ACSM's Top Fitness Trends for 2026 and What They Mean for Training in Las Vegas

The American College of Sports Medicine has released its annual fitness trends report, and functional training, wearable technology, and exercise for mental health are all climbing. Las Vegas added a HYROX event this February that fits directly into several of the top ten.

Vegas Functional Fitness · June 30, 2026 · 6 min read

Key takeaways

Wearable technology topped the ACSM's 2026 fitness trends list, with advanced biosensors now tracking blood glucose, skin temperature, and fall detection in addition to traditional heart rate and activity data.
Exercise for mental health moved up two spots to number six, with 78 percent of exercisers citing emotional well-being as their primary reason for working out rather than appearance or weight.
Functional fitness training, which emphasizes real-world movements like squats, hinges, and carries over machine-based isolated exercise, holds a steady position in the top ten as the approach gains acceptance across all age groups.

ACSM Top Fitness Trends 2026: Snapshot

78%

Exercisers who cite emotional well-being as top reason for training

70%+

Wearable users who apply device data directly to their exercise strategies

30%

U.S. adults who currently meet muscle-strengthening guidelines

Source: ACSM Top Fitness Trends for 2026. The gap between strength training evidence and actual participation remains the field's central challenge.

What the ACSM Trends Report Actually Tells Us

The American College of Sports Medicine publishes an annual fitness trends survey that polls tens of thousands of health and fitness professionals globally. The resulting list reflects what practitioners are seeing grow in their facilities and client bases, which makes it a useful real-world barometer alongside the noise of social media fitness trends. The 2026 report shows a field in interesting transition: technology is dominating the top of the list while the middle of the rankings reflects a renewed focus on the human experience of exercise rather than just its measurable outputs.

Wearable technology holds the number one position for 2026. The generation of devices available now goes well beyond step counting and heart rate monitoring. Advanced biosensors track fall detection, heart rhythm irregularities, blood pressure, blood glucose levels, and skin temperature, bringing data points that were previously only accessible in clinical settings into everyday training. Over 70 percent of wearable users report applying the data from their devices directly to their exercise strategies, which means the technology is increasingly functioning as intended rather than just being worn.

The number two trend is fitness programming specifically designed for older adults, driven in part by the 73 million baby boomers entering or moving through retirement age. Adults 65 and older are now visiting gyms more frequently than any other age group, a shift that is reshaping how facilities and trainers structure their services.

Functional Fitness and Strength Training in 2026

Functional fitness training ranks in the top ten of the 2026 ACSM list, sitting alongside traditional strength training as complementary approaches that are increasingly being programmed together rather than treated as alternatives. Functional fitness emphasizes movements that mimic real-world physical demands: squats, hinges, carries, pushes, and pulls across all planes of motion, with the goal of building capacity that transfers to daily life as well as athletic performance.

Traditional strength training holds its position despite a significant challenge in the data: fewer than 30 percent of American adults currently meet the muscle-strengthening guidelines recommended by public health authorities. That gap between what research shows is beneficial and what people are actually doing represents the core challenge for fitness professionals trying to bring more clients into a consistent resistance training practice. The barriers are perceived complexity, injury fear, and programming that has historically skewed toward aesthetics rather than long-term function.

The combination of functional movement patterns with progressive resistance loading is what most serious training programs in Las Vegas are already doing, and the ACSM data confirms that this approach is where the industry is headed broadly. If you have been wondering whether CrossFit-style functional training is backed by real research, the short answer is yes. A 2023 meta-analysis covering 13 studies and 478 athletes found that high-intensity functional training effectively improves muscle strength, power, flexibility, and sport-specific performance across training populations.

Mental Health, Social Fitness, and What They Mean for Your Training

Exercise for mental health climbed two spots to number six in the 2026 ACSM rankings, and the figure behind that movement is striking: 78 percent of regular exercisers now cite emotional well-being as their primary reason for working out. That is a fundamental shift in how people frame their relationship with training. For a long time, the dominant marketing frame for fitness was appearance and weight management. The data in 2026 suggests that the actual experience most people are seeking is stress reduction, mood stability, and cognitive function.

Adult recreation and sport clubs are a new entrant in the top 20 this year, reflecting the rapid growth of socially organized fitness formats like pickleball leagues, adult recreational sport clubs, and group-based functional fitness events. The social dimension of training is no longer a secondary benefit that facilities mention in their marketing. It is a primary reason people show up and keep coming back, and programming that builds genuine community around training retains members at higher rates than programming that treats exercise as a purely individual activity.

Las Vegas is well positioned for this trend. The city's social fabric lends itself to group training formats, and the variety of fitness facilities and programs available means there is a community for nearly every interest and fitness level. Whether you prefer early morning classes, lunchtime lifting, or weekend functional fitness events, finding your crew in Las Vegas is easier than it has ever been.

