Worldwide Survey of Fitness Trends for 2023

Abstract

Online training went from the #26 trend in 2020 to the #1 trend for 2021, likely because of a shift in the fitness market from clubs to homes because of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, it then dropped to the #9 spot for 2022 and #21 for 2023 as the world returns to prepandemic social interactions and exercise activities. Wearable technology has again taken the #1 spot in the global rankings, the same as 2019 and 2020. High-intensity interval training, the #1 trend in 2014 and 2018, has dropped slightly since, yet remains a consistently popular trend at #7 for both 2022 and 2023. Group exercise training made a significant return in 2017 as the #6 trend and was the #2 trend for both 2018 and 2019, #3 for 2020, fell to #17 in 2021, #20 for 2022, and now #14, possibly because of the rebounding effects of crowd avoidance caused by COVID-19. Popular low-cost exercise program delivery of strength training with free weights (#2), body weight training (#3), core training (#11), and circuit training (#12) seem to indicate that health clubs are emphasizing the basics. Fitness programming aimed at older adults had regained some popularity after falling out of the top 10 trends in 2017, appeared as #9 in 2018, #4 for 2019, #8 for 2020, #9 for 2021, #11 for 2022, and now #4 for 2023. Functional fitness training, which is popular among older adults, ranked #14 in 2022 and is now #5 for 2023. The COVID-19-related pivots seen in 2021 and 2022 including online live and on-demand exercise classes and online personal training have fallen out of the top 20 fitness trends for 2023.