Wellness & Fitness Trends for 2025
“New year, new you” is a slogan that, frankly, is getting old.
Every year a substantial number of Americans resolve to get rich, to get thin and, especially, to get fit, just as they did last year and the year before that. Yet for all the predictability of this ritual, there have been changes over the years that indicate new directions in which that fitness quest is moving.
That is not to say, however, that today’s trends represent a complete break with the past. Pilates, a strength and flexibility program, was the most popular workout in 2023 and 2024, based on class enrollment figures, and shows no signs of leveling off. In particular, the more strenuous version, reformer pilates, which is done with a “reformer” machine, is what is taking off, according to Athletic Director Dori Ricci of the Jewish Community Center of the Jersey Shore.
While the approximately 50 moves have not changed much since the formalization of the program early last century, it owes much of its current popularity to its accommodation of several other distinct trends in the fitness world as well as in 21st century society at large.
It is hard to say to what extent the distancing effect of electronics is responsible for a craving for in-person social connection, which is growing throughout the population. Certainly the pandemic may have had a hand. At the same time, the increasing comfort with which all sectors of society approach social media, which, when not replacing personal contact, can support it, allows participants to create their own communities.
Pilates, as just one example, has a wide-ranging social media presence, which both maintains the engagement of its participants and encourages its expansion.
And pilates is not alone. Beginning in 2024, participation in group and community activities has been significantly increasing, from “fun fitness,” ranging from less strenuous and more social activities such as trampolining, to competitive fitness, such as ZUU, an Australian variation of high intensity interval training, CrossFit and Hyrox, which alone has seen an increase of close to 25%. Both walking club and running club membership has increased by over 50%, while Google searches for international marathons have increased by an order of magnitude.
Then there is the feminization of everything. We barely register the presence of women in any and every workplace, and there are indications that the gaps between men’s and women’s behaviors in most other areas are also narrowing, and not only in a good way—in both alcohol abuse, according to the National Institutes of Health, and tobacco use, according to the American Lung Association, the incidence among women is approaching that of men.
On a happier note, women’s fitness activities are also approaching those of men. The American College of Sports Medicine ranks weight-training as the fastest growing fitness activity among women in 2024. At the same time, what have been traditionally seen as women’s activities are now attracting men. Google “pilates” and “women” and the entire feed will be filled with posts that say it is equally for men by men.
Feminizing men’s activities seems to act as an overall equalizer when it comes to programs that were once entirely segregated by sex.
It is not only women, however, who are accounting for a larger proportion of active adults. Seniors, from early new retirees to the “old elderly” of 75 years and above, are driving a number of fitness trends.
“People are living longer,” said Esther Fendrick, Director of Adult Enrichment and Engagement at the JCC of Middlesex County, “and they are more health conscious.”
The JCC has seen a large influx of recent retirees, and has revamped its program to cater to both the younger and the older segments of its cohort. Thus, while such classes as chair pilates and tai chi continue to be offered, line-dancing and low-impact aerobics have been added.
“This JCC gives them an opportunity to keep exercising in a safe environment with a social component,” she added. Offering fitness opportunities to seniors is part of the larger trend toward inclusivity, which also serves the disabled, those with special needs and those of all body types and abilities.
The needs of seniors are fueling other fitness trends. Functional fitness classes are designed to develop and train muscles to work together to perform the ordinary tasks of daily living. The exercises are aimed at improving strength, balance, coordination and flexibility.
Overall wellness is another growing fitness approach. It addresses general health, wellness and fitness as a whole.
“‘Live well at the JCC’ takes a holistic approach,” Fendrick said. “There is a lecture component that takes place throughout the year on things like foot pain, posture, Medicare and getting a good night’s sleep,” she said.
The JCC at the Jersey Shore caters largely to seniors, who are drawn to its pool. “Seniors really like the different aquatic programs,” said Ricci, “like strength training, tai chi and cardio in the water.”
Seniors in particular are looking for “one-stop wellness shops.” What seniors are demanding due to decreased mobility younger people seek to utilize due to lack of time. Expect to see more of them as the year progresses.
As technology affects other trends, its ubiquity demonstrates that it is a trend in itself.
“Almost everyone has a fitness watch,” Ricci pointed out. And technological capabilities are growing fast. By crunching data gleaned from various electronic devices, artificial intelligence can create a personalized health and exercise plan.
If by “devices” you think the data comes just from Apple watches, you are already behind the curve. With smart scales, body scan technology and other more sophisticated wearables, fat percentages, metabolic rates and BMI (body mass index) analyses can be added to what now seems to be basic fitness tracker data to come up with a plan that can offer meal plans with complete recipes and even shopping lists in addition to customized workouts. Using motion-capture technology and Bluetooth, AI can provide an interactive, real-time coach.
There are two weak rungs on this ladder to electronic Nirvana: accuracy and privacy.
Not only must your devices accurately measure what they purport to measure, but the algorithm must be bug-free and the artificial intelligence honest. Because no one knows exactly how machine learning actually works, the problem of AI hallucinations (i.e., lies, not to put too fine a point on it) is not really soluble without an external means of checking. So far.
Since all the data is transferred by Bluetooth at some stage and stored on the servers of the respective apps, securing that data is another problem that should be addressed before relying on AI fitness and wellness programs to the exclusion of other more old-fashioned aids. Again, so far; but stay tuned. As fast as new technology is emerging, the older technology is being debugged. 2025 looks to be becoming a banner year.
From more of the same to a brave new world, from everyday functionality to competitive fitness, from body positivity to line-dancing, the trends in 2025 are toward variety, inclusion, novelty and social connection. There is something new (or old) for everyone.
MORE INFO
JCC of the Jersey Shore
jccjerseyshore.org
100 Grant Avenue
Deal, NJ 07723
732-531-9100
JCC of Middlesex County
jccmc.org
1775 Oak Tree Road
Edison, NJ 08820
732-494-3232
This JCC is in the same complex as a YMCA and shares programming: belonging to one is belonging to the other
Monmouth County Park System
monmouthcountyparks.com
732-842-4000, ext. 4312
The above phone number will get you a printed guide, also available as a pdf on the website, of close to 100 pages of activities, many fitness or wellness related, held at any one of the over forty properties in the system.
Sue Kleinberg is a contributing writer to Jlife Magazine.
