The Exercise & Fitness Trends Everyone Will Be Talking About In 2023
It’s that time of year again. When we promise to make good on our new year’s resolutions to keep fit and work out regularly. It’s also the time of year when health professionals gather to unveil what they predict to be the most popular fitness trends of 2023.
“We are witnessing the resurgence of body weight management and functional strength. Individuals are trying new activities in nature such as hiking, backpacking, and off-road bicycling,” Lisa Cooper Colvin, Ph.D., FACSM, ACSM-EP, a Clinical Associate Professor at Texas A&M University in the Department of Kinesiology and Sports Management, tells SheKnows. “Although the past two years of on-and-off isolation have caused a recalibration of our physical activity ‘normal’, it is exciting to witness the intersection of technology, interpersonal connections, and community playing a critical and positive role in the evolution of fitness in the United States and around the world.”
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Of course no one has a crystal ball and not every trend is going to suit your fitness goals, but if you’re curious how you might want to shape up this year, here are some of the fitness trends of 2023.
Futuristic Wearable Technology
The future is tech. Think more fitness trackers, smart watches, and all sorts of devices, including VR, that can monitor heart rate, calories, sitting time, sleep and more. Cooper Colvin says data collected by these devices are “robust, applicable, and allow individuals to make informed decisions about their health and fitness status.”
Strength Training with Free Weight
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Getting strong with barbells, dumbbells and/or kettlebells is the name of the strength game in 2023. Since we’re not relying on our home equipment any longer to get us through the pandemic, it looks like people might want to continue to go hard with heavier equipment now more than ever.
Body Weight Training
Techniques that focus on body weight as the primary resistance continue to trend, probably because body weight training uses minimal equipment and space, and is an inexpensive and easy way to work out whether you’re traveling or working out in your living room.
Functional Fitness Training
Working out doesn’t have to be about losing weight or gaining strength. Functional fitness training, such as push-ups, squats, and lunges, help to improve balance, coordination, functional strength and endurance to improve activities of daily living, especially for older adults.
Outdoor activities that get your heart rate up
The pandemic pushed most of us outdoors to get active, and it looks like we’re staying outside. Activities like group walks, bicycle rides, hiking, or even landscaping and gardening are going to make exercising fun again. Who doesn’t love to burn some calories by pruning the rose bush?
High-Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) is still hip
Exercises that require high-intensity exercise combined with periods of rest are still popular. That’s right –you haven’t seen the last of the burpees. So if you’ve been going for low-impact exercises lately, like Pilates and yoga, expect to rev things up.
Ultimately, when it comes to these trends, Cooper Colvin says it’s important to have some self-reflection to decide where you start. “Ask yourself: what physical activity goals can I realistically achieve throughout the 2023 calendar year? How much time do I have?”
She recommends making an appointment with yourself to incorporate physical activity into your day and focusing on what type of physical activity truly makes you happy. “The hardest part of being physically active is to begin,” she says. “To start a walk, to take the stairs, to register for an event that you can work towards. Anything is possible….you just have to begin.”
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