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The hottest thing in fitness in 2008 is going to be the educated and experienced fitness professional.

That’s the prediction of The American College of Sports Medicine’s (ACSM), which studies fitness trends and ranks them from the highest to the lowest based on scores given by respondents. The survey is designed to spot trends in commercial, corporate clinical and community fitness program environments. Only the top 20 trends are included in the article which is published in this month’s ACSM’s Health & Fitness Journal. This is the second year for the survey and number of respondents nearly doubled over 2007.

The fitness professional’s trend was number three last year. It changed places with last year’s number one which was programs to fight childhood obesity. Fitness for children and adolescents came in a close second this year.

“The survey revealed a few surprise and also confirmed what has been on the landscapes this year in the health and fitness industry,” said Walter Thompson, Ph.D., FACSM, and lead author of the article. “We were interested to find that the top three predications for the next year were statistically close but they all support the idea that the health professional is going to be held to a higher level in education and certification.”

Third in this years survey is personal training which moved up four spots from last year. Fourth on the list is strength training. Strength training supports CSM and American Heart Association’s updated physical activity guidelines which state that 8 to 10 strength training exercises should be done a least twice a week. It’s also important in maintaining bone health for women.

Fifth was Core training followed by fitness programs for older adults, Pilates, functional fitness, Swiss ball and yoga.

Swiss Ball was a surprise entry in the list. A Swiss ball is a round object constructed of rubber with a variable diameter. It can help improve core strength and balance.

This article was reported by Ivanhoe.com, which offers Medical Alerts by e-mail every day of the week. To subscribe, click on: http://www.ivanhoe.com/newsalert/.

SOURCE: American College of Sports Medicine Dec. 2007

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