Top 20 Fitness Trends 2020
The year 2020 is now well underway, bringing with it another decade filled with amazing game changing fitness trends. Now that most new members have decided whether to stick with their New Years’ Resolutions or not, we thought we’d take a look at the brand new benefits and opportunities.
TOP 20 FITNESS TRENDS 2020
1. Wearable technology.
Including fitness trackers, smart health watches, heart rate monitors and GPS tracking devices, wearable tech has been the top trend since 2016 – save for a drop to 3rd in 2018 – and is estimated to be a $95 billion industry.
This technology tracks performance during sessions and allows users to review each session individually as well as their progress over time.
The best proof of this is PRAMA, designed to offer maximum engagement and reach those people in sections of the market that stay away from traditional gyms. The heart rate monitor allows users to keep an eye on their performance during the session and their progress over months of going back to PRAMA over and over again!
2. High-intensity interval training (HIIT).
This method, involving short bursts of high-intensity exercise followed by a short period of rest, continues to be popular across the world. HIIT was top of the survey in 2014 and has been in the top 5 ever since, showing that it’s one of the most popular lasting trends.
Both PRAMA and WEXO, one of the latest developments in fitness, are based around the HIIT model. WEXO in particular combines the popular HIIT model with weightlifting to provide the best and most popular training sessions available.
3. Group training.
Group exercise offers the best of both worlds, allowing instructors to motivate and teach several participants at a time, while those users enjoy intrinsic motivation as well as a sense of belonging. Group training can cater to all different fitness levels and all different types of classes and equipment, such as cardio and cycling, step classes, and weight training. Group exercise has been recognised as a global trend since the inception of the ACSM survey, and it’s still going strong thanks to the changing attitudes towards gyms.
Although adaptable and able to offer various types of training, both PRAMA and WEXO are based around group training in order to extract the highest performance from users while providing the best experience.
4. Training with free weights.
Involving everything from dumbbells and kettlebells to medicine balls and barbells, training with free weights allows instructors to teach proper form and progressively increase resistance, adding new exercises periodically.
With the introduction of WEXO, we’ve increased our provision of free weight training. With PRAMA already catering for free weights in the STRONG and ATHLETIC programmes, WEXO goes all out with the weight to offer instructors and clients alike to refine their weightlifting technique under observation. What’s more, we even train instructors on the use of both PRAMA and WEXO, to ensure everyone gets the maximum use out of both platforms.
5. Personal training.
With personal training becoming more accessible and catering to modern lifestyle with personalised workouts and meal plans, it has grown in popularity. Placed in the top 10 since 2006, it has slowly crept up to its current spot.
Designed principally for group training, PRAMA is also versatile enough to adapt to the needs of personal trainers. Offering a wide range of exercises and layouts that suit one-to-one training, it’s the studio of choice for top personal trainers and high-end facilities as is the case with Matt Roberts’ partnership with the Langley Hotel.
6. Exercise is Medicine®.
This initiative focuses on encouraging health care providers to include assessment of physical activity and associated referrals to certified fitness professionals in the community as part of every patient visit.
7. Body weight training.
Using different planes of movement and the weight of the user’s own body, this type of training is inexpensive to implement and an extremely efficient form of exercise. It’s also incredibly accessible, given that most people tend to know their limitations, and what their own body can and can’t do as opposed to exercises with weights where training of correct form may be necessary.
Depending on the programme, both PRAMA and WEXO offer body weight training exercises, resulting in a great mix of exercises using both accessories and body weight to great effect.
8. Fitness programs for older adults.
Having been 11th or higher since 2007, fitness for the older generation continues to trend as people live, work, and remain healthy and active for longer. The fact that it continues to trend after 12 years highlights the need to provide adequate fitness services for older individuals, and given that they tend to have more disposable resources than their younger counterparts, it stands out as a key area to capitalise on.
With our programme PRAMA Active, gyms can offer a fully-developed exercise routine to less active clients, whether they are fitness enthusiasts or not. Designed as an “entry-level” programme in order to be accessible to everyone, it’s the perfect way for any gym to open up their potential market.
9. Health/wellness coaching.
Integrating behavioural science into health and fitness is a growing trend. Through one-to-one and small group classes, coaches help set goals and encourage clients to focus on changing their behaviour in order to meet these goals in the short, medium, and long term.
Part of the PRAMA Body Challenge focuses on this, helping clients reach their weight loss goals through a mixture of training and diet.
10. Employing certified fitness professionals.
This was a new entry in 2019, when “Educated, certified, and experienced fitness professionals,” was deemed to be too unspecific, and it is quickly becoming a trend. According to the ACSM, the importance of hiring health fitness professionals that have been certified through educational programmes is more important than ever.
