Fitness Trends Survey Gives Short Shrift to Mental Health

Jan 3

American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) recently announced the Top 10 fitness trends for 2023, based on its international survey of fitness professionals, who were asked to rate specific trends on a scale of 1-10. The findings are ho-hum:

Wearable Technology
Strength Training with Free Weights
Body Weight Training
Fitness Programs for Older Adults
Functional Fitness Training
Outdoor Activities
High Intensity Interval Training
Exercise for Weight Loss
Employing Certified Fitness Professionals
Personal Training

The survey* included almost 3,000 respondents from the US.

Conspicuous Absence of Mental Health

Exercise for Weight Loss is a high-ranking trend, as we'd expect. But, despite a global movement to raise awareness about mental health at a time when mental ill-health and deaths of despair are reported to be at all time peaks, Exercise for Mental Health apparently wasn't even listed as a possible trend for respondents to rate — an inexplicable omission by ACSM, especially as physical activity is ubiquitously cited as a building block of emotional well-being. Less unexpected: Exercise for Brain Health also is omitted, despite the fact that evidence links physical activity — more than any other behavior — as a moderator of risk for age-related cognitive decline and dementia. Generally, wellbeing leaders haven't given brain health the attention it warrants, but this undoubtedly will change as the prevalence of dementia and Alzheimer's disease increases in coming years.

The 1990s Called. It Wants Its BMI Charts Back.

Hey, ACSM... Exercise is good for cardiovascular health, physical functioning, and (you'd have us believe) weight management. We get it. But it's time to grow. Why not join the global public health movement — play a leadership role, even — to support emotional wellbeing and brain health? Including them in your survey — especially as you already list more esoteric possibilities — would be a start.

*ACSM's article in its Health and Fitness Journal describes the survey instrument as including "42 possible trends," which we may interpret to mean that respondents were asked to rate a provided list of possible trends — actually 42 - 51, depending on each country's survey customizations. The full list of trends in the US survey apparently isn't published (I've reached out to ACSM to double-check), but the 51 trends listed in Mexico's report seem to be exhaustive, and the various analyses for each country, with year-over-year comparisons and listings of the top 20 and the least popular trends — yield clues about all the potential trends that were included.