HYROX Came to Las Vegas in February and the Format Is Catching On

In February 2026, HYROX held one of its Las Vegas editions at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center, bringing the race format to the Strip for a three-day event over February 20 to 22. HYROX is a fitness race built around an alternating structure of running and functional workout stations: eight one-kilometer runs separated by eight stations including SkiErg, sled push, sled pull, burpee broad jumps, and wall balls, for a total of eight kilometers of running plus eight rounds of functional work.

The format is designed to be genuinely accessible across fitness levels, with divisions for Open, Pro, Doubles, Relay, and Adaptive athletes. Las Vegas has previously hosted HYROX World Championships, and the 2026 edition at Mandalay Bay added a qualifier designation to the event, meaning results carried weight in the broader HYROX competitive season. For athletes who train in CrossFit-adjacent formats or who do functional fitness as their primary training method, the race structure is a direct translation of what they already do in the gym.

The growth of events like HYROX in Las Vegas is a good sign for the functional fitness community here. If you have been training consistently and want to test what that training produces in a race context, or if you are looking for a goal to structure the next few months of your training around, come talk to our coaches at Vegas Functional Fitness. We can help you build a race prep plan that matches your current fitness level and gets you ready for whatever comes next.

ACSM's Top 10 Fitness Trends for 2026

These are the trends showing real growth in fitness facilities and training programs globally, ranked by the ACSM's annual survey of health and fitness professionals.

Wearable technology: Advanced biosensors now track fall detection, heart rhythm, blood pressure, blood glucose, and skin temperature, with over 70 percent of users applying the data to their training
Fitness programs for older adults: 73 million baby boomers and adults 65-plus now visit gyms more than any other age group, reshaping how facilities structure their programming
Exercise for weight management: Highest ranking ever in the history of the ACSM survey; now incorporates programming alongside GLP-1 medications rather than treating exercise as the sole approach
Mobile exercise apps: 345 million users globally in 2024 with over 850 million downloads, making apps the most widely used fitness tool outside of in-person training
Balance, flow, and core strength: Mind-body integration regaining momentum after pandemic disruptions, with yoga, Pilates, and stability-focused programming all growing
Exercise for mental health: Up two spots this year; 78 percent of exercisers name emotional well-being as their primary motivation for training
Traditional strength training: Proven, effective, and growing in participation despite fewer than 30 percent of U.S. adults currently meeting muscle-strengthening guidelines
Data-driven training technology: Beyond wearables, gym-based analytics and AI coaching tools are becoming standard in higher-end fitness facilities
Adult recreation and sport clubs: New to the top 20; reflects the rapid growth of pickleball, social fitness leagues, and organized recreational sport as primary training formats
Functional fitness training: Real-world movement patterns including squats, carries, pushes, and pulls across all planes of motion, validated by multiple systematic reviews

Frequently Asked Questions

What is functional fitness training and how is it different from regular gym workouts?

Functional fitness training focuses on movements that replicate real-world physical demands, such as squats, hinges, carries, pushes, and pulls, with the goal of building strength and capacity that transfers to daily activities and athletic performance. Traditional gym workouts often use isolated machine exercises that build specific muscles in limited ranges of motion. Functional training tends to involve multiple muscle groups moving through full ranges simultaneously.

Is there research supporting CrossFit-style high-intensity functional training?

Yes. A 2023 systematic review and meta-analysis covering 13 studies and 478 athletes found that high-intensity functional training effectively improves muscle strength, power, flexibility, and sport-specific performance. Injury rates in well-coached functional fitness programs have also been studied extensively, with supervised programs showing injury rates comparable to other training modalities.

What is HYROX and is it appropriate for fitness beginners?

HYROX is a fitness race combining eight rounds of one-kilometer running with eight functional workout stations including sled push, sled pull, SkiErg, and wall balls. The event has Open, Doubles, and Relay divisions designed for athletes at different fitness levels. It is a better fit for people with several months of consistent training under their belt than for absolute beginners, but it does not require elite-level fitness to complete.

How do I use a wearable device to actually improve my training?

The most practical starting point is tracking your heart rate during sessions to understand how hard you are working relative to how hard you think you are working. From there, sleep quality and recovery data can help you identify patterns in how fatigue accumulates. More advanced metrics like heart rate variability can inform when to push and when to pull back. The key is starting with one or two data points you can act on rather than trying to optimize everything at once.

Sources

The Future of Fitness: ACSM Announces Top Trends for 2026 — American College of Sports Medicine
HYROX Las Vegas 2026: Tickets, Hotels and Event Guide — Rox Radar
The Fitness Competition for Every Body — HYROX US