Written by Sam Coleman
Fact checked by Sam Coleman
FACT CHECKED
Here are the top 9 fitness trends that are not only relevant today, but also will be for the foreseeable future...Many of these "trends" have been around for a long time, they've just made advancements.
Fitness is evolving, in the best way possible. More research, more information, more incredible minds putting their work to the test. This has allowed us to make advancements in fitness just like we do in technology, science and health.
We want you to take a hard look at your fitness routine to see what is working and where you can improve. Make adjustments where necessary. If you are seeing great results already, awesome. If you think you could be seeing better results, then consider the below fitness "trends" and information so you can take your fitness to the next level.
*Read everything below as there are always areas where you can improve*
Fitness Trends vs Fitness Advancements
When we say "fitness trends" we are thinking more in terms of fitness advancements.
Of course, there are some fitness trends that come and go (**cough** BowFlex), but many fitness developments have remained (some dating back centuries), like yoga, combat sports, pilates, weightlifting, working out at home via video.
These reliable, everlasting, perennially popular forms of fitness are not trends, they are timeless...but they are evolving nonetheless.
Think about Yoga, there are so many forms (some better than others) and even new forms of Yoga that are very beneficial like Hot Yoga.
Then you have weightlifting...These days, we are seeing people approach weightlifting in a smarter, more sustainable way. For example, instead of killing their joints with heavy barbell exercises, people are moving towards kettlebells and other less taxing yet rewarding forms of functional fitness.
As for technology, think about the 80s and 90s, VHS home workouts galore. Now, we have incredibly well-put-together on-demand fitness platforms that will provide you with everything you need to get fit from the comfort of your home...
On the whole, the health and fitness world becomes more intelligent each year. The science of what works and what doesn’t is becoming clearer and clearer, and people aren’t falling for gimmick after gimmick like they were in the past (at least not the people we work with). That's why we are confident our choices for 'fitness trends that you should follow' are great and here to stay.
Top 9 Fitness Trends You Should Be Doing - Advancements in Fitness
After working with many personal trainers and health experts, along with researching the consumer market, we came up with 9 fitness trends that are here to stay. What we can say first and foremost is that some of this might seem familiar. That's because there are no gimmicky trends below, these are all proven methods that are simply becoming more mainstream, and for good reason...they work!
1. HIIT
The fittest workout enthusiasts have been big advocates of HIIT (high-intensity interval training) for years. The proof is in the pudding...
According to the survey by the American College of Sports Medicine, high-intensity interval training has been the number one fitness trend the past few years - Unsurprisingly, as HIIT is tailor-made for people with busy lives, and most people have busy lives. Not to mention, it's super effective!
What is HIIT?
HIIT workouts require intense bursts of high-intensity exercise, followed by short (sometimes active) recovery. Rather than spending copious amounts of time on the treadmill, HIIT targets shorter, more intense bursts of exercise. Research shows that you can attain more progress in 15 minutes of interval training than an hour on the treadmill.
HIIT Training Methods
HIIT programs can range from 30 minutes all the way down to 5 minutes (Tabata-style interval training). An important factor to HIIT training and one you must consider is the ratio of work to rest. The intensity during the work period should be greater than 80% of the estimated max heart rate. The key to working as hard as you can during the working phase is giving yourself the necessary time to rest. Rest or active recovery—prepares you for executing the next working interval.
A few variations work, including rest ratios of 1 minute on 3 minutes off, 1 minute on 2 minutes off, 1 minute on 1 minute off, all the way down to 10 seconds on 50 seconds off. It all depends on how long and how intense your desired HIIT session is.
How often should you do HIIT?
Two to three days a week is a solid amount of HIIT. 24 hours of rest and recovery between sessions is recommended. Mix HIIT training into your current training program. Ideally, you could have 2 resistance training and 2 HIIT training sessions per week.
Benefits of HIIT:
- Time Saver (20 minutes of an intense workout burned an average of 15 calories per minute – twice the amount used on a long run).
- Improve aerobic capacity.
- Burn fat.
- Build a healthier heart.
- Increase metabolism.
- Little to no equipment required.
The downside of HIIT:
Overtraining. Just as you wouldn’t train legs two days in a row, don’t train HIIT two days in a row. You run the risk of overtraining, injury, and you will feel fatigued and mentally worn. But that's also the benefit of it. You don't need to do it every day for it to be effective! Time-saving routine on all fronts...
