Group fitness classes like SoulCycle, mindful boxing, and HIIT dominated 2019. In 2020, the community-focused fitness trend will continue, and be enhanced by new technologies.
Innovations in sensors, biology, and physiology have ramped up in recent years. Where computers were once focused primarily on what was happening on the screen, they are increasingly involved with measuring and affecting the physical world too.
In 2020, that will have major implications on how we workout, and how effective those workouts are at keeping us fit and healthy.
Pre-Workout Chemistry - Preworkout supplements containing instant energy boosters like creatine, beta alanine, and L-Citrulline are already popular, but 2020 is the year they’ll really take off. Some fitness studios like Health House offer ice-cold liquid pre-workouts to all students before class.
Functional Training - Functional training is kind of like the practical version of bodybuilding—instead of looks being the ultimate goal, it’s the functional capacity of your entire body. That doesn’t just mean muscles, it means tendons, ligaments, skin, joints, bones, and of course your brain. It uses pragmatic, “realistic” exercises like pushing, pulling, rotating, carrying, and gait patterns to give you a more natural and healthy body.
DNA Optimization - Consumer genetics began with discovering your ethnicity through 23andMe, but now they’re all about optimizing for fitness. A wave of new startups like DNAFit and Kinetic Diagnostics has popped up offering blood tests designed to tell you exactly the right workouts for your genetic makeup.
Wearable Integration - Imagine workout classes where everyone has personal Fitbits that sync with the instructor’s? That’s exactly where workout wearables are headed. 2020 will see a whole new level of biorhythmic sensor integration into fitness, particularly with new products like Garmin Vivosmart and WHOOP gunning to become the go-to wearable for group classes.
Interestingly, just as technology is about to become an even more central focus point of fitness in 2020, the opposite is also true, with mindful and phone-free workouts also reaching new heights. The future belongs to the entrepreneur who can synchronize them both.
