HIIT is either in or out for 2018, depending on who you ask. But mindful exercise, on-demand exercise and niche workouts (including boxing and kickboxing) are predicted to be hot trends for 2018, according to a variety of articles predicting the hottest health and fitness trends for 2018.
The American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) was one of the first organizations to weigh in on the topic. It surveyed 4,000 fitness professionals to arrive at its list of 2018's biggest fitness trends. In November, it said that high-intensity interval training (HIIT) would be the top fitness trend for the year. In fact, HIIT has ranked in ACSM's top three fitness trends for the past three years. However, the surveyed fitness professionals noted that clients stop doing HIIT after a short time. Other 2018 fitness trends, according to ACSM's survey, are included in this gallery.
ACSM's survey may have shown love for HIIT, but Outsideoneline.com asked a variety of fitness experts for their 2018 fitness predictions, and one of them predicted a cooling down of HIIT workouts in 2018. Andy Petranek, cofounder of the Whole Life Challenge, said about HIIT: "While it continues to be both a popular and effective way to train, many of the people who've been using it exclusively are starting to see missing holes that short, fast workouts don't fill. They're also starting to realize that throwing yourself as hard as you can against a wall isn't always required to get what you want, and it starts to hurt after a while."
Other experts shared in the article that they thought the popularity of niche workouts would continue (spurred by the ability to connect with similar enthusiasts online) and that recovery metrics will become even more important. One expert said that personalized exercise advice will need to "work harder to justify" its claims, while another expert said that training will become more personalized and gender specific. One expert even said that technology will cause exercise to become less relevant as people "spend a lot of time in pods."
The American Council on Exercise weighed in on eight trends it said will be hot in 2018. Those trends include growth in boxing and kickboxing workouts, a return to functional training, the practice of "mindful" exercise and a focus on how exercise can improve cognitive performance. The article also said that online streaming of fitness classes would become more prevalent.
Shape magazine's predictions for 15 fitness trends in 2018 were based on thoughts from Carol Scott, founder and president of ECA World Fitness, about hot workouts for the year. Scott shared a variety of group fitness classes that she said would be popular, including Pound, Animal Flow as well as general team-based workouts, pole workouts and Barre plus cardio fusion classes.
Pop Sugar also shared its predictions for fitness and health trends that will take center stage in 2018, including a growth in the popularity of collagen as a protein, plant-based diets and—repeating predictions from others—on-demand workouts and mindful workouts. If you haven't heard of CBD oil or maca, you will before the end of 2018, if Pop Sugar's predictions are correct.