Like with so many other industries, the wellness and fitness sector has been transformed by COVID and stay-at-home orders. Many companies in this sector have responded with innovative tech to help up stay fit and well even if the gyms are out of bounce

1. THE 5 BIGGEST FITNESS AND
WELLNESS TECHNOLOGY TRENDS IN
2022

2. © 2021 Bernard Marr, Bernard Marr & Co. All rights reserved
THE 5 BIGGEST FITNESS AND WELLNESS
TECHNOLOGY TRENDS IN 2022
Like with so many other industries, the wellness and fitness sector has been
transformed by COVID and stay-at-home orders. Many companies in this sector have
responded with innovative tech to help up stay fit and well even if the gyms are out
of bounce.

3. © 2021 Bernard Marr, Bernard Marr & Co. All rights reserved
This time of year, many of us are thinking about starting out on a positive note when it comes to health,
fitness, and wellbeing. And technology fans are in luck, as there are more ways than ever to scratch the
fitness itch while also getting our fix of the latest gadgets and devices.
Where lockdowns may have limited our ability to get to the gym, or in some cases even out of our
houses, in 2020 and 2021, an abundance of at-home exercise solutions appeared. These will still be very
present in 2022. However, other devices and trends are aimed squarely at those who are excited about
getting out in the open air again.
Fitness technology is always an exciting area, with everyone from giants such as Google and Apple to
any number of innovative startups constantly finding new ways to collect and interpret data to help us
hit goals and improve our health.
So here’s a rundown of what’s on the cards in 2022:

4. © 2021 Bernard Marr, Bernard Marr & Co. All rights reserved
MEDITATION AND MINDFULNESS TECHNOLOGY
Disruption to our way of life, school closures, large-scale shifts toward working from home, and
general anxiety have led to four in 10 US adults worrying about their mental health since the
start of the pandemic in 2020. This has led to an increase in interest in relaxation, meditation,
and mindfulness and a surge in technology-based solutions. More than three million people are
said to use meditation apps daily, and popular health platforms, including Fitbit, now include
functionality designed to help track and improve stress and other mental health factors. Apple is
said to be working on including features that will help to detect and diagnose conditions
including depression and anxiety using its Apple Health platform, as well as the capability to
detect cognitive decline, which could act as an early warning for the onset of conditions such as
Alzheimer’s disease. The wearable revolution has helped countless people take control of their
physical fitness, and 2022 could be the year where we see its impact in mental healthcare too.

5. © 2021 Bernard Marr, Bernard Marr & Co. All rights reserved
WORKPLACE WELLNESS TECHNOLOGY
Technology solutions designed to monitor wellness in the workplace will come to the fore
during 2022 as employers become more aware of the importance of encouraging fitness and
wellness among their staff. We can expect to see tech being deployed by more employers –
particularly larger ones – in order to gamify health activities such as gym attendance or taking
desk breaks for gentle physical activity. Platforms such as Gympass combine fitness apps with
gym memberships and classes, so employers can offer a choice of programs to their staff. This
allows them to choose solutions that fit their specific requirements. Other apps like Zevo
Health are designed to work with teams that are either office-based or working from home
and integrate with wearables and fitness platforms they are already using to integrate their
workplace wellbeing programs with their overall fitness regimes.

6. © 2021 Bernard Marr, Bernard Marr & Co. All rights reserved
AI PERSONAL TRAINERS
Anyone can benefit from a personal trainer – a fitness professional giving us personal attention and a
personalized plan to fight the flab and increase overall fitness. Unfortunately, they don't come cheap.
Luckily, personalization is a task where artificial intelligence excels, which has led to the development
and release of a number of AI-powered personal trainer applications. Apps like Artifit use AI
techniques like computer vision, where cameras track body movements during exercise and then offer
real-time user feedback on their posture and technique. You can also use augmented reality (AR) to
get visual overlays on top of video recordings of your workout, showing you where you are going
wrong and how you can improve. Mirror is an AR and computer-vision-equipped mirror that offers
personalized fitness advice and coaching as you watch yourself exercise in the reflection. AI has huge
potential when it comes to developing personalized workout routines, as it is able to accurately predict
safe and optimal workout schedules taking into account age, fitness levels, and body mass. Take
Weight Watchers, for example – now rebranded as simply WW – which offers its own machine
learning-powered personalized wellness programs that take into account users' diet as well as physical
activity and sleep.

7. © 2021 Bernard Marr, Bernard Marr & Co. All rights reserved
BETTER AND SMARTER WEARABLES
Wearables are one of the most important health and fitness tech trends due to their ability to
let anyone easily collect and monitor their own health and performance data. This year we will
see the first physical fruits of Google’s acquisition of wearable pioneer Fitbit – a deal which
Google has been keen to point out is about "devices, not data." This means we could see the
first Fitbit devices running on Android software instead of Fitbit's dedicated (and somewhat
flaky!) OS. Blood oxygen (Sp02) monitors are a common addition to several lines of wearable
fitness devices this year – as the metric is recognized as a useful indicator of whether a body is
fighting a viral infection. And for people who don’t like wearing watches, smart fitness tech is
appearing in an ever wider range of devices, such as rings and earbuds.

8. © 2021 Bernard Marr, Bernard Marr & Co. All rights reserved
BETTER AND SMARTER HOME FITNESS TECHNOLOGY
With Covid-19 still very much a concern, many of us will continue to forgo public gyms in favor of at-
home workouts, at least for the early half of 2022. The craze for home fitness technology saw some
manufacturers such as Peloton do extremely well during the pandemic, and if CES 2022 was anything
to go by, that trend shows no sign of slowing down. A number of competitors have emerged to
Peloton’s gamified exercise bikes, including the SoulCycle At-Home, which has the unique selling point
that the rider is encouraged to synchronize their cycling workout with the sound of music. If you prefer
running to cycling, NordicTrack and Echelon are among the manufacturers that have created a range
of smart treadmills, combining on-demand as well as live-streamed fitness classes. The addition of
touchscreens, network connectivity and interactive streaming functions has transformed the home
exercise equipment of 2022 from simple mechanical devices constructed from steel frames, weights,
and pulleys into sophisticated, smart, and connected technology pieces.

9. © 2021 Bernard Marr, Bernard Marr & Co. All rights reserved
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‘Tech Trends in Practice’ and ‘Business Trends in Practice.'

10. © 2021 Bernard Marr , Bernard Marr & Co. All rights reserved
Bernard Marr is an internationally best-selling author, popular keynote speaker,
futurist, and a strategic business & technology advisor to governments and
companies. He helps organisations improve their business performance, use data
more intelligently, and understand the implications of new technologies such as
artificial intelligence, big data, blockchains, and the Internet of Things.
LinkedIn has ranked Bernard as one of the world’s top 5 business influencers. He is
a frequent contributor to the World Economic Forum and writes a regular column for
Forbes. Every day Bernard actively engages his 1.5 million social media followers
and shares content that reaches millions of readers.

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