Every year the American Collage of Sports Medicine puts together a list of the top ten fitness trends. We talked about the 2015 trends in one of my classes last semester, so I thought it would be interesting to see what made the list for 2016.
Not surprisingly, the top spot was help by wearable technology. It seems like just about everyone these days has a FitBit, heart rate monitor, or GPS tracker. Wearable technology didn’t even make the list in 2015, so it’s interesting that it’s in first place this year.
Although it was in the number one spot last year, body weight training is now in second place for 2016. Body weight training is essentially using your own body weight instead of equipment for exercises. It’s surprisingly versatile and great for people who can’t afford a gym membership or a ton of equipment.
High intensity interval training was third on the list this year, whereas last year it was number two. HIIT workouts are short periods of working really hard, followed by short rest periods. Because you’re working so hard, HIIT workouts are usually pretty short – under thirty minutes.
Because it’s such a central part of fitness, it’s not surprising that strength training is fourth on the list. It’s in the same spot as it was last year. Strength training is essentially moving against resistance. That could be anything from a dumbbell, barbell, or kettlebell.
Educated and experienced fitness professionals was in fifth place. Last year it was number three. This one makes me pretty excited because once I’m done school I’ll be a fitness professional. I’ve heard all sorts of horror stories of trainers who somehow manage to get jobs training people but tell them to do all kinds of crazy and dangerous things.
Similar to the last point, personal training come in at sixth place. It was one spot higher in 2015. This one also makes me excited because my plan is to work one on one with people. While I also want to teach classes, that will be more on the side, and most of my time will be spent with people individually.
This next point has been something that quite a few of my profs are big advocates of – functional fitness. Functional fitness is doing workouts that help you in daily life. For instance squats are great for getting into and out of a chair. Functional fitness is especially useful for older adults who want to keep doing what they’ve always been doing and stay independent.
Fitness programs for older adults made it to the eighth spot this year. It’s in the exact same spot as it was last year. The baby boomer generation is aging and they’re going to want to keep as active and independent as possible. I think we’re going to see a lot more physical activity programs aimed at them in the next few years.
It shouldn’t be a surprised that exercise and weight loss are on the list. It’s moved from six last year to nine this year. Lots of people decide to start working out to lose weight. It’s a huge motivator for a lot of people. I’m sure a lot of the clients that I’ll be working with will want to lose weight.
And finally, yoga comes in at the bottom of the list. It moved down three spots on the last since last year. Yoga has grown a lot in the last twenty or so years, so you’d expect to see it on a list of fitness trends. I think it’s great to see something that has such a big mind body component to it on the list (not that the others can’t have that, but it’s a huge part of yoga).
Does anything on the list surprise you? Anything that’s missing that you though would be on there that isn’t?