Fitness: Top worldwide fitness trends for 2025

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Every year, the American College of Sports Medicine publishes a list of worldwide fitness trends. The annual top 20 is a reflection not only of what’s in vogue now, but also what we can expect to see more of in the future. The list was first published in 2006 and has chronicled a large shift in trends, including the quick rise and fall of Zumba, the introduction of HIIT (high intensity interval training) and home exercise gyms reaching an all-time high at No. 2 in 2022, only to fall to No. 13 in 2023 when we happily left our basements and returned to the neighbourhood gym.

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Defining a trend as “a general development or change in a situation or in the way that people are behaving” versus a fad (“a fashion that is taken up with great enthusiasm for a brief period; a craze”), the list was assembled from more than 2,000 responses to surveys sent to fitness professionals worldwide, including exercise physiologists, researchers and academics, personal trainers, strength and conditioning coaches, athletic trainers and medical professionals.

According to the experts, 2025 is all about tech with wearable technology claiming top spot followed by mobile exercise apps at No. 2 and data-driven training technology at No. 7. It’s not surprising exercisers have become enamoured with tech. The availability of real-time statistics during a workout along with the archiving of past workout data allows fitness fanatics to get as granular as they like when evaluating their training habits. Runners can map their cadence, stride length and ground contact time, along with their pace, distance and effort. Swimmers can get their splits, count their laps, identify their strokes and evaluate efficiency. Cyclists can track their speed, distance, elevation, power and cadence. And safety features like fall detection offer peace of mind to solo exercisers whether they’re in the backwoods or closer to home.

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But that’s not all. Smart watches are including more and more health features that complement exercise content by providing an improved view of personal wellness. Add that to notifications about heart arrhytmias, sleep patterns and Apple watch’s new sleep apnea feature, and users can benefit from unprecedented insight into personal health simply by wearing a watch.

But it’s not only smart watches that are popular among fitness enthusiasts. More fitness clubs are using wearable tech to provide real time stats via in-studio monitors during a workout. Exercisers can now continuously adjust exercise intensity to ensure their effort matches their goals.

“Wearable activity trackers can support healthy lifestyle behaviour change through goal setting, personalized coaching or connecting with apps to provide actional insights,” said the ASCM panel of authors and contributors to the 2025 Fitness Trends.

New to the list, and part of digital technology, is influencer/ambassador-led fitness programs that ranks 12th. The addition reflects the growing number of instructor-led workouts and exercise content on social media outlets like Instagram and TicTok, which suggests it’s a trend to watch. Given its popularity, the ACSM reminds followers to vet the professional credentials and qualifications of fitness influencers to ensure the fitness and health information provided is safe and effective and not only made for social media.  

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But 2025 isn’t going to be only about technology. Fitness programs for older adults is No. 3 on the list. The over-60 crowd makes up an increasingly large segment of the population. They also have more time on their hands to exercise, especially since physical activity has been heralded as one of the best strategies to maintain health, mobility and independence with age. Given its position on the list of trends, fitness clubs and recreation centres should take note of a largely untapped market that is more diverse than it seems. The latest cohort of older adults have a variety of fitness goals that require more options than traditional light intensity group exercise classes.

Exercise for weight loss is at No. 4, even with the arrival of medications that makes weight loss possible without the extra effort of hitting the gym. Burning calories through exercise is still an effective way of keeping weight in check. And strength training plays an important role in reducing the loss of muscle mass that accompanies a dramatic decrease in body weight.

As such, it makes sense traditional strength training rounds out the top five, a significant improvement over 17^th place in last year’s list. Inexplicably, strength training has bounced around a lot since the ACSM published its first list. Building and/or maintaining muscle mass should be a priority for all ages and fitness levels, with exercise guidelines suggesting at least two strength workouts a week. Getting expert advice from a certified fitness professional is worth the investment as exercise selection, the right mix of reps, sets and loads and technique are important to both success and enjoyment.

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The rest of the top 20 can be found below, which according to the ACSM, reflects a diversification from traditional offerings found in big box gyms, studio-based facilities and corporate wellness programs. They also herald the 2025 list as a signal of improved “integration of fitness with various sectors, such as health care, technology, wellness product development and personalized fitness solutions.”

The American College of Sports Medicine’s Top 20 Fitness Trends for 2025

1. Wearable technology
2. Mobile exercise apps
3. Fitness programs for older adults
4. Exercise for weight loss
5. Traditional strength training
6. High intensity interval training
7. Data driving training technology
8. Exercise for mental health
9. Functional fitness training
10. Health/wellness coaching
11. Youth athletic development
12. Influencer/ambassador led fitness programs
13. Outdoor fitness activities
14. On demand exercise classes
15. Employing certified exercise professionals
16. Personal training
17. Exercise is medicine
18. Body weight training
19. Lifestyle medicine
20. Hot and cold therapies

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