Wearable tech top fitness trend for 2019: Survey

Wearable technology such as fitness trackers, smart watches, are the number one fitness trend for 2019, according to an annual survey of health and fitness professionals.

Wearable technology returned to the top-ranked position it had occupied for two consecutive years, before dropping to number three in last year's survey.

It "may be the result of manufacturers correcting some monitoring inaccuracies of the past", said Walter R. Thompson, from the Georgia State University.

Conducted each year since 2007, this year's annual survey, detailed in the ACSM's Health and Fitness Journal, also showcased other trends including the high-intensity interval training (HIIT) referring to short bouts of high-intensity exercise followed by a short rest period.

HIIT, the number one trend in 2014 and 2018, fell to the third spot in 2019.

While group training has been at the second spot for the past two years (2018 and 2019), fitness programming aimed at older adults has regained some popularity after falling out of the top 10 trends in 2017, appearing at number nine in 2018 and now at the fourth spot for 2019.

Bodyweight training first appeared as a fitness trend at number three in 2013 and has been a top five fitness trend since that time. In 2019, bodyweight training ranked as the fifth fitness trend.

A new trend to watch will be the employment of certified fitness professionals, a new potential trend for 2019 (number sixth) replacing educated, certified, and experienced fitness professionals, the survey showed.

Yoga including power yoga, yogilates, yoga in hot environments, appeared on the seventh spot.

Other trends to watch are mobile exercise apps, worksite health promotion and workplace well-being programmes, outcome measurements, and post rehabilitation classes.

"While no one can accurately predict the future of any industry, this survey helps to track trends that can assist owners, operators, programme directors, and health fitness professionals with making important business decisions," Thompson noted.

The survey included responses from more than 2,000 health fitness professionals from India, the UK, Australia, Canada, China, France, Germany, Japan, Italy, Russia, Singapore, Taiwan, and the US.

--IANS

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