1. As people are getting busier, you are going to see more brief workouts, what I am officially naming "MINI WORKOUTS 2. There will be less "one on one" personal training and more small group and semi-private training
3. There will be a greater shift away from aerobic training to more intense high intensity interval training.
4. Fitness bootcamps are going to continue to explode in popularity. And more "30 minute" circuit facilities will go out of business. Many are closing at an alarming rate as owners are realizing often the numbers don't add up.
5. More and more people are coming to the Internet for their health and fitness information. Sales of fitness programming and information products online will continue to explode.
6. Kettlebells are going to continue their momentum and become more and more part of the fitness mainstream."
7. The emerging NEW breed of Personal Trainer
- The "celebrity" online personal trainer, the ones you see everywhere you go online:
Video - You Tube, Google Video, iTunes, Myspace etc
Facebook fan club + other social networks
Podcasts - iTunes + podcast directories
Articles - article directory websites + syndication services
Forums and Blogs - leaving their signature + thoughts behind
PR releases - media announcements as per any "celebrity"
Social recognition - Digg, Stumple Upon, Delicious, Technorati etc
As a fitness professional, are you ready to compete with all this exposure, or are you about to get left behind?!
In 2008, watch out for more and more personal trainers joining the new fitness elite, with massive lists and intelligently acquired business resources / assets (JVs, affiliates, inside circles / mastermind groups, a range of infoproducts etc), leading to worldwide recognition.
We're already seeing a lack of availability of "educated and experienced fitness professionals" to conduct exercise classes and serve as personal trainers. Quite simply, people don't seem to last long in the health + fitness industry (there are few 40+ professionals like myself) and the demand for health + fitness is outstripping supply (of qualified and educated fitness professionals).
This is why I believe more and more are going online for fitness information / inspiration, because they can't find that level of expertise locally. And with this new fitness elite emerging, the gap will widen still further with "the old school brigade".
More and more consumers will demand results, and fitness professionals will need to become more skilled in "outcome measurements".
Plus with increasing competition, there will be a need to reach new markets. This brings into play a broader range of skills and a transformation from fitness training per se towards wellness coaching (a more holistic approach which accounts for a person's TOTAL lifestyle).
