Boredom is the gym-goer’s worst enemy. It’s no secret that it’s tough to motivate yourself to work out when all you have to look forward to is 30 minutes on a treadmill –—running to stand still is nobody’s idea of a good time. And that’s probably why the market in fun new workouts is almost as crowded as the one for “fun” new diets.

One of the latest trends to cause a stir among the city’s body-conscious residents is workouts that combine your own body weight and gravity to improve strength and conditioning.

For those who were inspired by Cirque du Soleil’s Amaluna, which is wrapping up its final shows at the Port Lands this month, the most interesting of these workouts might be Jukari.

Developed by Reebok and Cirque’s own acrobats, Jukari is a workout based on some of the exercises used by Cirque’s performers. It is split into two parts: Fit to Fly, and Fit to Flex. By far the most interesting from a bystander’s point of view is Fit to Fly, which sees participants dangling from trapezes suspended from the ceiling. The trapezes are only about shoulder height, which is a way of controlling the damage should any participant go flying off, but it’s still visually impressive to see a room full of people leaping and swinging and generally bounding around from those things.      

For the participants, the workout promises to improve their strength, agility and flexibility. It is based on some of the basic strength and conditioning exercises Cirque’s performers use. It sees participants use the trapeze to support themselves during floor exercises and to swing from it in the air. The idea is that the combination of the body’s own weight and gravity improve and develop core strength (essentially the muscles in your back and joints that hold you up).

Stacy Clark, an acrobatic coach with Cirque, says that, as well as fitness, the sessions also encourage creativity. “We play a lot of the music used in Cirque du Soleil performances, which helps to create an inventive and whimsical atmosphere in the studio,” she says. “It’s about movement, creativity and fun.”

Among the benefits, Clark enumerates, is a better-balanced workout than just using weight machines at the gym, which focus on specific muscles but often end up creating a whole that is less than the sum of its parts. A workout like Jukari will improve strength and flexibility. Clark says, “It allows people who spend a lot of time at their desk each day to stand up without feeling pain in their backs, because they have a weakness in their core, or lets them go for a longer bike ride on a Saturday with their families because their fitness level is higher.”

Just don’t expect to be zipping around on a high wire the way Cirque’s acrobats do — they train for about two hours a day and perform 10 times a week.

Those of a less acrobatic bent might want to check out a floor-based gravity workout. At the recently opened Gravitate studio on Avenue Road, you can try your hand at gravity Pilates. Participants perform Pilates moves while using a piece of equipment called the Total Gym machine to provide resistance. The machine is basically a padded rest at an angle to an upright stand. The user sits, lies or stands by the machine and pulls on two elastic ropes, using gravity and their own weight to provide resistance.  

Co-owner Sarah Brager says the design of the gravity workout machine forces users to engage their core body muscles and, when combined with Pilates, forms a potent mix. She says, “It’s the ultimate core-strength workout.”   

Of course, as with everything else in life, the most unusual (dare we say crazy?) expression of the body weight and gravity workout is to be found online. At Equilibrifit.com, trainer Keph Sherin uses a series of videos to instruct subscribers in the art of a handstand-based workout that can be done in your own home. The site promises improvements in fitness, performance and balance once you’ve mastered the complexities of handstands (and, presumably, broken vases and toppled furniture if you haven’t).

Jukari is available at King West Fitness, 171 East Liberty St. Gravity Pilates is available at Gravitate Studio, 1947 Avenue Rd.