As we finish up yet another Covid year, we continue to see how it has changed the fitness space. More people were working out at home, online training blew up, and I’d like to think Covid made a lot of people at least a little more aware of how important taking care of their health is. So what trends do we expect coming in 2022?
Online/ At Home Training
I think online training will continue to grow. With work from home, and people switching remote full time now really becoming the accepted norm, people will have more control of their schedules, and thus be open to new things. I think gyms will open back up and get busier again, but I think people will double down more on their at home convenience, and start to have everything come to them. Whether that’s buying programs online, riding a Peloton bike, or having their trainer now come to their house, I think people will want to manage their time more effectively to keep these new habits they’ve built over the last year.
Being Outside More
We saw with Covid, more families taking trips more locally versus flying. I think this will encourage more outdoor activities and exploration. I know golf was probably the most picked up sport during the last year, and here on the west coast, definitely came a huge influx of new surfers. After people took advantage of building new hobbies, and taking new trips over the last year or two, I think it has helped people also incorporate way more movement into their life.
The hardest part of starting any new habit is just that - starting it. Now that people have gotten over that hump, they will find more excuses to keep the momentum going versus letting it get away from them. This may mean choosing family trips where they can hike more, or going to locations that allow for way more outdoor activities.
Wearable Tech
With the momentum of the above two trends, I think people will also become more into tracking their health. If you’ve taken the time to engage in healthy activities and pursue a fitness oriented life, chances are, you don’t want to be someone that ends up at the hospital because of a weakened immune system. Wearables these days track so much more than they used to. People can use it to track their sleep quality, calorie expenditure, step tracking, being mindful, and even irregular heartbeats. While it will most likely make some individuals overly obsessive, I think it will continue to bring awareness to their health and wellbeing.
Biohacking and Recovery
We’ve all heard of cryotherapy, and some of you may even have heard of biohacking. I think for the last 4-5 years it’s stayed as this on the fringe concept that was hard to get people to buy into. Mostly because it involves using advanced tech no one has ever seen before, and don’t fully understand the benefits. As more places open up, and the pricing gets more affordable, I think we are going to see a lot more people take advantage of the recovery side of their health. We can all find a way to get to the gym. But what about afterwards when you are all beaten up? Some people have had chronic injuries that have persisted for YEARS with no solution. Biohacking facilities like Upgrade Labs, that have red light saunas, cryotherapy, ozone therapy, and other advanced tools, will become the standard for people to start including into their workout routine so that they can recover in half the time, which will fuel both their workouts, and their quality of life.
It’s easy to work yourself down to the bone. What are you doing to mitigate that stress and bring the cortisol back down? I think we will see a huge jump in 2022 when people realize how much they benefit from focusing on recovery more than intensity.
