We predict remote coaching, maximising the over 55’s market and virtual classes as 2019 trends

The UK’s second largest private gym provider predicts an exciting 2019 for the UK fitness industry

We look at what might be big in 2019, including Remote Coaching, maximising the over 55’s market and virtual classes… Anytime Fitness has made its predictions for the hot new trends expected to shape the fitness industry in the new year. The national gym provider, which now has over 155 clubs across the UK, has been working closely with different partners and analysing trends and data. From this they have identified and are already using some new and upcoming trends and concepts – here’s what to keep an eye out for.

All quotes attributed to Marvin Burton, Head of Product at Anytime Fitness and Personal Trainer with over 18 years of experience specialising in functional training, weight loss and injury prevention.

Mobile (remote) coaching

Going to the gym is important. However, if you attend the gym three times a week, that’s only impacting 5% of your life across seven days. This means that 95% of the time you’re left by yourself in need of motivation to continue the great fitness work that you’re doing at the gym.

This is where the potential of remote coaching comes in. Personal Trainers can send programs to their clients, track their daily steps, advise on nutrition and schedule workouts so the client has an always-on ‘angel on their shoulder’ to keep them motivated. This new for 2019 innovation will provide gym go-ers with something extremely unique and inspiring. Remote coaching is an emerging and successful way of adding value to a Personal Training service that revolutionises the member journey by tailoring to the member’s schedule and requirements.

This is where we feel we’ve identified a gap in the market. An increasing amount of people don’t have the time or financial resources to be able to take advantage of multiple face-to-face personal training sessions a week. Busy family and working lives often prevent this and by introducing the virtual element, the contact with personal trainers is maintained but in a more affordable and accessible offering. Having contact with a personal trainer keeps you motivated and with them regularly checking in on your progress, you think more about what you do both in and outside of the gym. For example, a change in mindset driven by your trainer can be the difference between taking the lift or the stairs which could have great long-term effects for your health.

Benefiting members and Personal Trainers alike, it’s great for the business model too. If Personal Trainers can deliver less face-to-face sessions and have the same impact with their clients, they have more time available to recruit new clients and earn greater income.

We’re keen to make the most of the huge potential of remote coaching and we urge all our members to watch this space and look out for our ‘Anytime Coaching’ service coming soon!

An ageing population will force many gyms to re-think their offering in 2019 and beyond

Over the past five years, high intensity interval training (HIIT) has meant the fitness industry has had a change of approach and although this trend won’t ever stop, we do need to think about our largest demographic of members and requirements from a gym membership, the 55+ market.

The UK population is older than it’s ever been and there are currently over 15.3 million people in the UK aged 60 and above ^[1], a figure that is expected to pass the 20 million mark by 2030.^[2]

We predict that more gym operators will provide bespoke offerings for the older population as they’re the most loyal members who keep coming back. This is something we want to lead the way in by offering ‘Anytime Prime’ memberships. Our gyms are beginning to offer bespoke training and screening processes to support and improve the lifestyles of our older members. Instead of focusing on heavy weights and high heart rate zones, we are switching to a more functional approach such as posture, balance, mobility and overall health and lifestyle coaching.

Virtual classes

This trend will really boom in 2019. Performing a remote workout at home instead of being in the gym helps accommodate a busy lifestyle. Virtual classes give members the flexibility to start a workout whenever it suits their schedule as there’s no set start or finish times. This removes a huge barrier, opening an opportunity to exercise which may have been missed if you didn’t leave work on time (for example). With a 24/7 model like ours, virtual classes in clubs are a huge selling point for city workers, shift workers or people that like having help and a structure to follow while enjoying a workout. As we keep seeing a rise in virtual classes being offered in the industry, we expect this to continue to climb in 2019.

This is not to say that virtual classes will see a decrease in popularity of instructor-led ones. Instead, we feel this will complement them well and with people able to do virtual workouts at home, it helps establish their basic fitness level and act as an entry level route into exercise. We hope this will then give them the confidence to transition into an instructor-led class where they can feed off the buzz and energy of the room.