If there is one thing you take from this article, it's start doing HIIT, like now. Throw 1-3 HIIT workouts into your routine each week and reap the benefits.
18 Best HIIT Exercises For Beginners
2. YOGA
Yoga, in general, isn’t anything new. It’s been a "trend" for decades and it’s been practiced for around 5,000 years! Nonetheless, it’s popularity is on a rapid rise.
Why? Because it makes you feel great and move great! It's like the perfect complement to weight training.
More than a third of Americans say they are very likely to try yoga. While the majority of yoga practitioners are women, the number of American men doing yoga has more than doubled, going from 4 million in 2012 to 10 million in 2016 (and it’s hasn’t stopped rising). The number of American adults over 50 doing yoga has tripled over the last four years to reach 14 million. The number of people who do yoga will be comparable to the number of people who go to the gym to lift weights in no time. Ask your friends and family if they do or are interested in yoga. We bet the vast majority would say yes!
The word about the benefits of yoga is reaching everyone. Not to mention, yoga pants are pretty damn popular even for the non-yogi. We aren't complaining!
Yoga Evolution
Nowadays, yoga has extended from a calming practice to an all-out fitness routine. Certain methods focus on breathing and meditation, others challenge and demand physical stamina, strength, coordination, and balance. Yoga has the ability to constantly reinvent itself, which is, in part, why it continues to gain popularity.
Types of Yoga:
- New trends, unusual forms of yoga, like Goat Yoga and Beer Yoga, Aerial Yoga, Rope Wall Yoga, STEEL MACE YOGA (we just made this one up), and classes like Hot Yoga will leave you drenched as if you were sitting in a sauna.
- Traditional classes, such as Hatha, Yogalates, Bikram, Ashtanga, Vinyasa, Kripalu, Anurara, Kundalini, Sivananda, and Power Yoga.
- Online subscriptions are also becoming more popular, with outlets like Gaia Yoga, Core Power Yoga you can bring studio-like classes to your living and practice with professional yogis.
- And plenty more.
Benefits:
- Practiced on the go.
- Boost your mood.
- Improve your sex life.
- Strengthen your entire body.
- Improve flexibility, balance, and coordination.
3. Mobility Training
You’ve definitely been seeing this in your gym or on social media more and more. A lot of education is being pumped out on mobility training. Put simply, mobility training is an active, dynamic stretching protocol. Many people are using this as a “pre-workout” by performing dynamic stretches, foam rolling and trigger point therapy. They are doing this for good reason, mobility training is essential to fitness. Without the proper mobility in your joints, you could injure yourself and develop compensation patterns that are unhealthy and not conducive to the longevity of your joints. Mobility training is also an awesome activity to mix into your active recovery days.
We couldn’t agree more with the quote from Michael Chivers Sports Specialist Chiropractor, “The process of skill acquisition begins with the ability to express full physical capacity at each joint involved in the skill to be acquired.”
Test Your Mobility
Benefits of consistent mobility training:
- Prepare the body and enhance movement function and overall performance
- Increase flexibility.
- Increase range of motion for increased strength potential.
- Decrease risk of injury.
- Decrease soreness and joint pain.
- Help muscle activation.
- Help fluid movements.
- Boost recovery and relieve tension in stiff muscles
- It can actually tone your body as well.
Downfalls: Hurts like hell.
Dynamic Stretches
Dynamic stretches help prepare the joints by mimicking movements used in the sport or activity that is to be performed. A dynamic warm-up will prepare the body for activity by helping to increase blood flow and muscle temperature.
Resistance Bands
Resistance bands are great for mobility training. In fact, they are a must-have for it. You can use bands to mobilize your joints like no other. Here is an article we wrote on mobility exercises for ankles and hips.
Foam Rollers
Stretching before and after a workout has been considered useful for some time now, but foam rollers, which offer more deep-tissue massage action, have become popular in the last few years. These tools, which come in smooth or raised-bump cylinders, improve circulation, and relieve muscle tension.
Mobility Balls
We use a mobility ball over a foam roller when we want to pinpoint myofascial release in a specific muscle or a small area of the body. A prime example of this is the hip or the piriformis in the lateral muscle. (The piriformis is one of the hip muscles on the side of your body which gets tight on a lot of people.)
