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TRENDING:
With the new year soon upon us, it serves as an ideal time to rethink our personal fitness goals.
Whether you want to lose weight, put on more muscle, increase your cardio or train for a triathlon, consider 2023 a welcome jump start.
Each year comes with new fitness trends that can inspire us to shape our health and wellness regimen in ways that give us a newfound motivation to hit the gym. Here are some trends that are shaping up to be strong for 2023.
Bryan Williams, a 33-year-old fitness coach at Anytime Fitness in North Coventry Township, has a vantage point and passion for fitness that, beyond his gym, enables him to see what’s going on in the fitness arena as a whole.
“What I’m seeing within this fitness culture is powerlifting is a super popular thing right now,” Williams said. “It’s becoming more the cool thing to do — especially with our youth right now.”
He said that powerlifting, the strength sport which centers on three lifts: squat bench press and deadlift, also has an appeal for some older gym goers.
“There was a 50-year-old woman who came to me to learn how to do it,” Williams said.
He discussed that the appeal to powerlifting is highly suited for those who are goal-oriented.
“When someone hits a PR (personal record) it’s great to see their eyes light up,” he said. “There is something about lifting more weight than you ever have before. If you are a goal-oriented person, you are going to hit a new goal daily if you are training correctly.”
When it comes to wanting to work out with support to achieve your goals, Williams said the new trend in training is what’s affordable.
“Everybody wants personal training, but what’s affordable is small group or team training,” he said.
As a result, he has been seeing a rise in its popularity. The benefits of group training are it offers more personal attention, such as corrections, modifications and progressions. It also offers greater variety in workouts since they change and evolve.
Working out with others can offer a greater level of motivation than working out on your own. If you gather friends together to make up a group, it can double as an enjoyable time to be social.
Williams said he increasingly sees the gym as becoming a place where people look for a sense of community.
“A lot of people use the gym as their social outing,” he said. “It’s a place to connect in a healthy way. ”
People are getting more out of their gym visits than a good workout.
“It’s a bunch of like-minded people with a common goal in health and fitness,” he said. “It’s a cool scene.”
Williams not only works at Anytime Fitness full-time but also works out there. When he wraps up his work day, he enjoys spending time with his gym buddies.
“After work, I have a group of gym members who come to work out with me and we have a speaker and we take turns picking the music,” he said. “It’s a sense of community and culture that I’m proud of and I built here.”
Williams increasingly sees that more people are documenting their regimen, progress and tips online in an authentic way.
“There are no longer any gimmicks and people are called out,” he said. “With how easily people can create videos these days you are seeing more realistic content. People put the facts out now and it’s refreshing to see that.”
If it’s not realistic, he said you are likely to experience backlash.
“You will have other influencers or followers calling you out,” he said.
Williams isn’t seeing as much interest in their yoga and Zumba class offerings at Anytime Fitness as he is experiencing people asking him when their combat self-defense classes are coming back.
“I have a bunch of people asking me when we are getting a combat instructor,” he said.
He said the classes, which are for all ages, offer an opportunity to stay in shape, have fun and work on self-defense. Having an opportunity to learn mixed martial arts in a gym setting makes it more approachable.
“You are focusing on the combat stuff and things you are learning,” he said, adding you can walk away with valuable techniques.
“Within the next year I hope to get that back in here,” he said, adding they previously offered the Krav Maga classes. “Right now it’s about finding a good combat instructor.”
As for Williams and his primary fitness goals for 2023, he shared what’s on his mind.
“I’m trying to get bigger than I have ever been before and trying to keep my body fat percent lower,” he said.
Anytime Fitness is open 24 hours a day, so you can choose the best workout time that suits your work and family schedule. Located at 351 Schuylkill Road, Pottstown (located in the Coventry Mall). For more information, visit www.anytimefitness.com or call 484-752-4449
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