Major Trends for 2012

Well everyone — you better start building larger group fitness rooms because group fitness is on the rise and out of control!

Group fitness usage is up as much as 10 percent. So, here are your 2012 trends:

Zumba is not going anywhere and neither are the participants — so make room. I have had to organize a single file standing line while participants are waiting for class to start, and 130 participants is not out of the ordinary. As a result, these people are spilling over into other Group X classes as well. Body Pump, Cycle and even Yoga are on the rise. However, Zumba and Les Mills are ruling the roost right now.

Let’s take a look at some other hot trends: If you are willing to take on the expense and the management, Kangoo Jumps is nothing to sneeze at. Why? Because it’s so much fun! What else do you need?

Take a look at all of the wonderful group fitness tracking systems out there. Two to keep an eye out for are Polar and My Zone — each track participants’ success during class. This allows you to keep the participants in check and working harder — thus, giving them more success in their workouts. Sooner or later we are just going to have to start hanging all the training equipment, bars, TRX and other fun stuff from the ceilings as we work to turn our group fitness environments not into “small group training” arenas, but rather “large group training” arenas.

There’s a lot of fun stuff out there. The cycles are hard to choose from, so look for bikes with monitors showing RPM and heart rate for participants. Take a chance on the Real Ryder. Why? Because it’s fun! Don’t forget, last but not least — make sure your group fitness program is original and authentic — brand some of your own programs to complete your differentiation. Finally, if you don’t have a stage, build it! Ready! Set! Go! Pack ’em in!

Lori Lowell is the President of Group Fitness Solutions, LLC, and owns 8 Fitness Facilities in Virginia and Wisconsin. Contact her at lori@groupfitnesssolutions.com.