In a world dominated by social media, determining whether fitness equipment trends are long-lasting or fleeting can be a struggle. Catering to the current population’s needs while also recognizing changing trends is a delicate balancing act. Currently, student preference is shifting toward powerlifting and functional fitness.
Cornell University Recreational Services has noticed a decrease in cardio machine usage and an increase in weights and functional fitness. To accommodate students’ changing preferences, the department decided to repurpose their space.
“We’ve renovated two of five fitness centers with less cardio and more weights, functional training equipment and open spaces for students to do functional and HIIT workouts,” explained Jen Gudaz, the senior associate director of Athletics, the Robert E. Browning ‘56 director of Physical Education and the Helen Newman director of Recreational Services.
The decisions behind these renovations were largely decided due to data. Gathering student feedback from a multitude of avenues allowed Recreational Services to determine what renovations would be the most beneficial to its community.
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“The biggest influence on decision making is what we see students using, current equipment trends and survey results,” said Gudaz. “We did a survey last year with students overwhelmingly requesting more strength training.”
At Sacramento State University, Clarissa Jimenez, the assistant director of Fitness and Wellness at The WELL, has also developed a system to collect accurate data. The student employees run an hourly check to determine what equipment is occupied, what’s popular and if equipment is functioning properly. Jimenez also walks the fitness floor herself to hear from students directly.
“A lot of the student population knows who I am,” said Jimenez. “They’ll ask me, ‘Have you thought about this? Where’s this piece? Have you ordered this?’ I really value and appreciate that because it’s the best form of feedback.”
Armed with an understanding of what’s trending, Jimenez determines what fitness trends are worth investing in. One of the main trends at Sacramento State is strength training. They’ve seen an uptick in usage in their powerlifting platforms, bench press, deadlift platforms and squat racks. Overall, the most popular piece at The WELL is a Hammer Strength plate-loaded hip thrust machine.
“Glute building is also something that’s super trendy, so this machine has been popular,” explained Jimenez. “At first, people weren’t quite sure how to use it or what to do but once we educated our population, it blew up. We’re to the point where it’s so busy it’s hard to get on and now the students are asking us to buy another one.”
When purchasing new equipment, Jimenez makes decisions based on what suits The WELL best rather than going with one brand throughout the facility.
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“I have the philosophy that every equipment vendor offers specialties,” said Jimenez. “If they do something well, I like to capitalize on that. If Matrix Fitness is doing something really well, I go with the Matrix for this piece. I apply this philosophy to Precor, Life Fitness and Hammer Strength.”
Central Michigan University (CMU) University Recreation takes a similar approach when choosing its vendors such as Precor, Technogym and Matrix. They also partnered with Design2Wellness to aid in the equipment selection process at their facilities.
CMU has noticed a transition away from cardio in equipment trends. Treadmills and stair climbers are still popular; however, the student population is shifting more toward free weights and functional fitness.
“Eight or 10 years ago, we started moving a few of our free weights up to our fitness space, which was for traditional cardio,” said Scott Harrington, the interim director of University Recreation. “The interest is skyrocketing. We’ve slowly been increasing the amount of free weight space by adding more half racks and benches into our free weight area. It used to be all cardio but we’re adjusting it to appeal to the trends.”
Along with adding free weights, CMU is also working toward introducing large rack-style functional fitness equipment, additional plyo boxes and kettlebells.
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Additionally, to provide students with ample space for group fitness, CMU has renovated several conference rooms. These areas were designed to provide maximum flexibility so they can host a variety of student needs.
“In our spaces that were traditionally a carpeted conference here, we’ve put in more of a multipurpose flooring that can be used in different ways,” explained Harrington. “We can have tables in there one day and then we can have yoga mats in there the next. Our conference room isn’t just a conference room, it’s set up for whatever our needs are on any day.”
Creating flexible spaces allows for CMU to explore trending programs — such as Pilates — while catering to those who want more fitness equipment. However, before deciding to adapt fitness spaces to trends, Harrington advised to consider risk management by committing a thorough examination of both the trend and your facility.
“We can get really excited about different equipment trends, but we need to determine, do they fit in our facility?” said Harrington. “Do they make sense from a risk management standpoint? Instead of immediately taking on trends we look at the safety aspects, the culture of our particular facility and how to adapt trends to our campus.”
While implementing new trends is exciting and provides immediate gratification, looking to the future is key to ensuring any adaptation is worthwhile. Shifting to free weights and away from cardio is a trend and it might reverse again in a few years. Ensuring your facilities and equipment can adapt to any future changes is important to get the best investment.
