National survey of fitness trends in Greece for 2021

Abstract

The objective of this study was to identify the most important health/fitness trends while examining the impact of various demographics of respondents on the top trends for the first time in Greece. An online survey was sent to 3,487 professionals who worked in the health/fitness sector using the methodology of similar regional and worldwide studies extensively conducted by the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM). A total of 542 responses were collected with a response rate of 15.5%. The ten most important trends were personal training, exercise is medicine, high-intensity interval training, small group training, and functional fitness, body weight training, exercise for weight loss, circuit training, strength training with free weights, and fitness programs for older adults. Health-related trends appear to be popular while technology-and mind/body-related trends seem not to be very attractive. Traditional exercise modes are still attractive and relevant, but specialized group training approaches are currently experiencing low popularity. Results also showed meaningful sex differences for 68% of the examined trends where female respondents reported higher scores. The main findings of this study are in line with those recently reported in the ACSM’s European survey even though similar research design and data analysis are limited internationally. © 2020 by authors, all rights reserved.