SOURCE: Tennis Industry Association (TIA)
The high-energy fitness workout combines the best features of tennis with cardiovascular exercise, and addresses the top worldwide fitness trends.
HILTON HEAD ISLAND, S.C. (July 9, 2018) — As Wimbledon rolls into its second week, the sport of tennis continues to showcase some of the most fit athletes in the world. And when it comes to the Top 20 Fitness Trends for 2018, Cardio Tennis continues to check most of the boxes.
Cardio Tennis is a high-energy fitness workout that combines the best features of tennis with cardiovascular exercise, delivering a full-body, calorie-burning workout.
The Top 20 Fitness Trends were determined in an annual worldwide survey by the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM). More than 4,000 fitness professionals, such as trainers, exercise physiologists and fitness directors, were asked last year to rank potential trends in the fitness industry for 2018. Responses to the ACSM’s 12th annual survey came from 41 countries.
“Cardio Tennis easily addresses most of the ACSM’s Top 20 Fitness Trends,” says Dr. Jack Groppel, the co-founder of the Johnson & Johnson Human Performance Institute and the Wellness Advisor to the tennis industry. “It is high-intensity interval training, group training, a fitness program, used for exercise and weight loss, and so much more.”
In fact, Cardio Tennis has been a leader when it comes to “wearable technology” (which was the No. 1 fitness trend for 2016 and 2017 and is No. 3 on the latest list). “Cardio Tennis has been using heart-rate monitors since the sport was developed 13 years ago, so it’s been well ahead of the wearable tech trend,” Dr. Groppel adds.
“As a sport and activity that addresses these key fitness trends, it makes sense that Cardio Tennis participation has continued to grow every year since it was developed in 2005,” says Jolyn de Boer, the executive director of the Tennis Industry Association (TIA), which developed the program with the USTA and industry partners and licenses it in the U.S. and worldwide. “Cardio Tennis is what consumers are looking for when it comes to health and fitness, and these trends prove the importance and value of Cardio Tennis for the sport of tennis and the fitness industry.”
Cardio Tennis now has 2.22 million players in the U.S., an increase of 4.5 percent from 2017. The activity has seen a 167 percent increase since first being measured by the Physical Activity Council (PAC) in 2008. Of the sports and activities measured by the PAC study, Cardio Tennis remains the fastest growing sport over the previous three years.
The Top 20 Worldwide Fitness Trends for 2018 as identified by the ACSM are:
1. High-intensity interval training
2. Group training
3. Wearable technology
4. Body weight training
5. Strength training
6. Educated, certified and experienced fitness professionals
7. Yoga
8. Personal training
9. Fitness programs for older adults
10. Functional fitness
11. Exercise and weight loss
12. Exercise is medicine
13. Group personal training
14. Outdoor activities
15. Flexibility and mobility rollers
16. Licensure for fitness professionals
17. Circuit training
18. Wellness coaching
19. Core training
20. Sport-specific training
“An interesting aspect of these fitness trends is the emphasis on both ‘educated, certified and experienced fitness professionals’ [No. 6] and ‘licensure for fitness professionals’ [No. 16],” says Michele Krause, the global education director for Cardio Tennis. “Our Cardio Tennis training courses for tennis and fitness instructors, along with our Cardio Tennis Instructor Network, continues to expand in the U.S. and around the world and gets right to the heart of these trends.”
Upcoming Cardio Tennis Training Courses for professionals include Wheaton, Ill. on July 27; Lakewood, Colo. on Aug. 19; Wayne, N.J., on Sept. 8; Fayetteville, N.C., on Nov. 10; and Hilton Head Island, S.C., also on Nov. 10.
Visit CardioTennis.com for more information on where to find a Cardio Tennis workout session, where to find training courses, or to join the Cardio Tennis Instructor Network.
About the TIA
The Tennis Industry Association, the not-for-profit trade association for tennis, is THE unifying force in the tennis industry whose mission is to promote the growth and economic vitality of the business of tennis by working closely with its industry partners and in support of the USTA in their development of initiatives to increase tennis participation. Core TIA activities include producing more than 70 U.S. and global research reports annually on participation and consumer/trade research, managing the largest relational database, along with hosting annual TIA Tennis Forum, Leadership meetings and the TOM Conference (owners, managers and decision-makers) at major tournaments and events. Visit TennisIndustry.org or call 866-686-3036.
