National survey of fitness trends in Spain for 2021

Abstract

Since 2017 the National Surveys of Fitness Trends in Spain are yearly carried out, reproducing the methodology of the worldwide surveys endorsed by the American College of Sport Medicine (ACSM). The objective of the current study is to show the findings of the fifth Spanish survey of fitness trends and identified the main trends in Spanish fitness sector for year 2021, as well as to compare its results with those got in the national and international surveys for 2020. Because of the current edition of the survey was carried out in an exceptional health situation by COVID-19, it was tried to identify its possible influence in its results. The survey was sent to 6230 professionals of the fitness sector and a total of 503 responses were collected (response rate 8.1 %). The more relevant trends for 2021year were: «exercise and weight loss», «employing certificate fitness professional», «personal training», «personal training in small groups» and «functional training». The top-20 trends in Spain for year 2021were very similar to those for year 2020 (17 coinciding trends), however with some remarkable changes in their positions, that could be explained by the COVID-19 effect. Differences are greater when trends are compared with worldwide survey (just 12 coinciding trends) with relevant differences in their positions. These findings confirm those ones found in previous editions showing rather stability in the trends in Spanish fitness sector and a progressive divergency with worldwide trends.