Fitness Trends 2022: What Will Next Year’s Workouts Look Like?

Fitness trends come and go as quickly as the seasons, with new ways to work out popping up all the time. With the global pandemic causing gyms to lockdown in 2020 and 2021, the fitness industry has had a massive shakeup – from gyms like ourself offering free workout classes online, to Personal Trainers running bootcamps outside.

While gyms and classes are now back to normal in the UK, we wanted to see whether people are still searching for alternative ways to get fit, and whether this would lead to new fitness trends in 2022. We took over a hundred different fitness trends, from Zumba all the way to eye yoga, and analysed their monthly average search volumes in comparison to the same time period last year, to see which trends are on the rise, and which are on their way out.

The 20 Fastest Growing Global Fitness Trends Ahead of 2022

With over double (+234.25%) the amount of searches compared to last year, the weighted hula hoop is definitely one of the fitness trends gaining the most interest as we approach the New Year. Stroller fitness saw a 90.90% increase, suggesting busy mums and dads are looking for ways to keep fit while bonding with their babies, while beer yoga (+22.72%), which is the practice of drinking beer while practicing yoga as the name suggests, and trapeze classes (+38.88%), are some of the more unusual trends to make their way into the top 10. 

When it comes to working out body parts, the biggest increase in interest is targeting the glutes and back, with both having seen a +22.3% increase in searches since last year. If you’ve been searching for either, find some glute exercises here, while you can find back exercises here.

Top 20 Fitness Trends



1. Weighted Hula Hoop (+234.25%)

2. ZUU (+123.96%)

3. Stroller Fitness (+90.90%)

4. Reverse Running (+50.00%)

5. Trapeze Classes (+38.88%)

6. Aqua Spin (+24.13%)

7. Beer Yoga (+22.72%)

8. Cross Fit (+22.40%)

9. F45 (+22.38%)

10. CaniCross (+22.35%)

11. Glute Workout (+22.31%)

12. Short Workouts (+22.29%)

13. Jiu Jitsu (+22.28%)

14. Muay Thai (+22.28%)

15. Back Workout (+22.25%)

16. Boxercise (+22.22%)

17. Chair Dancing (+22.22%)

18. Indoor Surfing (+22.22%)

19. Jazzercise (+22.22%)

20. Plogging (+22.07)

Weighted Hula Hoops

TikTok is famous for a lot of things, and being responsible for starting a number of crazes is certainly one of them. In 2021 weighted hula hoops took centre stage on the app, with close to 200 million views alone under the hashtag #weightedhulahoop. While the hula hoops we all fondly remember swinging around our hips as children weigh less than half a kilogram, the weighted versions can be as heavy as 3kg and are said to help strengthen your core, improve posture and balance, strengthen your lower body muscles and improve your flexibility and cardiovascular health. With an enormous 234% increase in Google searches compared to last year, it looks like the interest in this trend will continue well into 2022.

ZUU

ZUU started out as a HIIT workout designed for the Elite Sports & Armed Forces in Australia and has since taken the fitness world by storm. ZUU uses movements inspired by animals, like bear crawls, frog squats, gorilla walks and donkey kicks, to work up a sweat. Commonly referred to as one of the most challenging workouts of the moment, the intensity and use of your own bodyweight results in increased cardiovascular endurance, functional strength and flexibility.

Stroller Fitness

Stroller fitness has been around for a while - it’s a great way for time-strapped parents to exercise while bonding with their baby, and it seems this form of fitness has been increasing in popularity again.

You can vary the intensity of the walk with the stroller, add in single or double arm chest presses by pushing the stroller away from and back to you, incorporate lunge walks and even work on some stretches while holding onto the stroller. It goes without saying that precautions need to be taken to ensure the safety of your child. There are even specialised strollers available for this activity, as not all types will provide a safe workout for you and your baby.

Reverse Running

Running backwards is another trend that isn’t by any means new, having first picked up popularity in the 80’s. With a 50% increase in monthly global searches since the end of 2020, there is clearly renewed interest in this activity. Some of the benefits of reverse running are said to include reduced impact on the knees, more calories burned vs traditional running, reduced imbalances between anterior and posterior muscles, and improved posture.

