Every year, I like to take a closer look at the 2020 Worldwide Survey of Fitness Trends, and here it is, March, and I’m just getting around to it. By now, you’ve probably already taken a closer look at them for yourself, but if not, let’s do it.
The top 20 predicted trends are listed in the survey; here we’ll look at the top 10. (Take a look at last year’s list to see what’s changed.)
Wearable Technology
Again at #1! Studios like Orangetheory use wearable tech as a part of their program, and many people use it on their own via FitBit or Apple Watch both in and out of the gym.
Admittedly, it has grown on me, but I still don’t use mine outside the studio. I also don’t like it when people stop working out because they notice theirs isn’t working. I don’t want anyone to develop a dependency on it or anything else to work out. You don’t need anything but yourself. This is just a tool. A good tool, but still a tool.
High-Intensity Interval Training (HIIT)
HIIT is effective and surprisingly inclusive. An elite athlete can do HIIT alongside a beginner, because “high intensity” means something different for all of us. The athletes can do the same 30-second interval as the beginners, they might simply do more reps or work at a faster pace or lift more weight until it feels like high intensity to them.
Don’t shy away from it because of the name. Learn more about it (you can watch this video where I break it down in more depth) and then get after those results.
Group Training
This showed up at #2 on the list last year and it’s still right in there. In group training, you get fantastic workouts with some personalized attention at a fraction of the cost of personal training—and you get the added benefit of a community. If you’re not at all competitive, you ignore everyone else and get the same great workout. If you are competitive, the person working out next to you can drive you to work harder. As you get to know each other in class, you naturally push and congratulate each other, and you start to notice when so-and-so doesn’t show up. Others notice when YOU don’t show up. It’s built-in accountability and support, and you make new friends, too.
Training with Free Weights
This is the first time training with free weights has made the list. Dumbbells, barbells, medicine balls, kettlebells, and more are great for functional training (which shows up at #12 on the list this year). The survey includes training with free weights as a specific workout focus—not a trend in terms of doing a few dumbbell exercises at the end of a dance class.
Personal Training
This has always been on the list, and it has risen in the rankings again over last year. One-on-one is a great approach, as you get a program designed specifically for you and your goals—as long as you’re working with a great personal trainer who knows how to do that for you.
Exercise is Medicine®
I love seeing this on the list! Exercise is Medicine® is a global initiative by ACSM designed to encourage physicians to include physical fitness in their patients’ treatment plans. It also considers trainers and other fitness professionals to be a part of a community’s health care team. I love this approach to medicine, as we know that healthier lifestyle choices lower our risk of several of the leading causes of death in the United States.
Bodyweight Training
You don’t need any equipment! No excuses! Lots of home exercisers rely on bodyweight training, but it’s used extensively in the gym and group fitness classes, too.
Fitness Programs for Older Adults
There are lots of programs designed specifically for older adults, like Silver Sneakers, which I taught for several years about a decade ago. Still, more older adults are staying fit as they age, and they’re right at home in mainstream classes—including HIIT programs. Coaches work with everyone, no matter their age, to adapt exercises to fit the person’s needs and restrictions.
Health/Wellness Coaching
This includes personal and small-group goal setting and encouragement. A health or wellness coach isn’t necessary a personal trainer or a group fitness instructor. You may get this kind of attention from your fitness coach or trainer, or you could seek it out separately.
Employing Certified Fitness Professionals
Always glad to see this remains important to gyms and clients alike. The survey used to include the words “educated” and “experienced” for this category, but they decided that was too broad and shortened it. I appreciated the experience part, but the only way to get it is to work, so there will always be a measure of inexperience out there as we all find our way.
Rounding out the top 20 are exercise for weight loss, functional fitness training, outdoor activities, yoga, licensure for fitness professionals, lifestyle medicine, circuit training, worksite health promotion and workplace well-being programs, outcome measurements, and children and exercise.
Which of the trends on the 2020 Worldwide Survey of Fitness Trends have you noticed at your gym or studio, or within your own workouts? Which ones are you embracing?