The fitness industry has boomed in recent years as companies in the sector have cashed in on the growing awareness of the benefits provided by living a healthy lifestyle.

That trend will undoubtedly continue for the foreseeable future as more technological innovations hit the fitness market.

With that in mind, we assess some of the fitness trends that will be worth monitoring during the remainder of the 2020s.

Wearable technology

Global sales of wearable devices are on track to smash through the $100 billion barrier as the technology continues to evolve rapidly.

Wearables are used to measure physical activity, sleep patterns, heart rate and are extremely useful in supporting structured physical training activities.

Products in the wearables category have been getting smaller in recent years and we anticipate this will continue during the rest of the 2020s.

Future wearables could become more hidden by adding a thin film inside existing jewellery to measure and report on key personal data.

Pre-workout supplementation

As highlighted by increasing amounts of research, pre workout and post workout supplementation to support regular physical activity has become increasingly prevalent over the past few years.

We expect this to continue apace over the next decade, particularly with a growing body of research reporting the benefits that can be gained from taking supplements.

Personalised supplementation will become more prevalent as an increasing number of people visit healthcare organisations to utilise full body screening programmes.

These provide a breakdown of elements such as vitamin and mineral deficiencies to allow healthcare professionals or dieticians to create personalised diet and supplement plans.

Sleep supplements

Another area where research supports the use of supplementation is sleep and adoption could become widespread over the next few years.

Some supplements have been found to play a key role in the rest and recovery process, which makes them ideal for anyone who partakes in regular physical activity.

Getting the requisite eight hours sleep is essential in supporting this, although not everyone enjoys the luxury of sleeping soundly at night.

Products such as cannabidiol (CBD), tart cherry juice and many others are increasingly being used as sleep supplements and this will continue over the next decade.

Plant-Based Nutrition

One of the biggest issues regarding supplementary products is public confusion over whether the ingredients the contain are actually beneficial to health.

Many sports nutrition products contain excessive amounts of sugar, while dosing of other key ingredients has also been called into question.

However, many of the top brands have started to address this situation by developing more products that contain plant-based ingredients.

As the research into the benefits of plant-based nutrition evolves, more companies will jump on the bandwagon and head down this route.

Fitness apps

It may seem strange to suggest that fitness apps are a future trend to watch given that the sector is on course to be worth more than $16.5 billion by the end of 2022.

The feeling remains that we have only just scratched the surface of fitness apps, and there could be some exciting future developments on the horizon.

Guided workout apps are starting to make big strides in the fitness sector, while social fitness apps are becoming increasingly popular.

Throw the growing number diet apps into the mix and it is easy to see why we think fitness apps remain a trend to watch.

Recovery equipment

The importance of rest and recovery to support training activities cannot be underestimated, regardless of the level of the individual athlete.

When people think about rest and recovery, they generally imagine someone flopping down on the couch or bed and putting their feet up.

However, the emergence of exercise recovery equipment products has taken a sledgehammer to that particular notion.

From vibrating rollers to massage guns and more, tons of new exercise recovery products are likely to hit the fitness sector over the next decade.

Exergaming

Exergaming (active video gaming) has progressed a long way since Nintendo first launched the Wii console back in 2006.

Games such as Ring Fit Adventure and Zumba: Burn It Up have fired exergaming into another stratosphere and more innovations are still to come.

Virtual reality (VR) technology could have a significant impact now the supporting hardware is finally living up to expectations.

Some leading fitness brands have invested significant resources into VR and it is expected to become commonplace in the industry over the next few years.

Hybrid gym membership

The growing prevalence of people undertaking remote fitness activities has forced traditional gyms to revamp their business models.

An increasing number of people no longer want to be tied to visiting land-based venues whenever they want to get their fitness fix.

This has led to fitness facilities across the world offering customers the opportunity to take out hybrid memberships.

We forecast this trend will continue, especially as home and remote fitness equipment becomes increasingly sophisticated.

Mental fitness

Health practitioners have long extolled the virtues about physical fitness playing an integral role in supporting positive mental health.

That point was recently hammered home by a Cambridge University study, which found that people who completed 150 minutes of physical activity each week were 25% less likely to have depression.

The study claims that one in nine depression cases may have been prevented if everybody in the global population was active at the level of current health recommendation.

On that basis, we anticipate that more fitness brands will incorporate mindfulness and mental fitness products and activities over the coming years.

The final word

The fitness industry has been one of the biggest success stories of the 21st century and its upward trajectory shows no signs of slowing down.

With research underpinning developments in several areas and technology continuing to advance, the next decade will be hugely exciting for the fitness sector.