PureGym Loughborough based Personal Trainer and Running Coach Ian Scarrott (@iantriclub) says: “Although backwards running has a reduced impact on your joints and can be less intense on a cardiovascular level than ‘normal running’, I would question why you want to try reverse running before you hop on this trend.

Running forwards has the benefit of being able to see where you are going, keep an eye on metrics if you’re running on a treadmill, and you are much less likely to trip over. Even those well practised with backwards running risk major injuries!

If running is out of the question due to joint issues, I would advise swapping reverse running for other exercises which reduce the impact on your joints whilst improving your aerobic, lactate or creatine energy systems such as cycling, using the elliptical-trainer, ergo-ski machine, or rowing; all of these facilities are offered in PureGym, and if you’re unsure where to start why not try a spin class or speak to one of the personal trainers at your local club.”

Trapeze Classes

Aerial fitness found its way into mainstream exercise classes with a multitude of options for people interested in a different form of workout - pole fitness, aerial silks and aerial hoops are also popular methods. However, trapeze classes have seen the biggest increase in interest, with a 38.9% increase in global monthly Google searches vs last year. The trapeze is a great confidence builder and allows you to work on your strength, practice balance and improve body control and awareness, all while learning an artform that dates back to the mid-1800's.

Fitness Trends Which Are On Their Way Out

With very few new fitness trends staying at the top indefinitely, we also wanted to understand what trends are on their way out.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, in the year where life has slowly started to return to normal and people can exercise outside of their homes, interest in online workouts, virtual fitness challenges, and home workouts have massively declined.



1. Online Workouts (-64.19%)

2. Virtual Fitness Classes (-62.10%)

3. Virtual Fitness Challenges (-55.68%)

4. Everesting (-55.37%)

5. Bollywood Workout (-45.45%)

6. Home Workouts (-45.27%)

7. Mouth Workout (-45.27%)

8. Prancercise (-33.33%)

9. Jaw Workout (-33.33%)

10. Treadmill Running (-33.14%)

11. Fitness Challenge (-33.14%)

12. Kangaroo Jumping (-33.10%)

13. Workout Challenges (-33.05%)

14. Virtual Fitness (-31.57%)

15. Free Weight Training (-31.57%)

16. Outdoor Personal Trainer (-28.00%)

17. Barefoot Workouts (-19.23%)

18. Remote Personal Training (-18.75%)

19. Punk Rope (-18.75%)

20. Skipping Workout (-18.51%)

The 10 Fastest Growing Fitness Trends in the UK 2021

While it’s interesting to see what trends are rising globally, as a UK based gym we had to look at what trends are on the up in the UK.

While weighted hula hooping also took the top spot in the UK, there were some key differences in the top 10, with eye yoga (exactly what it sounds like, involving movements that strengthen the eye muscles) coming in second place, having seen an increase in searches of 129%, and dog yoga (yoga classes featuring puppies) also making it in the top 10.



1. Weighted Hula Hoop (+174.07%)

2. Eye Yoga (+128.57%)

3. Aqua Spin (+54.54%)

4. Aerial Yoga (+50.00%)

5. Boxercise (+24.13%)

6. CaniCross (+24.13%)

7. Bokwa (+23.07%)

8. Dog Yoga (+23.07%)

9. Jiu Jitsu (+22.35%)

10. Taekwondo (+22.35%)

We hope our findings have left you feeling inspired to get involved with a new (or old) fitness trend as we enter 2022. Whatever you choose, just make sure it's something you enjoy and makes you happy as well as healthy!

If you’re keen to switch up your workout routine but you’re not sure where to start, why not try one of our classes to see what piques your interest? We offer cardio, sculpt & tone, mind & body and functional classes at all of our PureGym locations, find your nearest gym here and find the class for you!

Methodology:

We compiled 105 different fitness trends by tracking any mentioned in news articles covering ‘fitness trends’ across 2019, 2020 and 2021. The trends were then analysed using Google Keyword Planner. The monthly worldwide Google search volumes in both October 2020 and October 2021 were taken, and the percentage increase/decrease for each trend was calculated to provide the final ranking.

Data correct as of November 2021.