New year’s resolutions often focus on physical fitness. Now exercise enthusiasts can look to the latest trends to help them prepare for a fit 2025. Technology applications in the fitness industry continue to build momentum as wearable technology, mobile exercise apps and data-driven training technology all appear in the top 10 of the 2025 The American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) Worldwide Fitness Trends. The report was published the latest issue of ACSM’s Health & Fitness Journal.

Based on the annual survey of 2,000 clinicians, researchers and practitioners in the fitness industry, wearable technology was named the number one trend for 2025. The outcomes of this research provide valuable data for exercise enthusiasts and fitness professionals alike. “Digital technologies are becoming more critical to the way we design, deliver and evaluate health and fitness services,” says A’Naja Newsome, Ph.D., ACSM-certified exercise physiologist and co-author of 2025 ACSM Worldwide Fitness Trends: Future Directions of the Health and Fitness Industry. “Wearable devices, mobile apps and data-driven training methods will create opportunities for elevating fitness experiences.”

Mobile exercise apps was one of the fastest risers on the trends list. In 2023, there were 850 million fitness app downloads by nearly 370 million users. This popularity, along with complementing wearable technology, may have fueled the quick rise up the list.

Data-driven training technology made a significant jump in 2025. Benefits include better understanding of the physiological responses to an exercise stimulus in real time, individualized coaching and instruction, even in a group setting where there may be various fitness levels, and the use of biofeedback (sleep and heart rate variability) as critical components of training and recovery. Exercise professionals can use real-time data to tailor daily exercise sessions to account for acute and chronic conditions, which increases the safety of exercise for special populations.

“Individuals desire instant feedback on their training so they can adjust or modify to maximize outcomes and reduce injury,” explains Newsome. “We are seeing this in individualized programming and in group-based classes.”

In addition to digital technology, training modalities and fitness programming, exercise programs for older adults, exercise for weight loss and exercise for mental health reflect strong trends toward programs designed for specific needs and populations. Training modality trends were represented by traditional strength training, high-intensity interval training (HIIT) and functional fitness training. Only health and wellness coaching was not included in the three dominant categories of digital technology, training modalities and targeted programs.

Top 10 trends for 2025

1. Wearable Technology

2. Mobile Exercise Applications (Apps) 

3. Fitness Programs for Older Adults

4. Exercise for Weight Loss

5. Traditional Strength Training

6. High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT)

7. Data-driven Training Technology

8. Exercise for Mental Health

9. Functional Fitness Training

10. Health/Wellness Coaching

Paul Branks is the chief communications officer of The American College of Sports Medicine. For more information, visit acsm.org/trends.