Mindbody and ClassPass Dissect a Year of Fitness and Wellness Trends
According to research from Mindbody and ClassPass, fitness and wellness have only continued to influence consumer behavior over the past year. Nearly 80 percent of consumers told the companies that wellness is more important than ever, with wellness reservations on the platforms experiencing a 31 percent increase year-over-year, and fitness reservations increasing 64 percent from 2022.
“Every year, it’s always surprising to see the shift in how people are choosing to experience fitness and wellness,” said Ivy Wu, vice president of marketing at ClassPass. “In an ever-changing industry, it’s great to be able to see how some things change and how some things stay the same.”
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Over all other workouts, Pilates dominated as the most popular workout of the year — earning the achievement for the first time in the report’s history. Pilates had a 92 percent surge in reservations year-over-year, climbing up three ranks from 2022. Pilates was revealed as users’ most preferred first booking in 2023, which the authors of the report say makes it the “go-to workout” for people embarking on their wellness journey.
Wu called Pilates’ 2023 rise a resurgence, having taken the place of strength training, which had held the top spot for years. The conversation around Pilates, she said, was happening between ClassPass and its partners and customers throughout 2023, taking special notice when the “Pilates Girl” trend took over social media. Wu explained that the social media phenomenon highlighted what makes Pilates great including being “a great, low-impact workout that strengthens and tones the body while improving posture, focus and balance.”
“For it now to be proven as our top workout of 2023, it really shows how social media trends continue to influence our consumer bookings and how the wellness and fitness industry continues to evolve year-over-year,” Wu said.
Following Pilates, top workouts for 2023 were revealed to be yoga, strength training, cycling, barre, boxing, running, gym time, dance and low-impact training. Like Pilates, low-impact training saw a significant uptick in popularity, taking tenth place after gaining a 176 percent increase from 2022. Strength training was the most popular class to bring a friend to while the fastest-growing fitness class in 2023 was golf.
Notably, outdoor sports experienced an impressive surge with a 92 percent increase in sports and recreation bookings on the platforms. Skiing and snowboarding alone saw a 12,500 percent increase in bookings year-over-year. With 43 percent of consumers reporting that the “community aspect of sports played a pivotal role” the authors of the report said that the finding highlights the importance of connection in wellness and fitness experiences. More than a third of consumers said they are likely to choose wellness businesses that are well-known for their community-building activities.
“It was really surprising to see the increase in sports and recreation bookings this year,” Wu said. “This specific category has been around for a while on ClassPass, but it’s great to see the increase of people booking golf, tennis, football and more.”
Moreover, she said, with a rise in the popularity of activities like Pickleball and Padel, ClassPass is seeing sports have a big movement within the fitness and wellness space. “It’s encouraging to see our data support this trend as sports continue to be a great way to form community, stay active and get involved.”
Top 10 wellness reservations in 2023 for ClassPass were ranked as massage, nails, facial, sauna, meditation, hair styling, hair removal, sports recovery, lashes and brows. The authors of the report also revealed that the fastest-growing wellness reservation of the year was body scan appointments.
While January and February are typically the most popular months for consumers to book workouts, likely tied to New Year’s resolutions, ClassPass’ research found that in recent years there has also been an uptick during fall months (September and October) around the back-to-school season.
Looking ahead to 2024, Wu said with 2023 being great for fitness and wellness, especially in-person fitness and wellness, “this will continue to grow in 2024 and community-based wellness will continue to soar. While we really felt this during the pandemic, it’s clear now, more than ever, what these in-person experiences bring. This community-based experience will also start showing up in new or expanded ways in 2024 — you might see this with the increase of sports as fitness, more events at your salon or spa, or more community-based wellness centers.”
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