Top 5 Fitness Trends for 2016

“Never make predictions, especially about the future.” - Casey Stengel, Major League Baseball outfielder and manager

It's now November. Whoa! Where has the year gone? As we replace the pumpkin and ghost decorations with turkey ones, we are one step closer to the end of 2015. It's been an exciting year for us at Flyte Fitness. We began selling our Core Flyte stability training tools and customers, fitness professionals, and distribution partners all gave us excellent feedback. As the year comes to an end, we are looking forward to a great 2016.

So, what's in store for fitness next year? Last week, the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM), the largest sports medicine and exercise science organization in the world, gave us its annual predictions. ACSM published the results of its fitness trend forecast for 2016.

2,800 survey respondents –worldwide health and fitness professionals – differentiated "fads" (think Pizza Rat) from "trends" (think brick oven pizza) and focused on the areas that they think will influence the way that individuals will behave in the foreseeable future.

Here are the top five fitness trends for 2016 predicted by experts:

1. Wearable technology
Requirements: Cool tech gadgets

This trend went from “never-ranked” in the top 20, to “top-of-the-list.” The most common wearables used today are activity trackers that count steps walked, estimate heart rate and calories burned, and count hours of sleep. Many of these are integrated with smartphones and apps. There are wristbands (Fitbit), watches (Apple Watch), spectacles (Google Glass), and even earrings (we wrote about these last year).

The survey's lead author Walter Thompson, Associate Dean of the College of Education & Human Development at Georgia State University, said wearable technology helps by "gauging the intensity of effort during the workout... [and] also provides motivation between workouts."

We have written extensively about the importance of motivation and accountability when it comes up exercise. Technology that accurately monitors activity with little support required by users helps us see when we succeed and when we fall behind in clear, objective, and quantifiable metrics. I'm all for tools that help us track progress, and if they look cool too, great.

2. Body Weight Training
Requirement: Body.

The top trend in last year's survey, body weight training, took runner-up for 2016. Most personal trainers, group fitness classes, and popular home workout programs include body weight exercises that require only one's body. I was happy to see fitness professionals continue to recognize this trend as Core Flyte exercises take body weight exercises like planks, lunges, squats, push-ups, and rollouts to the next level.

3. High-Intensity Interval Training (HIIT)
Requirement: Clock.

High-intensity interval training (HIIT), HIIT, is considered an effective method for getting a limit-pushing workout in a short period of time. It is comprised of alternating bursts of activity (e.g., sprints) and brief periods of recovery. It can be used with both cardio and strength exercises. Our Everlast Lab Core Flyte class has a session consisting of HIIT with 45-60 seconds of all-out Core Flyte exercises alternating with short rest periods.

4. Strength Training
Requirement: Weights.

Strength training uses resistance in order to build muscle and anaerobic endurance. It typically involves the use of equipment such as free weights. This type of training evokes the nostalgia of the movie Pumping Iron, but is certainly not only for the body-building type. Many women shy away from using weights due to fear of getting "too bulky." This is an unfounded fear because using weights is a great way to tone muscles and build strength and does not create a bulky look for most women.

5. Educated, Certified & Experienced Fitness Professionals
Requirement: Knowledge.

Ignorance may be bliss, but when it comes to exercise, it stunts progress, leads to inefficient workouts, and causes injuries. Knowledgeable fitness professionals help set and establish best practices and find innovative ways to work out. Attending fitness conventions in LA, New York, Orlando, and Atlanta this year has broadened my awareness of just how many new types of educational formats are out there, and how many are coming. Fitness professionals will have new ways to expand their tool sets with each new exercise science course. And, yes, we have in the works a Core Flyte education course for fitness professionals!

We’d love to hear from you. Is the prediction for wearables overstated? Which trend do you think will be the most important in 2016? Comment below or on our Facebook page at facebook.com/flytefitness or tweet us at @flytefitness.

Be Flyte Fit,

Jeremy Greenberg
Co-Founder & CEO
Flyte Fitness

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