Go Hard Or Go Home

Want to hit new heights of body confidence without passing outin the process? Follow this plan 

- K Aleisha Fetters

Never before has the fitness s landscape looked like this. It used to be enough to show up at your local authority gym, join the ‘Legs, Bums and Tums’ class and dance around to a bit of Kylie for 30 minutes before hitting the steam room for an hour. But the most popular workouts of today look very different, with more and more gyms packing their schedules with hardcore classes. You know the ones, they promise to burn 1,000+ calories in a single class and even com me complete with warnings (Gymbox’s Flatline class advertised itself as ‘the most dangerous gym class in the world’ – nice). And while these types of classes are a fast route to shaping up, they often yield a less exciting side effect: injury.

It’s no coincidence that the rise in shoulder, hip and knee problems in the past few years has coincided with our newfound lust for burnout workouts, says Eugene Yim, a sports medicine specialist with Hoag Orthopedic Institute. Aggressive gym time can also lead to stress fractures, sprains and muscle tears, he says. And it gets worse. Doctors are seeing a condition called rhabdomyolysis, a severe muscular breakdown that can lead to kidney damage, eventually appearing in those who go to the extreme. (Dehydration and high temperature while you work out can increase your risk.)

STEADY DOES IT