Using a mobility ball allows you to focus right on the specific spot and pinpoint what you want to work on. There are certain muscles where having a smaller tool to really pinpoint the area you need will work better. It’s all about what’s the right tool for the issue that you’re having at any given time.
4. Live Streaming Classes/On-Demand Coaching
While live-streaming classes aren’t new, live streaming classes and on-demand coaching popping up left and right and they only keep getting better and more thorough.
All live-streamed and on-demand classes are available 24/7 and taught by some of the best personal trainers in the industry. Classes include yoga, cardio, aerobics, HIIT, bodyweight strength, and many specialty classes (such as SET FOR SET’s Steel Mace Live Training and On-demand Coaching with SFS Athletes across the states, which is currently in development).
Live streaming offers variety and convenience. Not to mention you will see a lot of big companies using highly skilled and educated professionals to run their classes. Again, like HIIT, this is ideal for a person with a busy schedule. Many people are protective of their time, an effective workout at home will definitely surge in the online space.
Fitness studious will be live-streaming their classes on Facebook, companies will be creating live streaming and on-demand workout platforms for their customers. There should be no excuses for not getting a workout in.
5. Meditation/Meditative workouts
No, it’s not necessarily fitness, but it can be and it should.
As many people say, “exercise is my meditation.” This is because exercise relaxes people and helps relieve stress. That’s great, but it’s not exactly the same thing as meditation. Exercise works by stimulating the nervous system, speeding up your metabolic rate, releasing endorphins, plus many other positive effects you may not even think about. Meditation has similar benefits, but the means to achieving that are mental rather than physical, for the most part.
Meditation, like Yoga, is the perfect complement to intense workouts. Making time to practice both can keep the body and mind in peak form. The two go hand in hand.
We should mention, though, that some workouts can be very meditative-like, such as yoga or steel mace flows. Meditative Workouts could be a big trend we are overlooking. Nevertheless, for this article, let’s focus on the benefits meditation can have before, during (not done simultaneously), and after workouts.
Benefits of Meditation:
Pre-workout:
- Mood boost; get’s you in the right headspace for the workout routine.
- Body awareness; helps you pinpoint any physical discomforts or issues you may be having.
- Reduces tension; meditation helps you understand how you are feeling mentally, realizing this and accepting it can help relieve your tension.
Mid-workout:
- Soft mental reset; in between exercises or sets, take the time to focus on your breath and prepare yourself for the next set.
- Again, body awareness; focus on the body part or area that you are working, feel the burn, spot the discomforts, the imbalances, and fully understand how your body is working.
Post-workout:
After your cool down, a quick meditation session can help you recover faster. Your mind is a powerful tool. Relieving stress after a workout will allow you a faster recovery.
Make sure you stay consistent to see the benefits.
Physical fitness is important, and the mental aspect of our well-being is equally as important. In 2019, more people will be paying attention to this and they will reap the rewards.
Recommendation: We think Headspace is a great app for meditation.
6. Functional training
Our personal favorite. Functional fitness has moved up and down on the fitness trend survey ranking since 2007. The name ‘functional’ comes off as cliche or gimmicky, but trust us that a good functional workout will kick your ass! And the benefits go far beyond that.
What exactly IS functional training?
Functional training is the go to method of training athletes. Why? Because it works you through all 3 planes of motion, specifically to improve how your body functions for a sport or daily life. Functional training focuses on improving your strength, coordination, mobility, flexibility, power, balance, and endurance to perform any daily function called upon you - Whether carrying groceries, climbing a rock wall or a tough gym session, you are always ready. It's not just about getting big muscles, but that will come with it if you do it right.
Functional training aims to hit all pillars of fitness - muscular strength, endurance, flexibility, mobility, and balance.
Functional fitness is also often used in clinical programs to help with rehabilitation and independent living for older adults.
Sports Specific Training - Pro athletes using resistance bands to boost their athleticism.
Gyms are introducing the option to ‘to train like your favorite athlete’. Most people used to think: “I’m not an athlete, I can’t train like them,” but that mindset is changing.
Many gyms have classes that offer UFC-style and other sport-specific workouts. We are even seeing gyms that specialize in training for outdoor obstacle courses, like Spartan Races and American Ninja Warrior. Also, thanks to personal trainers becoming more and more qualified for their roles due to the increase in offerings of physical education, these unconventional training methods, which are used by elite athletes, are becoming more popular amongst the average fitness enthusiast. They keep workouts fun and challenging. Plus, they produce great results in strength, fat loss, and prehabilitation.