We at Pavigym count on a team of fitness professionals to develop and enhance our products and exercises. On top of this, every PRAMA installation is followed by a course given by one of our certified Master Trainers, in order to ensure every PRAMA trainer is fully qualified to offer the best classes possible to their clients.
11. Exercise for weight loss.
Exercise for weight loss incorporates diet and exercise programmes into a daily routine, restricting calorific eating while adding calorie burn through exercise.
As part of PRAMA goals, we encourage healthy weight loss through a combination of exercise and a good diet.
12. Functional fitness training.
Replicating actual physical activities done as part of a daily routine, this trend is based around training strength to improve balance, coordination, muscular strength, and endurance in order to improve daily life, specifically in older people and those with clinical needs.
PRAMA is based around functional exercises, making sure that the training we do in the studio is applicable to everyday life. ENERGY in particular is performed with very few weights and accessories, making it accessible to everyone as well as being an intense and beneficial workout.
13. Outdoor activities.
Whether short activities, day-long hikes, or weekend or week-long excursions, outdoor activities have been a steady trend since 2010. Participants tend to meet in groups, organised by a leader, to perform a variety of activities, emphasising the interest in group activity whether indoor or outdoor.
14.Yoga.
Yoga in all forms has been popular for the duration of the ACSM survey. With certification and adaptability available, as well as its popularity in publishing and media outlets, it’s a great activity to combine with other trends on the list and reinforce its value to different sectors of society.
PRAMA FLOW is our own unique combination of Yoga and Pilates, offering a different type of circuit training. An excellent way to tap into several different trends at the same time, it’s a programme that attracts a varied range of potential clients.
15. Licensure for fitness professionals.
Plenty of professions, such as medical staff, therapists, and dietitians, require a license in order to operate. The fitness industry is slowly starting to demand the highest qualifications of its staff and representatives, leading to increased regulation of personal trainers, physiologists, and instructors.
We at Pavigym are strong believers in this trend, ourselves relying on a team of qualified professionals that are involved in the development of our products at all levels.
16. Lifestyle medicine.
Appearing for the first time in the ACSM survey, lifestyle medicine is “the evidence-based practice of helping individuals and families adopt and sustain healthy behaviours that affect health and quality of life”. This includes helping people cut down on smoking, improving their diet, finding ways for them to exercise more, and moderate their alcohol intake.
17. Circuit training.
Circuit training is defined as a group of exercises completed in sequence, one after the other. Each exercise is performed measured by either time or reps followed by a rest period before moving on to the next one.
All our PRAMA programmes are based around circuit training methodology.
18. Worksite health promotion and workplace well-being programmes.
Offering health and fitness programmes in the workplace is a trend that has crept onto the list in recent years. Involving services provided by employers to improve the well-being of their employees to in return benefit from improved productivity and lower costs, it’s something that is being considered more and more by big business.
PRAMA is the perfect accompaniment to any workplace wellness scheme, and we offer consultations for any businesses interested in implementing our studio into their wellness programme.
19. Outcome measurements. These are “efforts to define, track, and report outcomes leading to accountability of both the health club member and the trainer”. Aided by data collection technology, the goal of these measurements is to understand the benefits of programmes and document success in lifestyle changes.
20. Children and exercise. Exercise programmes specifically aimed at children and weight loss finish off the top 20, with childhood and adolescent obesity continuing to be a major health issue in most developed and developing nations. As we become more aware of the affects that being overweight has on health and the associated illnesses such as diabetes and high blood pressure, some members of the fitness industry are positioning themselves to offer resources for those at risk while also creating a new source of revenue for themselves.
The newly-released PRAMA Kids&Families is the perfect way for families to spend time together while keeping both children and parents active. Specially designed to keep children engaged, it’s a great way for kids to keep fit in under an hour and the perfect way for gyms to cater to an expanded market.
ABOUT THE ACSM SURVEY
The most important fitness trends for 2020 were included in the ACSM survey. Thanks to this, we can make investments based on emerging trends that have been identified by health and fitness professionals.
The survey is completed by a select group of health and fitness professionals, including ACSM-certified professionals and attendees of the ACSM’s International Health & Fitness Summit, among others. The positioning of respondents within the health and fitness community allows for a unique insight into true trends and gives a global perspective of common interests within the sector.
With input from almost every continent, including countries such as Australia, China, France, Germany, Japan, Italy, Russia, Singapore, Spain, UK, and the US, the survey is comprehensive in its ability to identify trends all around the world. And with 18% of respondents being personal trainers, there is also representation from all levels of the industry, from front line to head office.
The ACSM also notes that these outcomes will be of particular interest to non-profit organisations who want to invest in expanded programmes that serve children and families. Likewise, as we touched on in the body of the article, companies interested in corporate wellness should look to increase the services they provide for employees. And finally, commercial health clubs and gyms should look at the results with a view to expanding into new markets producing increased and more sustainable revenue.