The 2019 Worldwide Fitness Trends

Over the past 13 years, the editors of ACSM’s Health & Fitness Journal® (FIT) have circulated an electronic survey to thousands of wellness professionals around the world to determine the current year’s health and fitness trends. The first survey was conducted in 2006 and it introduced what was meant to be a systematic way of predicting health and fitness trends. The survey has been conducted annually since that time, using the same methodology.

Since this is a survey that is solely about trends, the participants of the survey were asked to make the very important distinction between what they thought was a “fad” and what was a “trend.” These are the definitions they were given as a guideline:

• Trend: a general development or change in a situation or in the way that people are behaving.

• Fad: a fashion that is taken up with great enthusiasm for a brief period.

Responses were received from just about every continent and included the countries of United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, China, France, Germany, Japan, India, Italy, Russia, Singapore, Taiwan, and the United States.

Top 12 Fitness Trends

So, without further delay, here are the top 12 (of 20) trends from the Worldwide Survey of Fitness Trends for 2019. You can take a deeper look if you visit the ACSM's Health & Fitness Journal website.

Trend #1: Wearable Technology

Wearable technology includes fitness trackers, smartwatches, heart rate monitors, and GPS tracking devices like those made by Misfit®, Garmin, and Apple. These devices can track heart rate, calories, sitting time, and much more. As angry as my Apple Watch makes me from time to time, it is undeniable that wearables are here to stay.

See also: Do Fitness Trackers Lead to Better Fitness?

Wearable technology first appeared as a fitness trend in 2016. It was the #1 trend in 2016 and 2017 before dropping to #3 for 2018 but it is back on top in 2019.

Trend #2: Group Training

Group exercise instructors teach, lead, and motivate individuals through intentionally designed, in-person movement classes of five participants or more. There are many types of classes using various equipment, from cardio-based...

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