Top 10 International Fitness Trends 2007 – 2018

By Marina Aagaard, MFT

What’s new in fitness? What is still popular in fitness? What fitness modality is on its way out? ACSM, American College of Sports Medicine, has been studying fitness trends since 2006: What professionals see as stable trends, trends, or fads, fitness phenomena that are popular for a short period after which they disappear.

The survey has just been completed for the 12th time with answers from 4,133 (114,455 questionnaires) fitness professionals worldwide. There were 40 potential trends selected by the staff at ACSM’s Health & Fitness Journal®. Of these, 20 were selected, ranked and published. The 10 most popular trends are listed below in a summary table (ACSM) illustrated by Aagaard.

In the list of ACSM’s Top 10 fitness trends for 2018, for each trend I have listed its position the previous 11 years in brackets. Some trends have been in the survey since 2006, while others have been included later (in the study); Group exercise, wearables, body weight training and HIIT.

The list shows only general trends, as there are certain overlaps, for instance are wearabes (eg fitness trackers), strength training, bodyweight training and functional training also a part of other training trends.

For more about the training trends, see the Top 20 Fitness Training Trends 2018 .

Top 10 Fitness Training Trends 2018

1. High-intensity interval training, HIIT (3, 3, 2, 1 , -, -, -, -, -, -)
2. Team training (6, -, -, -, -, -, -, -, -, -, -)
3. Wearable technology, wearables (1, 1, -, -, -, -, -, -, -, -)
4. Body Weight Training (2, 2, 1, 2, 3, -, -, -, -)
5. Strength training (5, 4, 4, 4, 2, 2, 3, 4, 4, 6)
6. Trained, Certified, Experienced Fitness Professionals  (4, 5, 3, 3, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 3)
7. Yoga (8, 10, 7, 10, -, -, -, – 10, -)
8. Personal training (9, 6, 5, 6, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 3, 7)
9. Fitness programs for the elderly (11, 8, 8, 7, 6, 3, 2, 6, 6, 6, 2)
10. Functional fitness (12, 7, 9, 8, 8, 10, 9, 7, 8, -)

Read more:

Top 20 Fitness Training Trends 2018: HIIT again number 1

ACSM: WORLDWIDE SURVEY OR FITNESS TRENDS FOR 2018