With January around the corner, you may already be focused on figuring out your health goals for next year. Maybe a FitBit is on your Christmas list, or you’ve made a resolution to sign up for monthly group workout classes with a friend.
But before you decide exactly what 2025 fitness trends you want to invest in, take a peek at the most popular workouts of 2024, compiled by Strava, ClassPass and more.
From Pilates continuing to lead as the fitness It Girl to music-themed classes having a moment, the trends of 2024 give a glimpse at priorities in 2025.
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As part of its annual workout trends report, ClassPass shared that Pilates was the most-booked workout on an international scale in 2024, its second year in a row in the top spot. Pilates increased its bookings on the platform by 84% since last year, so popularity around Pilates isn’t slowing down anytime soon.
Pilates, which started in the early 1900s as a method for dancers to recover from injury, has reached new popularity in the 21st century. While mat Pilates continues to be a tried-and-true format, variations like wall Pilates and reformers have added variety into the mix.
ClassPass said in its report that Pilates’ “strong social media presence” and “devoted following” are the main reasons it’s the top workout of 2024. TikTok metrics support this claim, too: A representative for the platform tells TODAY.com that between 2023 and 2024, the hashtag #pilates saw a 105% increase in posts.
Heather Andersen, founder of New York Pilates who’s been teaching Pilates for 18 years, tells TODAY.com that she noticed it “came into the spotlight” after the COVID-19 pandemic hit.
“It is a really strange experience to go through having something that was my niche thing that I was into, no one knew what it was, to all of a sudden being in a world where my niche thing that I was into is now the hot thing that everyone is into,” Andersen explains.
Andersen says she’s noticed more students at the New York Pilates studio and more Pilates studios opening up in general in recent years.
Popular workout tracking app Strava reported that weight training was the fastest-growing sport among women in 2024, and the American College of Sports Medicine ranks traditional strength training as No. 5 on its top 10 worldwide fitness trends for 2025.
Not only is strength training important for people to build and maintain muscle mass throughout their lifetime, but it can also prevent injury and disease down the line, as well as increase self-esteem.
Obé Fitness co-founder Ashley Millers says interest in strength training at her business has drastically increased this year, especially for older women — research shows that strength training can be especially beneficial in the perimenopausal and menopausal years. Obé Fitness enrollment for strength training on the digital platform has multiplied by 10 in 2024 compared to 2023.
ClassPass also reported strength training has become a popular complementary workout to Pilates, cycling, running and boxing, emerging as “a necessary component to a balanced fitness routine.”
It’s influence on social media is telling, too. A TikTok representative reports that the hashtag #strengthtraining has seen a 38% increase between 2023 and 2024, with over 1.3 million total posts to date.
Both Strava’s and ClassPass’s reports highlighted the growing popularity of group activities and community-centric sports.
ClassPass shared that volleyball reservations spiked by 256% since 2023, and soccer also saw a 158% increase. But the largest and perhaps most surprising jump was in ice skating, which saw a whopping 698% increase in reservations.
“This triple-digit rise in Volleyball, Soccer, and Ice Skating may be fueled by a wave of Olympic excitement, including anticipation for the 2024 Summer Games and the 2026 Winter Olympics, as well as the growing visibility of these sports on social media,” the report stated.
Strava’s trends report revealed that the number of run clubs on the app grew by 59% — but maybe it’s not so surprising, considering 2024 was the year people ran to find love.
The reasons behind seeking out a group sport may vary, of course. According to Strava, 48% of participants said the main reason for joining a group is to socialize; 34% reported that they join group activities to hold themselves accountable, while 43% were focused on performance improvement.
The ClassPass trends report showed that music-themed classes dominated in 2024. Taylor Swift-themed fitness classes alone secured 15,792 user reservations on ClassPass.
With singers like Sabrina Carpenter and Olivia Rodrigo continuing their international tours into the new year, plus Kendrick Lamar, Coldplay and Dua Lipa confirming upcoming 2025 tours, these beat-dropping classes are likely to shine in the new year.
“In 2024, people shifted from bigger-better-faster-all-the-time to more moderate fitness practices they can sustain for the long haul,” the Strava report explained. It also found that many users were interested in prioritizing rest, stretching, mobility and mental health over long, intense workouts.
According to Strava, 57% of participants voted 45-60 minutes is their preferred workout length, compared to just 16% who wanted to work out more than an hour a day. The app also looked at the popularity of workouts lasting 20 or fewer minutes. Stair steppers were most popular, followed by ellipticals, yoga and walking.
When looking ahead to 2025, nearly 20% of Strava participants said they want to make stretching and mobility a top health and fitness goal. On TikTok, the hashtag #mobility was used 35% more over the past year.
Millers agrees that stretch and recovery classes have become significantly more popular on Obé Fitness’s digital platform.
“Movement is increasingly being viewed as a form of mindfulness and enrichment, rather than always needing to push to extremes with intense cardio or workouts,” she explains.
According to Strava, 65% of Gen Z users said health and fitness is a top priority in 2025.
The American College of Sports Medicine also emphasized the importance of working out for mental health in its trends report, ranking it as one of its top 10 trends to see in 2025.
“This trend focuses on exercise programming designed to improve aspects of mental health, like reducing feelings of anxiety, stress, and depression,” the report read.
The American College of Sports Medicine reported that wearable technology — such as fitness trackers, smartwatches, heart rate monitors and GPS trackers — is the No. 1 fitness trend going into 2025, though the organization has given it the top spot almost every year since 2016.
“These devices can provide information such as physical activity, health markers, sedentary behaviors, sleep, and even stress,” the trends report stated. “Wearable activity trackers can support healthy lifestyle behavior change through goal setting, personalized coaching, or connecting with apps to provide actionable insights.”
Another tech-related trend on ACSM’s list is data-driven training and technology, or a type of training that “can help clients understand the physiological responses to an exercise stimulus in real-time.”
ClassPass noted in its report a 159% increase in body scan reservations in 2024, compared to the previous year, which shows a spike in interest around letting health technology guide “overall health and wellness practices.”
