New Year's and 2022 are around the corner, and it's time to start thinking on moving on, leaving 2021 behind and putting our vision on the upcoming year. The fitness industry has overfaced quite a lot of problems this past year, but one thing is clear. The emerging interest for our health and wellness has put fitness at the top of our priorities. But what will be the main fitness trends in 2022?
With always place for innovation and change, the fitness industry face a new year, new challenge. In this article we look forward for the upcoming year, and the fitness trends that will rule 2022.
Back to 2021: What Happended Last Year?
Last year was for sure not the best year for most of us. With Coronavirus still around, the world has faced various lockdowns, restrictions and fear that limited our lifestyle. But the Fitness Industry has known how to empower the situation and increase its value.
If one thing is clear from these past years is the importance of our health and fitness. And that's something we are starting to put on the top of our priority list nowadays. Going to the supermarket and buying protein powder or making your own home gym was simply unthinkible a few years back in time. But now, everyone cares a bit more about their health, nutrition and lifestyle.
Training in 2021
The way we trained in 2021 slightly changed. HIIT workouts and functional training were for sure the kings of all, looking, again, for a more complete and healthy workout than simply looking after a nice physique. Once again, we go back to the importance of our health and fitness. With these protocols, one is able to work on their strength and power while still achieving the aerobic and metabolic training to bring freshness to their bodies.
Moreover, Crossfit was a big hit as well. Coming as one of the main emerging disciplines, it has definitely established as a main force of strength and power training. Training by WODs (Workout Of the Day), crossfit implements both the aerobic and anaerobic trainings, looking, once again, for a complete and functional body.
Nutrition and Health in 2021
Nutrition, as every year, is a controversial topic to discuss. Undefined diets, 'gurus' claiming to have the perfect protocol, and a lot of unconclusive research has made nutrition a debatable field in 2021.
But, if we have to highlight one thing, that is intermittent fasting. Being the most practiced protocol, intermittent fasting puts the focus on improving our metabolic health by restricting eating periods. In obese subjects, it has shown to improve metabolic diseases (study) and help them lose weight.
Chrononutrition and evolutionary nutrition, both face-to-face with intermittent fasting have gained quite a lot of importance this past year as well. Different concepts, but a common origin: how we were ages ago, and how the industrial revolution and human-made history has disturbed our biology.
Fitness Trends in 2022 - What will happen?
But now 2021 is almost over, and it's time to look ahead and start thinking about the upcoming year, 2022. What does fitness have to bring us, and what will be the fitness trends in 2022?
Wearable Health-Tracking Devices
These devices have been out on the market for a few years already, but it's now when they'll start having the impact they claimed to have years ago.
Technologies are advancing and improving like crazy, and customers are noticing. Now, with these devices, health is closer than ever. You'll be able to get your heart rate and blood glucose at anytime. Not only that, but wearable tracking devices can also provide you with easy information about your sleep quality, sleep cycles, stress levels, body temperature,...
It is for sure true that, with these devices, health and wellness is closer and easier than ever, and we have all information we need to keep us healthy on our hand (or wrist).
Smart Home Gym Technologies
The idea of having a home gym and being able to train from their home place is being liked by more and more people each year. And, now, with the pandemic and uncertain future of social life and opening dates, home workouts are exploding.
Technologies like Tonal track your trainings and guide you through different exercise as a real personal trainer. The device itself mimics a real gym, making training from home a real option. And like Tonal, a long list of devices already on the market or waiting to be released.
The future of fitness and health is here. Bring exercise and physical activity to your home. Practice with your family and spend great times together.
Outdoors Exercise
The pandemic and series of lockdowns we have witnessed has created the need and desire of spending more time outdoors. And this will have an impact on the way we face and think of 'fitness' and physical activity.
In 2022, we'll see many more running crews, people jogging together, and team sports training outdoors. Beach, green areas, residential neighborhoods, exercise parks. A new environment full of new vibes and fitness.
Low-impact Fitness
As one of our main goals of following a healthy and active life is to try improve our lifespan and become older still feeling young.
