By Lisa Leath Turpin
Here we are starting a new year and making new resolutions to encourage ourselves to strive to be the best version of ourselves. We’ve been through a lot the past four years, but I am ready more than ever to pump up my health and STRENGTH! It’s time to SOAR in 2024!
My recommendation to get started? Set short-term goals and make them specific. Write them out and put them in sight so you see them A LOT, like on the refrigerator, bathroom mirror or dash of your car. Perhaps, sign up for a Run/Walk as a motivator.
As you age, you might notice that it can be more challenging to keep your strength up. That’s the natural progression of our bodies; the only way to combat the decline is to do some type of strength training—use it or lose it! We have to use our muscles or they will get weak. Join a fitness class, hire a qualified personal trainer or grab a partner and hit the gym—anything to develop a consistent schedule. There will be days you don’t want to work out. But, the less you give in and carve time for it, the more you mentally train yourself to overcome. When you do, you learn how good you feel after, both mentally (proud) and physically.
So, what does 2024 look like for the fitness industry? The American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM), which sets the standards for the industry as a whole, conducts a study each year where they survey 3000 + health and fitness pros from every continent worldwide. Now in its 18th year, the “Worldwide Survey of Fitness Trends” has named wearable tech to be the number 1 trend for 2024, the same as in 2020. So, if you use your smartwatch or fitness tracker to track your exercise, heart rate, step count, calorie consumption or sleep quality, you are already hitting the top fitness trend. Personally, I love this trend, because it allows me to further customize performance and tracking for day-to-day physical activity for my clients and track progress over time.
This year’s survey provided 45 potential trends to choose from, including a new 2024 potential trend that acknowledges the bold return to in-person fitness, such as boutique fitness studios and subscription-based memberships.
Some of the top 5 trends for 2023 included fitness programs for older adults, functional fitness training and strength training. Notably, recent top previous trends as a result of quarantine mandates, such as online live exercise classes, fell out of the top 10 trends list in 2023. In spots 6-10 are employing certified exercise professionals, mobile exercise apps, exercise for mental health, youth athletic development and personal training. My favorite, personal training, seems to always remain a staple in the top 10 fitness trends and has since the survey’s beginning in 2007. The benefits include one-on-one training with fitness testing, goal setting and getting you on a customized program for your ongoing lifestyle.
To view the full list with the descriptions, visit journals.lww.com/acsm-healthfitness.
