Why Group Fitness Remains as Relevant as Ever

Group training has emerged on the scene among the “Top Ten Trends for 2018” by the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM), and it is wonderful to see this trend receive the attention it deserves.

While there are some who will assume this category of “group” refers to small group training, we cannot underestimate the contribution that group fitness is making. I am confident that other trend reports, from the U.S., Canada and abroad, will make similar predications when it comes to 2018 trends.

It was exactly 30 years ago that group fitness, or “exercise to music,” first emerged on the scene as a notable trend. It has evolved tremendously over the past three decades, from aerobics with celebrity instructor Jane Fonda in the early 1980s and step training inspired by Gin Miller in the 1990s, to today, where everything under the sun in group fitness exists.

Conference organizations and education companies starting with ACE, IDEA and SCW in the U.S., followed by Network and FitPro in Australia and the United Kingdom, and canfitpro in Canada, have played a pivotal role in equipping each nation’s fitness professionals with the quality of training and education, certification and standards that make the group fitness industry the mature industry and credible profession it is today.

It is my prediction group fitness will continue to positively impact our businesses for years to come. While change is inevitable, and the term “group fitness” may be different in your business, one thing is for certain in my mind: Training in a group is here to stay.

As we get further into 2018 and new fitness trends arise, consider those new trends — but don’t let group exercise fall to the wayside. If you do, you could lose a major cornerstone of your business.

As a personal side note, I am truly grateful for the opportunity to teach group fitness and am proud to be teaching a variety of group fitness programs to this day — 35 years stronger because of it.

Mo Hagan is vice president of program innovation for GoodLife Fitness and canfitpro.