect people to gravitate toward work- outs they can do anywhere and look for ways to judge their performance this year. So much of what’s anticipated to blow up in 2015 has been around for a while, but some of the following trends may play an even bigger role in your fitness routine this year: Gym class hero Remember all of the pull-ups, sit-ups and push-ups you did in high school gym class? Those exercises that made up the Presidential Fitness Test (which I failed as a child) remain the foundation of effective workouts, said Walter Thompson, a professor of kinesiology and health at Georgia State University. PLUS | TUESDAY 3 FEBRUARY 2015 3 virtual buddy to work out with. This cycling up a pretend hill. And savvy could be especially appealing to folks club owners are paying attention. who travel a lot or those who are too “People want the community that shy to sweat it out in a room full of develops in a lot of these studio strangers. classes,” said Ingrid Nelson, a personal trainer and instructor at PureRyde, a Tracking every step you take small Michigan-based chain of cycling Runners have long used heart-rate and pilates studios. “Studios are using monitors to measure the intensity of social media to connect with mem- their workouts, but these days peo- bers and have an easier time with ple are wearing all sorts of devices to that than huge gyms.” track their calorie intake or number Don’t write an obituary for big- of steps taken during the day. box gyms just yet. Competition from Recording that sort of biometric speciality studios is fierce, but it data is likely take off this year amid a hasn’t exactly killed health clubs. wider selection of smartwatches and Gym memberships have grown at an wearable technology that hit the mar- annual rate of 6 percent in the past ket during the holiday season. The five years, according to IBISWorld. latest generation of smartwatches Analysts at the market research firm and fitness bands have sensors that forecast industry revenue to grow can monitor just about anything. nearly 3 percent a year through 2019. But before you drop $200 on a device that tracks your steps, sleep, — Group personal training calories and everything else, focus on This might sound like a fancy way the functions you really want, said to describe a class, but group personal Anthony Wall, director of profes- training is a little different. Sessions sional education at the American typically involve just two or three Council on Exercise. people who get much of the same “GPS is a super-cool feature, but one-on-one attention as they would ask yourself if you’ll ever use it,” he in an individual session, but at a lower said. “Pay attention to functional- price. ity and the battery life so you’re not Fitness professionals who charging the device all time.” responded to the American College of Sports Medicine survey identified Specialty sweat group personal training as one of the “There is nothing really new about their preferred level of difficulty or You can’t turn a corner in some top trends for this year. There are a body-weight training, but really target area. cities without running into a cycling number of gyms that offer tailored smart people in clubs have been What’s great about these videos is studio or CrossFit gym. People have small group sessions to members for packaging body-weight programmes, thast as long as you have a WiFi con- proved they’re willing to shell out $25 an additional fee. and the public is buying them,” said nection, you have a fitness class or per class to focus solely on plies or WP-Bloomberg Thompson, author of the American College of Sports Medicine’s annual fitness forecast. The report, which is based on sur- vey responses from more than 3,400 health and fitness professionals, ranked bodyweight exercises as the top trend for this year. Kevin Mullins, a strength coach and personal trainer at Equinox, said boot camp classes and short, intense interval workouts helped body-weight exercises regain popularity. “It’s a good way for people to get comfort- able with strength training,” he said. “A lot of people are going from those moves to deadlifts and squats.” Stream and stretch My Post colleague Vicky Hallett recently chronicled the rise of dig- ital services that stream workout vid- eos on tablets, phones, television and computers. There’s a whole new world of subscription-based models, such as Crunch Live and Booya Fitness. And you can always check YouTube for free options, such as BeFit and Popsugar. I’m a little obsessed with Fitness Blender right now. Trainers Daniel and Kelli Segars have produced an impressive catalogue of free videos on the website (www.fitnessblender.com) A Crossfit studio. that users can customise by typing in 4 PLUS | TUESDAY 3 FEBRUARY 2015 CAMPUS /COMMUNITY ES Indian School honoured Dr Dinesh Babu felicitated the stu- the achievers in the Quran dents and gave away the prizes. Mcoaching class and Islamic Quran felicitation ceremony at MES Principal, Sasidharan A P, wel- Studies at a ceremony held at KG comed the gathering while Abdul auditorium of the school recently. All Nazer M, proposed the vote of the students who have completed the occasion. “Children should be trained (CIGI), who was the Chief Guest of the thanks. Usman Mayyeri, Teacher, seven year course in Islamic Studies morally and academically to face the day, while addressing the gathering. Department of Arabic, Urdu and as well as achieved certificate of merit challenges ahead,” remarked Issuddin K P Abdul Azeez, General Secretary, Islamic Studies, Co-ordinated the in the Quran class annual examina- K K, Chief Co-ordinator, Centre for A P Khaleel, Director, Islamic Affairs programme. tion 2014 were felicitated on the Information and Guidance India Officiating and Senior Vice Principal The Peninsula raga for the large number of audience Doha is a dream come true for MLG from that region and then followed up as they had been waiting for this MLG hosts Hindustani musician with a meolidus Meera Bhajan. evening for a long time. She also sang the song which won “This is a signature event for enowned Hindustani musi- The Padamabushan award win- her Filmfare award for best female MLG in the current year’s calendar cian Begum Parween Sultana ner Sultana started with a rendition signer “Hame Tumse Pyar Kitna” on of events, and truly a memorable Renthralled the members of the of a lovely evening raga — Pooriya raag “Mishra Bairavi” from the film evening for all the music lovers in Music Lovers Group (MLG) recently Dhanashree — which went off for Kudrat and wrapped up the concert Doha. We thank the event sponsors at the Regency Hall. nearly 45 mintues. with her masterpiece Bhavani in raag Centre Point and all the annual spon- The event kick started with an The accompanying artists Bhairavi. sors of MLG who supports the func- introductory speech from Usha Mukundraj Deo on tabla, Shrinivas Gopal Balasubramaniam, Partner tioning of this unique organisation Ravishankar. The chief guest of the Acharya on harmonium, Shadaab in KPMG, who presently runs Music which caters to the interest of clas- evening, the Ambassador of India Sultana on tampura were outstanding. Lovers Group, in his vote of thanks sical music lovers in Doha,” he added. Sanjiv Arora, addressed the audience. Sultana later sang a South Indian said the maiden visit of the singer to The Peninsula COMMUNITY / MARKETPLACE PLUS | TUESDAY 3 FEBRUARY 2015 5 Drawing and painting competition by Bharathi Bharathi, the Indian association of Al Khor community, conducted a drawing and painting competition for children, at Al Khor recently, to mark the Indian Republic Day. More than two hundred children participated in the competition. Children were judged in four different categories.