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The top 10 global fitness trends for 2022

Based on the findings from the American College of Sports Medicine’s (ACSM) annual trends survey, the Covid-19 pandemic continues to shape health and fitness trends two years after it first emerged.

After surveying 4,500 health and fitness professionals, wearable tech emerged as the new top trend in fitness for 2022 as more people turn to smartwatches or fitness trackers to monitor their exercise, sleep quality and their general health.

According to the lead author in the survey, Walter R. Thompson, Ph.D., FACSM, ACSM-CEP®, “Tech advances have made it easy for users to collect important health metrics and work with fitness professionals and health care providers to develop healthy lifestyles and increase quality of life”.

Rising and falling trends

The survey findings, which were published in the January/February issue of the ACSM’s Health & Fitness Journal®, assessed 43 potential trends and highlighted other notable trends such as the rise of home gyms, which debuted in second position, with outdoor exercise moving to third.

Interestingly, last year’s top-ranked trend, online training (now classified as online live and on-demand exercise classes) dropped to ninth. High-intensity interval training (HIIT) was another notable drop in the rankings, falling to seventh.

The top 10 fitness trends for 2022 are:

  1. Wearable Technology: Devices like fitness trackers, smart watches and heart rate monitors that count steps and track heart rate, calories, sitting and sleep time, blood pressure and respiratory rate.
  2. Home Exercise Gyms: Uses minimal equipment or treadmills and bikes at home for solo or family events.
  3. Outdoor Activities: Include small group walks, group rides and organized hiking groups. Participants can meet in a park, hiking area or bike trail for short and daylong events.
  4. Strength Training with Free Weights: Instructors focus on teaching proper form for exercises using barbells, kettlebells, dumbbells and/or medicine balls. Resistance progressively increases as correct form is accomplished.
  5. Exercise for Weight Loss: Using an exercise program in tandem with the daily routine of caloric restriction to lose weight.
  6. Personal Training: Fitness testing and goal setting with a trainer working one-on-one with a client to prescribe workouts specific to individual needs.
  7. High-Intensity Interval Training (HIIT): Involves short bursts of activity followed by a short period of rest or recovery in a 30-minute (or less) session.
  8. Body Weight Training: Uses minimal equipment. Not limited to push-ups and pull-ups, this trend allows people to get “back to the basics” with fitness.
  9. Online Live and On-demand Exercise Classes: Uses digital streaming technology to deliver group and individual exercise programs online. Available 24/7 and can be a live or prerecorded class.
  10. Health/Wellness Coaching: Integrates behavioral science into health promotion and lifestyle medicine programs. A one-on-one and small group approach provides support, goal setting and encouragement.

Author: Pedro van Gaalen

When he’s not writing about sport or health and fitness, Pedro is probably out training for his next marathon or ultra-marathon. He’s worked as a fitness professional and as a marketing and comms expert. He now combines his passions in his role as managing editor at Fitness magazine.

When he's not writing about sport or health and fitness, Pedro is probably out training for his next marathon or ultra-marathon. He's worked as a fitness professional and as a marketing and comms expert. He now combines his passions in his role as managing editor at Fitness magazine.

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