As we move through 2025, members are recommitting to their previous New Year’s Resolutions, which means improving their health and wellness is a top priority. For that reason, we need to be mindful of what trends are on the horizon or are already upon us. Fitness trends impact virtually every aspect of how you will approach your business such as:
- Steps you should be taking to remain competitive.
- How you should design and renovate your facilities to accommodate future needs of members.
- How you will spend capital.
- How you should budget for operations.
- How you should market both internally and externally.
Strength Training Over Cardiovascular Exercise
One of the most important trends club operators need to be aware of is the movement away from fitness centers being cardiovascular equipment dominant and having more strength training equipment. The inclusion of free weight platforms and multi-functional strength training equipment instead of bikes, stairs, ellipticals and even treadmills is the trend. With that said, treadmills are still popular and are the cardio equipment of choice.
Women’s Strength Training
Women are strength training more than ever as members are realizing the best way to lose weight is to strength train in combination with cardiovascular conditioning. By strength training, the metabolism is ‘fired up’ and this only enhances the ability to lose weight and get and maintain a tighter, firmer physique. Also, if done correctly strength training burns as many calories as a cardio workout.
Functional Fitness
Making sure the fitness center has an appropriately sized space designated for functional fitness is vital. This would include open space that’s turfed and would be used to stretch, perform core and plyometric exercises, and various strength/cardio exercises. Equipment such as rigs, kettlebells, plyo-boxes, sleds, bands, medicine and bosu balls, battle ropes, and suspension training are just a few that would be used in this area.
Recovery
What exactly is recovery?
Recovery refers to the physiological and psychological processes that helps someone who has done physical activity restore their body and mind to pre-exercise states. These processes aid in repairing tissue damage, replenishing energy stores, and reducing fatigue, ultimately facilitating enhanced performance and injury prevention.
Why has recovery become such a hot topic?
There are several reasons, but the primary ones are because fitness professionals have learned it’s vital to emphasize all aspects of wellness. They’ve become educated on the benefits of recovery and are passing that knowledge onto their clients. The vast use of social media is contributing to the explosion of wellness and recovery programming, and recovery/biohacking is quickly becoming mainstream. Lastly, the increase of boutique recovery franchises along with better equipment are contributing to the exposure.
Biohacking
What exactly is Biohacking?
Biohacking is the process of altering the body’s physiology in a passive manner, as opposed to exercise which is active. So, the use of a sauna is considered biohacking. Modalities such as steam, sauna, cold plunge, red light therapy, cryotherapy and hyperbaric chamber therapy are all forms of recovery and biohacking.
Why has Biohacking become such a hot topic?
Members are being educated on the benefits of biohacking and are realizing this is just one more way to improve the quality of life and increase lifespan and longevity.
Medical Wellness
You can’t escape it. Commercial after commercial on medical weight loss. Wegovy, Ozempic and so many others. The use of GLP-1 agonists are becoming mainstream and widely accepted. Major health club brands such as LifeTime and Equinox have even incorporated them into their programming.
Other medically based items such as peptides and TRT are being used and have become a normal practice to supplement and/or increase the quality of physical / mental performance and results.
Hot Tip
One of the fitness programming core principles that’s missed too often is the vital importance of always having two types of fitness programming always going on throughout the year.
Fitness Immersion Programming
This is programming designed specifically for new members to get them introduced to all the club has to offer. Furthermore, the intent is to ensure a new member finds the type of programming they enjoy so the club becomes “sticky” for them.
The ultimate goal of fitness immersion programming is to support and assist your new members with creating a lifestyle of exercise adherence.
Engagement
This is designed specifically for existing members to ensure the club is always reaching out to them with new and innovative programs to encourage on-going use of the fitness center. All regular members will at some point have an “upset” with their exercise program such that they will stop exercising for a period. The key is to never allow that to become a full breakdown where they stop exercising all together. But instead, resume their program once they’re recovered from whatever caused the upset.
Final Tips and Takeaways
The industry continues to evolve. New fitness trends continue to emerge, and most will become a normal practice or part of your programming well into the future. For this reason, it’s important as operators we stay educated and on top of current and future fitness trends, so we remain competitive and ideally are leaders in our business.
Always make sure your members are engaged and thoroughly immersed into the fitness and wellness programming that’s going on at your center.
