At the start of each year, key industry publications announce their list of health and fitness trends. While there are always curveballs, like the unforeseen 2020 explosion of home gym / home fitness equipment, the reports are geared towards up-and-coming tech, developing trends and the evolving nature of consumer behaviour.
The 2022 fitness trends have recently been announced, and organisations like the American College of Sports Medicine, Fitt Insider and the Global Wellness Institute have weighed in with their expertise. So here’s a brief overview of the key points of interest of these reports.
2022 Fitness Trends
The ACSM reports on trends as identified by health and fitness professionals. This means these are trends amongst the already fit and healthy, things we are already seeing that we can expect to see more of.
Wearable Tech
Their number one fitness trend for 2022 is wearable tech. Wearable tech has been an essential accessory for the everyday athlete and, with market growth, we also see more affordable entry points for such products. Everything from the rise in smartwatches like Garmin, Suunto and Polar, and smart rings like the Oura, to smart insoles that give you a gait analysis and running data like NUURV or Arion.
PTs, along with gyms and leisure centres, are often the introducers of new trends to the masses and as more operators roll out connected fitness options, like TRAKK by Pulse Fitness, wearable tech, like MyZone, and workout apps, like the new My Training Hub by David Lloyd, engagement and usage will likely rise with the general consumer.
There are also new technologies that are more focused on consumer performance, targeting the ‘everyday athlete’ group. For example, newly launched wearable company Prevayl seeks to affect the consumer in a different way, providing incredibly accurate, live Heart Rate data from a clinical-grade ECG monitor built into its compression top. This also measures core temperature, breathing rate and much more. Could a medically approved version of this technology become the standard across sports, identifying and alerting when athletes are at critical or dangerous levels?
The Fitt Insider report also identifies emerging trends – which are mainly tech-based – but a lot of those referenced, VR, for example, are still quite niche. It’s definitely a growth market but will these trends ever enter the true mainstream? Because for every VR headset user, there will be a parkrun enthusiast who just wants to get out and jog, unshackled by technology. While not everyone will opt for VR headsets, technology is a growth market we cannot get away from… there’s even tech to help us disconnect from the world. While adoption may be slow, even parkrun is timed..
When cross-referenced with the Global Wellness Institute’s report, it’s interesting to see that the global physical activity market was valued at $738.1 billion in 2020 and that $49.5 billion of that was spent on fitness tech. Whilst $49.5B is a lot of money, it also goes to show that there’s a huge proportion being spent in more traditional ways.
Home Gyms
The number two fitness trend for 2022 is home gyms. As the Covid-19 pandemic hit, gyms were forced to close and people were thrust into the world of working in, and working out, from home. As we can see from the graph below, the spikes in searches for home gym equipment exploded around the times of the lockdown announcements, however they tapered drastically as gyms and fitness facilities were able to reopen.
While some people may have found their groove working out from home, we believe many thrive off the community, facilities, luxuries and in-person classes and trainers that are so compelling, and unable to be replicated at home. With joint ventures of big box gyms and local boutiques, increasing numbers of people are able to enjoy the boutique fitness experience in their local gym.
It is worth noting the huge spike of people searching for various gyms around the times of re-opening announcements and the trough in searches during times of lockdown.
Exercise for weight loss – a 2022 fitness trend?
Interestingly ‘exercise for weight loss’ appeared number five on the 2022 ACSM fitness trends list. But hasn’t this existed as a reason for people to join the gym since they first opened? We’re not sure this is a trend, but what might have caused this spike is people realising the effects of their weight on their health.
Multiple studies have highlighted a linear correlation between BMI and risks of severe Covid-19 infection. As BMI increases the risk of hospital admissions and death increased linearly. In these unprecedented times, have people begun to realise the effect their weight has on their health, and ability to fight off infections and viruses?
We have since seen the launch of the Government “Better Health” campaign, targeting adult obesity. While this may not be a new trend, and there is a long way to go, weight loss is, and should be, one of the major talking points this year and those to come for overall health.
As industry experts we join our peers in hoping that physical activity moves to be recognised as an essential health service. The science is clear cut that if we take both our health and fitness more seriously and focus better on our mental wellness, the happier we are, and the less reliant we are on the National Health Service.
While all these new technologies and product developments are great in their own right, if people lack the intrinsic motivation to make a change then the tech is rendered obsolete. We can have all the tools in the world to help us, but if we’re not motivated to utilise the tools, then no positive change will occur.
Other companies such as Les Mills and Keepme have previously released their predictions for trends in the new fitness landscape, read Les Mills’ views here.
If you have an innovative product or service in the health, fitness and wellness industry and want to see yourself on a future trends report then get in touch with us. We are experts in consultancy, marketing, PR and advertising, so whether you’re a small new business or a multi-million pound turnover one, we can help you grow: info@action-group.co.uk