'You feel pretty badass': 3 fitness trends to make good on your 2025 fitness goals

A person can be seen holding weights at at a gym. If you're looking to renew your relationship with fitness this January, experts say consistency and realistic goals are the key to success. (Pexels/Ivan Samkov)

If you're looking to start (or re-start) your fitness journey this month, you're not alone.

According to Forbes, improved fitness is the most common New Year's resolution, and Bloomberg reports that gyms rely on the first month of the year for up to a quarter of their yearly growth.

Local personal trainer Jarred Berndt said most of those January gym rats will lose steam within a few months, but there are ways to improve your odds of sticking with it.

One is to keep things simple.

"The likelihood of you choosing and completing one goal is about 80 per cent," Berndt said. "Two goals is like 44 per cent …. If you have more than two goals, your odds of completing those things goes way down, so my recommendation is to pick one thing at a time and focus on that."

A recent study suggests you're also more likely to make exercise a long-term habit if you like the exercise.

So, if you're looking to bring the spark back into your active life, here are some of last year's popular workouts and why you may want to add them to this year's routine.

Reformer Pilates

This full-body training tool has been around for more than 100 years, but it's seen a recent bump in popularity thanks to platforms like TikTok and Instagram.

Celebrities like Lady Gaga, Jennifer Aniston, Miley Cyrus and Margot Robbie have all been sighted on social media showing off their reformer pilates routines.

Reformer Pilates is a low-impact full-body workout that uses a sliding platform on wheels and the same Pilates movements you would learn on a mat.

Marti Boyle, owner of Studio 124 Pilates in Edmonton, has been teaching Pilates for 33 years. She said it's fantastic for building flexibility and strength, as well as rehabilitating injuries and managing pain.

"It's really good for your coordination, balance, and your body connection and your neuromuscular system," Boyle said.

"The number of lives I have seen changed by it is absolutely stunning," she added.

While Pilates is a low-impact activity, it's far from low-intensity.

"If it's done at a higher level, it's not super relaxing because it's very vigorous. But if it's done at a beginner level, it can be a stress relieving, wonderful workout," Boyle said.

It's great to see reformer pilates trending, Boyle said, but added first-timers shouldn't expect to recreate celebrity Instagram moves during their first session.

"I call it 'Too sexy, too fast,'" Boyle said. "Someone posts that they're doing a backbend on (social media), that is a super advanced exercise … Those things are very dangerous and should be practiced under the care of a really good, qualified veteran teacher."

If you're looking to learn, Boyle recommends finding a reputable studio with experienced certified instructors. She adds larger studios are becoming more common but that small classes are likely to offer greater hands-on instruction.

Private lessons can cost upwards of $100, but you can split the cost by bringing a friend or two, or you can join a group session for closer to $25 to $40 a class.

Strength Training

Last year, Forbes reported that women's fitness goals were shifting, with more looking to weightlifting and strength-focused workouts.

"That's exactly what I'm seeing as well," said Berndt, who has been a personal trainer for 23 years. "They are doing some heavy work, which is awesome."

Studies have shown weightlifting can increase endurance, sharpen reflexes, improve heart health, keep blood sugar levels in check and help prevent age-related injuries.

"Improved bone density, improved metabolic health, improved health response," Berndt said. "All of those things come along with mental health as well. The list is ongoing."

That first one is particularly important for women.

According to Osteoporosis Canada, 80 per cent of Canadians living with osteoporosis are women, and one in three women will suffer an osteoporotic fracture in their life (as opposed to one in eight men).

While weightlifting may offer women added benefits, Berndt said racking up weights is good for everyone.

"Not only from a physical health standpoint, but from a confidence standpoint as well," he said. "That's one thing that weightlifting can do for anyone.

"Pushing 100 pounds over your head … you feel pretty badass."

Weightlifting doesn't always have to involve heavy weights, either.

"Most people, when they hear the words weightlifting, they think Arnold Schwarzenegger, and they think big, burly bodybuilders, but that's not necessarily the case," said Anne Tang, owner of Black Tusk Athletics.

Tang's expertise includes functional fitness, another increasingly popular training style.

"(It's) just resistance training, whether that is body weight or additional load added, but with movement patterns that are regularly seen in your day-to-day life," Tang said.

Think standing up from your chair, pushing a door open, putting your suitcase in the overhead bin or helping a friend move a couch.

This form of fitness, Tang explained, is particularly helpful for us we age start to lose muscle and bone mass, which starts at about 40 years old.

"When we're able to actually continue lifting weights and moving our bodies the way they're intended to move, it actually allows us to age with a bit more grace," she added.

If you're interested in starting a functional fitness routine, Tang recommends connecting with a certified teacher who can help you learn the proper way to lift.

"Laying a solid foundation in anything is always the first step," she said.

"Learn how to lift weight with someone who's credible," she continued. "Learn proper positioning, and then the increases of weight will come with time as you become more proficient and the movement patterns become second nature."

Low Intensity Steady State Cardio

Cardio. Love it or hate it, it's a key piece of physical fitness.

But where high-intensity interval training – like burpees and sprinting – may be well-suited for some, a 2015 study found it had little unique advantage for "minimally trained" participants.

If you're new to working out, you may want to consider the trendy slow-and-steady route instead.

Popularized by the viral 12-3-30 workout, low-intensity steady state (LISS) cardio has been gaining traction over the past few years.

The premise, Berndt said, is simple.

Lace up your sneakers and get going fast enough that you raise your heart rate, but slow enough that you can carry on a conversation.

"I love that this is getting popular," Berndt said. "The benefits are mitochondrial health, there are some benefits to cardiovascular health, heart improvements (and) blood pressure."

Other advantages include being easier – and for some more enjoyable – than a spin class and gentler on the joints than jump squats.

Berndt recommends starting on a stationary bike, as it's lower-impact on your knees and back, but you can also do it on a treadmill, a stair climber, an elliptical or walking outdoors.

'Start small'

The key to making whatever movement you choose a success is consistency.

"After a couple weeks, you'll see people burn out real fast," he said. "They go too hard, too fast.

"They sit there and they go, 'You know what? I'm going to lift weights four times a week, and I'm going to run three times a week and I'm going to stop eating carbs' … You've shot yourself in the foot by trying to do all of these things."

Rather than go hard and then go home for good, both Tang and Berndt recommend setting realistic goals.

"Start small, take bite-sized pieces and then continue layering into your life," Tang said. "In order for something to be sustainable in your life, you have to be able to be consistent with it."

If you can make it to March with your New Year's fitness resolution, you have a good shot of sticking to it, Berndt said.

And don't be too hard on yourself when things go off track.

"There are going to be challenges," he said. "If we sit there and tell ourselves terrible things about ourselves, that's going to put us into a negative spiral and then you have to come out of that hole before you can start doing the exercise again."

It's easy to start your fitness journey at home, too, if you can't afford the gym.

"There are tons of free websites, YouTube channels, that have 30-minute videos where you can follow along, or do a HIIT class," he said. "There are tons of resources out there."

At the end of the day, Berndt said the more movement you can fit in, the better.

"Reducing sedentary time is the number one thing you can do for all of your health metrics," he added. "A really important thing that I think is really underutilized for a lot of people is using the health tracker on their phone."

"Look at your step count, even getting up and walking around your house, those steps add up."