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From wearable technology to functional training, here are this year’s top 10 fitness trends — straight from the ACSM (American College of Sports Medicine) 13th annual survey. 

1️⃣  Wearable Technology

2️⃣  Group Training⠀

3️⃣  HIIT (High-Intensity Interval Training)

4️⃣  Fitness Programs for Older Adults

5️⃣  Body Weight Training

6️⃣  Educated, Certified & Experienced Fitness Professionals

7️⃣  Yoga

8️⃣  Personal Training

9️⃣  Functional Fitness Training

🔟  Exercise is Medicine®

Based on these findings, our Personal Training programs at Swedish Institute are right on point.

Explains Vincent Metzo, Dean of our Advanced Personal Training program ⬇️

✴️ “ Group training & interval training have been in the Top 3 for the past two years, but here at Swedish, we’ve been teaching them since the inception of our program.  ⠀

Our courses include an SGPT (Small Group Personal Training) module, where students must design, program & implement their own group classes. They then take modules that teach them the specific tools — i.e., Kettlebells, Suspension Training (TRX) & Sandbag Training (DVRT Ultimate Sandbags).⠀

We then focus on interval style training in our Program Design & Advanced Resistance Training Courses, where they learn different methods for manipulating work-to-rest ratios with appropriate intensity to target specific energy systems.

The key is teaching our students to understand proper programming that is customized to each individual and to special populations, such as creating age-appropriate fitness programs to keep older adults healthy & active.  Our students also receive continuing education specialty certificates from Kettlebell Concepts & TRX which make them even more employable after graduation.

If you take a look at #6 + #8 in this year’s Top 10 Trends ⬆️, you’ll see that the key take-away again this year has actually been a recurring theme for the past decade: which is that with the growing emphasis on increased physical activity, more people are preparing for careers in allied health fields like personal training. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, employment of fitness trainers & instructors is projected to grow by 10% from 2016 to 2026 — that’s faster than the average for all occupations.

That being said, hiring health/fitness professionals who have proper credentialing and who have completed extensive education & training through an accredited program like our program at Swedish Institute is more important than ever.  Any self-proclaimed #fitnessguru can make another self-proclaimed #gymrat break a sweat, but a properly-trained Personal Trainer is skilled in programming in a way that is specific to the needs & goals of a squad, group, or individual.⠀

We’ve intentionally created a program that not only covers all of the bases in terms of the knowledge, skills and abilities of doing the work, but also teaches entrepreneurship and how to be a life coach, a health coach, a wellness coach.

Because while trends come and go, our mission here at Swedish Institute remains footed in the fundamental understanding of what it all comes down to, which is our motto:

~ Mens Sana In Corpora Sano ~ ⠀

A sound mind in a sound body ☯️

— Vincent Metzo, MA, LMT, CSCS, Dean of Advanced Personal Training at Swedish Institute

If you’ve wondered about how you can turn your passion for fitness into a career coaching and training others, contact us to attend our next Q&A where you can hear the true stories of our remarkable alumni who changed their lives with a single decision to attend Swedish Institute — like Sultan Malik, Personal Training (featured in the photograph above).