Believe or not, some traditional exercise discipline are, to some extent, harsh on our body. Finding alternatives that are not that harsh on us but still strengthen our physique is gaining followers lately. And it will continue in 2022.
As one of the big fitness trends in 2022, low-impact training will be a great alternative to those that only want to stay active and healthy, with no goals on performance or competition level.
Functional Strength Training
People is losing interest on strength and huge dudes lifting tons. Instead, they are now looking after a functional complete workout to train both their strength, but other aspects of their motor and muscle system as well.
Looking over the fence, functional strength training will look after strength while combining functional mobility, body composition and aerobic performance.
Functional strength training focuses on training exercises involving more than one muscle at the time. The practice of this exercises, as they report, will make your daily actions easier to be performed.
Connection Mind-Body
If there's something the pandemic has taught us, is the importance of having good mental health and staying tempered when the storm is getting close.
In 2022, the importance of mind-body connection will rise tremendously. As years move on, there's more research reporting the influence of mental health and psychology in our life, being one of the main causes of a lot of diseases, and, unfortunately, deaths.
Fitness is a great way of achieving the mind-body connections we are looking for. What's better than connecting your mind and body through muscle contractions and loads of adrenaline and dopamine running through your body?!
Genetic Nutrition
Based on the principle of Epigenetics, our genes do determine how we absorb, digest, and utilize each macronutrient and micronutrient in our metabolism. And, inversely, our diet and environmental factors do affect our gene expression and genome as well.
Molecular biology technolgies have exploded since 00's, and we are now able to know and investigate much more about our genome than ever before. In 2022 and upcoming years, nutrition will be planned based on our genes and needs to have the correct and desired gene expression.
Not only that, but knowing our genes and the extent at which these are expressed, we can plan a nutrition program much more specific to us to improve performance, prevent diseases or simply to stay healthy.
Lifespan Nutrition
In the top of our priorities is to solve how to increase our lifespan. And nutrition may play a big role on that.
Researchers such as David Sinclair are putting a lot of effort on discovering what it is that is responsible of our aging and eventual death. According to his research, diets are also being planned to try improve lifespan.
In 2022, foods claiming to help you improving the aging process will be the trend. Antioxidant effect, nutritional index, vitamin B and antiinflammatory potential will be to the order of the date.
“Flavor Meets Function” Mentality
"Tasty" and "Healthy" food never have come across. And, for those that enjoy tasty meals and love cooking, this has always been a real struggle.
Now, a new current is coming in hot. As previous diets such as IIFYM or a simple flexible diet were already doing, new trends will finally meet flavor and function.
The function and benefits of each food is for sure important. If fucntion and flavor are connected together, we will now enjoy a tasty meal that is good for us. No shame, no guilty feelings, and an enjoyable and tasty meal.
Nutrition Blood Analysis
If you wanted a blood test, you had to go to your physician and request one, or go to a private healthcare company to book one. What if that is now different?
Normal blood analysis are constrained to regular and basic plasma levels. But these don't include mineral and vitamin levels, nor other molecules such as gluten. So, if you wanted to know these ones mentioned, you needed to book an specialized and more complex (and expensive) blood analysis.
But this is now changing. Companies are developing home blood tests to check your vitamins, minerals and optimize your nutrition based on the results. As the future of nutrition, you'll now be able to know exactly where you are deficient and change your nutrition to increase the levels and avoid health consequences.
Fasting Mimicking Diet
As intermittent fasting or the 'keto' diet did years ago, the 'Fasting Mimicking Diet' has the potential of becoming the trend in 2022.
Preached by the Dr. Valter Longo, the 'Fasting Mimicking Diet', also called 'Longevity Diet', is low in proteins and sugars, and rich in healthy fats and plant-based foods.
Claiming to increase your lifespan and health, Dr.Valter Longo explains on his book (click HERE) how this diet can help you improving your metabolism and health.
CONCLUSION
This year is coming to its end, and it's now time to start looking ahead and slowly shifting to a new year, 2022.
In this post, we have reviewed the fitness trends in 2022, with the highest potential to become popular and followed by many. Now it's time to wait and see how the year proceeds, and which ones really become a real trend.
