The fitness industry is full of noticeable trends, with new ones sprouting up all the time. The sheer volume of routines, equipment, classes and philosophies can be overwhelming to most people, which is why we went straight to the professionals. We asked four of our world class Master Instructors to share what hot industry trends are out there to help give us an idea what it is people are looking for from fitness right now. Here are four big trend groups that help identify what people currently want from fitness.
Smarter Workouts
The modern fitness market has grown into a very educated and engaged group. No longer can a company or trainer claim to have the miracle answer when it comes to fitness. Participants are looking for a scientific explanation to why their routine is effective and for it to be an efficient use of their time. This is in part why high intensity interval training has seen such a huge boom. With scientifically proven benefits and a shorter time investment, it was bound to flourish in the modern market.
Likewise, many people are adopting the idea of exercise as medicine, and looking for a workout catered to addressing their individual health needs. Master Instructor José Luis Sanz explained, “I have a lot of clients with a sedentary lifestyle and they have hypertension, cholesterol, obesity, overweight, diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, etc. And if you look around, each day there are more people with those diseases. What is my main recommendation for them? An active lifestyle!” With smarter workouts people can now target areas of specific concern and focus on recovery or prevention.
José Luis Sanz
Activity Focused Fitness
For many, the best kind of workout is the one that keeps you coming back. Participants want to have fun and feel engaged in their workout. One of the best ways to do that is with activity oriented workouts. A new heavyweight in this category is boxing and martial arts oriented fitness classes which are growing largely in boutique studios. The classes offer a fun activity, practical self-defense skills, and usually a solid aerobic and anaerobic workout.
Beyond that, there is a wide variety of new fitness practices sprouting up with roots in totally different activities like IndoBoard, Surf Yoga and Piloxing. Master Instructor Sonja Friend-Uhl commented on this trend saying, “I like the creativity of these new modalities. Even if they don’t last forever, they inspire people to try something different and to move their body. You can’t go wrong with that!”
Sonja Friend-Uhl
Studios, Boutiques & Group Training
This ties very closely to the previous category because many studios can offer a more engaging activity oriented fitness experience. For instance, indoor cycling studios & boutiques are popping up left and right, because of the innovative ways they are getting their class participants engaged. Master Instructor Britta Kreutzmüller explained, “Everyone can cycle, and there are many different ways to support the courses like, visual rides, landscapes, group display, competition, heartbeat or power.” Now there are even services where the user can cycle with a display and connect online with people from all around the world. With this you can take rides through different virtual environments or even take part in races and other competitions. This technology takes indoor cycling and creates a completely new experience.
Also worth mentioning, are the rise in courses for things like jumping fitness, Pilates, fascia workouts, Zumba, boot camps, etc. People have made it clear that they enjoy group training. Studios and boutiques have been doing a good job at offering an engaging experience that people are eager to be a part of.
Britta Kreutzmüller
Fitness Technology
People in general seem to always be eager for new technology to enhance every area of their lives, and fitness is no exception. No trend better illustrates this than the rise of wearable activity trackers. Trackers have become a booming industry and can be a helpful tool for new and seasoned fitness enthusiasts alike to view and track their progress. An important aspect of smart goal setting is that the goal is measurable, and trackers give people and effective way of doing just that.
While many enjoy the group atmosphere of a studio, others still want the convenience of being able to work out from home. A new trend in fitness technology is utilizing streaming services to bring the class into a person’s home. “DVDs are dead,” explained Master Instructor Pete McCall. “Home-based, instructor-led workouts are now done via online streaming services like Daily Burn or Booya. People like in-home videos and this is the latest gen. Daily Burn offers live streaming for users to participate in a class being filmed live, as it happens.” Convenience is a strong motivator, and as long as there is a continued desire for at home workouts, it is likely this is a trend that will be here for a while.
Pete McCall
