Campus rec directors from around the nation share what fitness trends they’ve been seeing — like strength training and group fitness — the past five years and how you can capitalize on them.
The fitness industry is always growing. New trends pop up every day, and it can be hard to know which ones to implement. We spoke with campus rec directors from four different universities and asked their advice on capitalizing on the most popular trends they’ve seen in the past five years.
Strength Training
One of the most popular fitness trends in recent years these campuses have seen is strength training. Todd Robben, the director of Campus Recreation and Wellness at Saint Louis University, said he’s seeing fewer students waiting on cardio equipment and more waiting on strength training equipment. When they noticed this, they switched their focus from renovating the cardio space to adding more strength equipment.
Robben equates part of the rise in popularity to social media and its accessibility. “I think more people are being educated on strength training, introduced to it at an earlier age and are being influenced through social media,” he said.
Max Miller, the assistant athletic director for Recreation, Wellness and Physical Education at Swarthmore College, also thanks social media for the popularity of strength training. “Social media platforms, podcasts and YouTube provide accessible information and workout routines, leading to a more inclusive approach to education about strength training,” he said. “It’s crucial for those gravitating to digital resources to understand that even though they are informative, they lack personalized feedback.”
To help give students and members feedback they may be missing out on, Miller’s department prioritized adding strength training education alongside equipment. They partnered with Matrix Fitness to reorganize the fitness center to shift their focus from cardio to strength equipment. They also organized a training workshop at their college called the Sprint 8 Instructor Training workshop. This helps trainees improve their speed and endurance, ultimately benefiting their daily strength training.
Miller’s department also developed a personal training program with student-certified personal trainers. Within this program, students and faculty can learn about safe training techniques to use in their strength training.
Group Fitness
Group fitness classes and workshops are another increasingly popular trend in campus rec. Sydney O’Rourke, the coordinator of Fitness Programs at Towson University, said low impact strength training classes have been trending on social media. Students are becoming increasingly interested in classes like barre, Pilates and yoga.
“I think the COVID-19 pandemic was just the start of these formats sharply rising in popularity,” said O’Rourke. “These formats were accessible on YouTube and required little to no equipment, and I think people started to realize that high intensity workouts or lifting heavy weights in the gym weren’t the only ways to move your body.”
O’Rourke’s department offers four Pilates classes and since the start of the semester they’ve had over 700 students register. Students are craving a sense of community, and O’Rourke said group fitness provides that. It can be difficult to find certified instructors for Pilates courses, so she suggests offering a simple sculpt format which only requires a general group fitness certification. She also recommends ensuring a safe class with distinct sections for a warm up and cool down.
Robben said they’ve also been able to cultivate community through simply listening to the members. When a fraternity asked him to host a competition in the recreation space, he kept an open mind. He agreed despite his concerns, allowing the students to host the event in a safe and healthy community.
“I would much rather see our students cheering on and congratulating one another for meeting a fitness goal, as opposed to how quickly they can consume alcohol,” said Robben.
Listening to students is also vital for learning about current wants and needs. Robben said students will often make specific equipment requests for things like Olympic bars and Strongman sandbags. “The disbelief and pure excitement from the students when we said yes really surprised me,” he said. “Something I would consider to be a small gesture made such an impact on the student’s experience and the pursuit of their fitness goals.”
Transforming Underutilized Space
Lastly, another trend is converting underutilized space into something more useful. Katie Burns, the associate director of Campus Recreation at Utah State University, said her department is in the process of converting two of their indoor courts.
“At Utah State we are exploring converting two of our courts into Wallyball courts,” said Burns. “The nice thing about this conversion is it allows both sports to be played but also allows us to offer activities in spaces that are typically empty during peak usage times.”
They’ve tried offering yoga and meditation classes in the rooms and are actively searching for new ideas. Burns shared that since faculty often use the racquetball courts, they want to start with simple conversions to decide whether or not it would be beneficial.
In Summary
While these examples reflect what’s worked in recent years, staying ahead means knowing how to spot the next big thing. So how do campus rec leaders keep a pulse on what’s trending? By tuning into what students are engaging with — especially on social media.
Part of the way that these industry professionals know what’s trending is by observing students and members. Many of these fitness trends have become more popular due to social media, which Miller says marks broad industry trends. Group fitness classes like hot yoga saw a new popularity from social media too, O’Rourke said. The bottom line: if you want to know what students want, check what’s circulating on social media.
In a digital age with countless social media platforms, fitness trends are consistently coming and going. To keep up with this fast-paced industry, it’s vital to know the current trends and be prepared to implement them. “We’re starting to see far fewer students needing orientations to the fitness space,” said Robben. “These students are coming to our campuses with the knowledge, experience and the motivation, so we need to be ready.”
