Worldwide Survey of Fitness Trends for 2012

In Brief LEARNING OBJECTIVES From this article, the reader should understand the following concepts: • The difference between a fad and a trend • Worldwide trends in the commercial, corporate, clinical (including medical fitness), and community health and fitness industry • Expert opinions about identified fitness trends for 2012 The annual ACSM’s Health & Fitness Journal® worldwide survey of health and fitness professionals, now in its sixth year, supported some previous trends, revealed two interesting new trends, and supported the removal of Pilates, balance training, and the stability ball as trends in the health and fitness industry after they dropped off the list from last year’s survey. Some trends that appeared in the top 20 last year did not make the list for 2012. There have been and perhaps always will be a number of attempts by profit and not-for-profit organizations to predict the future of the fitness industry in an effort to influence market direction. This ACSM investigation and analysis is much different in that it not only surveyed thousands of certified fitness professionals around the world but also sought out experts to comment on the results.