WORLDWIDE SURVEY REVEALS FITNESS TRENDS FOR 2009

Abstract

A trend has been described as ‘‘a general development or change in a situation or in the way that people are behaving’’ (http://dictionary.cambridge.org). It would not be unusual, then, to see the same trends appearing for multiple years in a trends survey. After all, the definition of trend includes the phrase ‘‘general development’’ as opposed to ‘‘a fashion that is taken up with great enthusiasm for a brief period’’ which is the definition of a fad (http://dictionary.reference.com). For 3 years, the editors of ACSM’s Health & Fitness JournalA have developed a survey to determine trends in the fitness industry that might help to guide health and fitness programming efforts for the New Year. The first survey (1) conducted in 2006 was the initial effort to develop a systematic way to predict the future in the health and fitness industry for 2007. A second survey (2) followed for the year 2008. This third survey of trends in the commercial, clinical, community, and corporate health and fitness industries confirmed several of the trends revealed in previous surveys. Several of the trends first identified for 2007 have moved into the top 10, and some new trends appear to be emerging for 2009. Future surveys will either confirm these new trends, or they will fall short of making an impact on the health and fitness industry. This annual survey of trends is sometimes confused with estimating the impact of certain pieces of equipment or some new exercise device on the bottom line in for-profit clubs. These survey results do not evaluate equipment, gear, tools, apparatus, or other paraphernalia that may appear at clubs or during late-night infomercials. The survey was designed to confirm or to introduce trends (not fads) that have been sustained by having a proven impact on the industry. Readers of this survey can take this information and apply it to their own settings that include commercial health clubs (forprofit), community settings (not-for-profit), corporate wellness programs, and medical fitness centers (clinical programs). The benefit to commercial settings is the establishment (or justification) of new markets, resulting in increased and sustainable revenue. Community programs can use the results to continue to justify an investment in their unique market by providing sustainable programs serving families and youth. Corporate programs and medical fitness centers will find these results useful in providing increased service to their members and patients. There were 35 possible trends in the 2009 survey. The top 25 trends from the previous year were included in the survey as were some emerging trends identified for the past 2 years by the editors of ACSM’s Health & Fitness JournalA. The editors represent all four sectors of the health and fitness industry (corporate, clinical, community, and commercial) as well as members of academia. Once the potential trends were identified, short explanations were developed to offer the respondent some details