Evolution of Spanish and Worldwide fitness trends: A five-year analysis

Abstract

Since 2006 the American College of Sport Medicine (ACSM) has annually published the Worldwide Survey of Fitness Trends and through them fitness professionals around the world are asked about their prediction of the most prominent trends in the fitness market for the following year. The results of fitness trends surveys are intended to help this industry make important business decisions for its growth and future development. Spain was the first country in the world to replicate the methodology of ACSM's Worldwide Survey, and now more and more regions are doing the same. There have been five editions of the Spanish survey allowing for the first evolutionary portrayal of fitness trends in this regional market that could be also compared and contrasted to the corresponding results of worldwide surveys. Results of these comparisons highlight differences of relevance and evolution over time of the main fitness trends between Spanish and Worldwide settings. A progressive divergence in both surveys is observed over time. Some of the main similarities and differences of regional and worldwide trends are identified, and their potential causes are discussed. As a conclusion, a comparison of both surveys underlines the interest to replicate at regional levels the ACSM Worldwide Fitness Trends Surveys to get a better understanding that links the knowledge about worldwide trends with specificities found in more specific geographic regions.