We think the best part is, functional training makes you feel much more badass than say, pedaling on the stationary bike (not that we are against that, as some spinning classes are fantastic).
Good Example of a Badass Functional Training Tool - The Steel Mace- Functional Workout with Steel Mace.
Functional Training - It's a great excuse to get outside! #getoutside:
Don’t be surprised if your personal trainer has you working out outside. Personal trainers are recommending all kinds of outdoor activities to clients as a way to enhance their overall fitness. Anything from kayaking to camping and rock climbing to pick-up basketball. All very functional.
Outdoor excursions can have mental benefits as well: greenery evokes mood-boosting. Sun provides vitamin D. Not to mention, a breathtaking view sounds much more stimulating than your gym’s TV.
Lastly, to touch briefly on “Recovery” Workouts, which include flexibility and mobility exercises, these are considered ‘functional’ as well, and very beneficial when done consistently.
We don’t think functional training is going anywhere, and why would it, it has purpose.
Here's our favorite functional training tools
7. Boxing (and MMA)
Boxing has been around since the first person punched another person with their fists. It’s not exactly a trend as much as a natural human instinct. The ancient Greeks believed fist fighting was one of the games played by the gods on Olympus; thus it became part of the Olympic Games in about 688 BC. So why not take part in something that runs through our veins and has been studied and practiced for thousands of years?
Fast forward.
2017 was a big year for the life of boxing, due in part to Connor Mcgregor and Floyd Mayweather. Not to mention all the incredible heavyweight bouts since then - Tyson Fury vs Wilder, for example. Boxing is back stronger than ever.
The sport itself is gaining popularity (think Heavyweight Ali to Tyson days), but what is growing even faster is boxing’s training methods. Boxing gyms are launching all over cities; noticeably the commercial ones with bigger budgets. Boxing is a big trend for 2019.
With a strategic combination of cardio and muscle strength/endurance training and the chance to punch the hell out of something, you can’t go wrong. Boxing is an exhilarating, full-body conditioning experience that keeps you strong, and can relieve tension and stress. Get yourself some gloves. Find a routine and hit the bag. Even better, get to a boxing gym or class once or twice a week.
You will definitely see a lot of people adding boxing to their training programs this year.
8. Intermittent Fasting
As society continues to place more focus on metabolism and fitness, intermittent fasting, which involves cycling between fasting and non-fasting to encourage weight loss and maintenance will become mainstream. With a lot of influential people such as celebrities, authors and social influencers experimenting and succeeding with intermittent fasting, there are no doubts in our minds that 2019 is the year of intermittent fasting (and HIIT).
Intermittent fasting education is spreading like wildfire and so many people are already doing it because it works!
As with any diet, you should consult a doctor before making any drastic changes, but nevertheless, the benefits of intermittent fasting can be exponential if done properly and carefully.
If you are interested in Intermittent Fasting, you should read this article on different types of intermittent fasting and the benefits.
Related: My 3 Day Fast Guide: Before and After, How To, Benefits & Tips
9. Qualified Fitness Professionals
Like functional fitness, personal training is a perennial trend (it's been on the ACSM's annual list since it launched in 2006). The personal training industry continues to grow. An increasing number of fitness professionals are seeking out formal education in kinesiology and exercise science, and there are so many options to earn accreditation. There are more than 250 third-party certification organizations committed to teaching personal trainers best practices.
Specialized training certifications and classes are surging in popularity as well, think kettlebell and steel mace workshops; On a broader scale, think specialized sports training education.
Personal trainers and coaches are held much more accountable these days, and that is thanks to an improvement and increase in physical education offerings, which in turn drives more education. So you can expect to see more personal trainer certifications available for all types of specialized purposes.
Personal Trainers Monetizing
As we mentioned in trend number 4, live streaming and on-demand, many personal trainers will be expanding their business online - using live platforms and selling on-demand content. Tons of personal trainers are becoming influencers too. These personal trainers are reaching more people and sharing their knowledge and techniques. With more eyes, they will have more options to monetize. Fitness professionals will be sure to capitalize on all this now and the future. And they should, they spent a shit ton of time and energy learning this EDUCATION.
Let us know your thoughts on fitness trends/advancements in the comments below.
Sam Coleman
Author