Find fitness at IKEA, a Toronto spa and in new Geluxe adventures

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IKEA flexes its muscles in a new direction

Getting more physical activity tops many people’s New Year’s resolutions, and in 2024, fitness experts predict strength training will increasingly become a focus of exercise routines. A new global survey from the online wellness company MindBody found strength training is growing in popularity for people of all ages who not only want to improve flexibility and mobility but also to ensure they age well. MindBody found more than 60 per cent of consumers surveyed already incorporate some form of weight or strength training into their exercise schedules. In keeping with this trend, this month IKEA Canada unveiled a new line of training products called Dajlien that includes 19 pieces of equipment that can be used in different ways throughout the home. Designed to fit seamlessly into any décor, many of the products have multiple uses.

For instance, the Dajlien bench, made from bamboo, can be used for weight training, to store exercise equipment and then transition into a compact coffee or side table. “With Dajlien, we wanted to create smart, beautiful products to inspire and redefine training as a fun, easy and natural everyday activity,” says Sarah Fager, one of the IKEA designers behind the new collection. (Dajlien is a take on the Swedish word for “daily.”) The products, which range in price from $7.99 (for a workout towel) to $149 (for the workout bench) are available in IKEA stores across Canada or through ikea.com/ca. – Gayle MacDonald

Four out of 10 Canadians are intimidated by the gym, most because they fear being watched or not knowing what they’re doing, according to an Ipsos Reid poll. The hyper-visibility of gyms, with their bright, open spaces and mirrors, doesn’t help to ease this self-consciousness. Some fitness studios are aiming to reduce “gym anxiety” with the design of their spaces and the content of their classes. “So many people were coming to fitness with the idea that they’re not good enough, or they need to change their bodies,” says Ariel Swan, co-founder of Jaybird Studio, which recently opened a new location in Toronto’s Yorkville neighbourhood that looks and feels more like a spa. Its glowing, cave-like atmosphere was designed with low-level and hidden lighting, and warm, maroon-toned interiors by Ali McQuaid of Future Studio.

“We wanted to create a space where people felt they can get away from the chaos from the outside world, get out of their head, and come back to their body,” says Swan. The classes are held in mirrorless, dark rooms lit only by candles. Instructors guide class-goers to take deep breaths – taking in the gym’s signature scent – with reminders to be mindful in their movements. Pilates classes, which can be done with a Reformer machine or on a mat, are popular among Jaybird’s mostly 20- to 35-year-old clients, says Swan. Though the workout may have lost some steam since its popularity in the nineties, she says people are adopting it as they shift their fitness priorities toward a mind-body connection, and celebrities including Hailey Bieber and Harry Styles tout it as a way to develop strength and mobility for a variety of fitness levels. “It’s more about how the movement feels, rather than how it looks,” says Swan. “People are starting to understand how important fitness and physical movement is as an entry-point to mindfulness … and ‘push, push, push’ is not the most effective way.” – Aruna Dutt

Travel

Put exercise on your adventure itinerary

How does travel change when you’ve outgrown hostels but aren’t ready to visit new destinations by staying in a luxury hotel and are far too active to settle for cruising? G Adventures believes it has the answer with its new Geluxe Collection. Yves Marceau, G’s vice-president of product, says the 28 new itineraries offer “realistic, comfortable, active adventure,” and combat overtourism by including community visits in destinations that many travellers never reach. Geluxe trips in Japan, Cambodia, Morocco, Italy and Greece include four to five hours of active pursuits a day but “it’s not meant to make people feel exhausted – our hikes have a purpose, something that’s unique to experience,” he says.

Targeting fortysomething travellers who like to hike but don’t want to stay in a tent or a hut, Geluxe trips include the hilariously named “OMG Day” and “OMG Stay” in every itinerary: These are accommodations and experiences meant to impress. “In Nepal, one night is at a river camp that’s only accessible by raft,” Marceau explains. The itinerary for northern Japan includes a stay at remote Lake Tazawa, idyllically Japanese with very few Western visitors. In Greece, a dazzling boutique hotel on the tiny island of Tinos should surprise and delight, and in Cambodia, Geluxe travellers sleep in a tented camp in the jungle of the Cardamom mountains. “The world is full of beautiful places that unfortunately never make people’s bucket lists, and those are the places where we should all be going now,” Marceau says.

Geluxe Collection kicks off in May with trips to Costa Rica and lesser-known Greek islands. For more visit gadventures.com – Catherine Dawson March