The top wellness trend in 2021 will be air purification followed by mental wellness and virtual training, according to wellness consultancy and management firm WTS International.
The top trends are based on conversations with the firm’s directors, service providers and industry experts.
Air purification came in as the top trend as consumers will expect businesses, including gyms, to have air filtration systems in place. Business operators can use those systems in marketing to entice customers.
Mental wellness is the No. 2 trend with gyms offering more holistic classes and with wearables offering more options to track stress reduction efforts.
The third top trend is virtual training, as stay-at-home orders due to COVID-19 caused many gyms to pivot to online training, which many have continued even as states reopened.
The fourth top trend is circadian health. This trend moves beyond just tracking sleep hours to looking at things like filtering out blue light and devices that not only track sleep but also can dim lights, adjust the room temperature and recommend how to wind down, among other options.
The fifth trend is lymphatic health, which is already a focus of massages but could lead to more exercise programs that focus on draining the lymphatic system.
A renewed interest in nature is the sixth trend with a focus on outdoor exercise and travel.
Real estate design will put an emphasis on wellness communities, which is the seventh trend noted by WTS International. That means a bigger focus on providing fresh air, meditation domes, juice bars and getting back to nature.
The eighth wellness trend focuses on virtual care with telemedicine options and with the expansion of wearables from just tracking activities to sharing health data with doctors and helping to set goals.
The ninth trend involves healthy boosts that include adaptogens, which are natural substances with medicinal properties, and CBD. These might be mixed into drinks or topical treatments to help with sleep, stress and even anxiety and pain.
The last trend is post-pandemic behavior, which includes more companies allowing employees to work from home, more virtual meetings instead of in-person meetings that require travel, and growth in corporate wellness. In addition, WTS International predicts people will seek out more immunity-related products and services that will help them fight off illness and viruses.
For more details about each trend, go here.