There’s something about a new year that’s totally refreshing and hopeful — doubly so in this trouble-fraught decade (that we’re only checks notes 24 months into).
We here at Greatist are cautiously optimistic, and we think 2022 is gonna be a good one — for several reasons.
Here are our predictions for the health, wellness, and fitness trends that’ll dominate 2022 and make it a year of mindfulness, rest, growth, and reconnection.
How we made our predictions
We stay so up to date onall things trendingin health, fitness, and wellness that we’re essentially time travelers. How? We get emails — SOOOOOO many emails. And we do LOTS of reading, product testing, marketing events, and online window shopping (and finally, in 2021, some real window shopping again).
1. Wellness as a way of life
In 2022, taking care of yourself holistically won’t bejust a thing you dowhen you have time — it’ll be part of who you are (hopefully).
Hot off another mind-boggling year, more and more of us are realizing that we have GOTTA take care of our bodies and brains in a world that’s full of uncertainty and tension.
And instead of makingself-carejust another thing to mark off on a to-do list, people are finding more ways toincorporate wellnessseamlessly into their lives. A good example is the humbleweighted blanket. We all need a blanket, but the weighted blanket goes above and beyond and provides someextra benefitsin addition to keeping you warm and snuggly.
Think functional furniture, intuitive wearables, thoughtfully designed clothing, and anything else that allows you to incorporate wellness more fluidly into your everyday life.
2. Affordable smart fitness
After the GreatPelotonPrice Drop of August 2021, which followed a late-pandemic slump in sales, other smart fitness companies started taking notice.
And as ClassPass notes in their 2022 report, group fitness and gym workouts are back, baby (and all the extroverts said “Amen”).
Fitt Insider also coolly observed that in 2022,digital fitness companieswill have to compete not only against other digital fitness companies, but against real life gyms too.
What does that likely translate to? Lower prices on home gym equipment.
At Greatist, we’re predicting more innovation in the home gym industry — delivering smarter tech at a price point that doesn’t make us Average Income Earners wince.
3. Making peace with periods
Surfing the red wave is about to get a lot easier and less stressful. Gone are the days of wishing our periods would go poof. Instead, it’s time to embrace them for what they are…
OK,they still suck.
But anyways, in the past few months we’ve noticed a LOT of new companies and products popping up in the period space. And Pinterest has too — one of their trend predictions for 2022 is “Mindful Menstruation.”
For real, though, folks who are trying to get pregnant aren’t the only ones doing in-depth cycle tracking anymore. This info can provide tons of insights for anyone.
We’ve also noticed lots of natural alternatives forperiod pain reliefin our DMs lately (bye-bye, ibuprofen) and seen that disposable pads and tampons are DEFINITELY on their way out. (But if that’s what you like, you do you — your period is YOURS, and there are tons of moresustainable, better-for-your-body disposable brands out there.)
2022’s periods are gonna be peaceful AF.
4. The food renaissance
After nearly 2 years of being on a roller coaster of doom and isolation, we’re all ready to reconnect — with family, friends, and food traditions. 2020 was a big big BIG year forbaking, fermenting, andgardening, and farm-to-table is still dominating our collective food consciousness — as noted by Pinterest’s inclusion of “Traditional Eats” on their Pinterest Predicts 2022 report.
In 2022, we suspect more people than ever are gonnagrow their ownherb(s) and have a dealer in their contacts — a local honey dealer, that is.
Even in concrete jungles,fermenting, sprouting, microgreens, pickling, canning,baking, dehydrating, and hydroponics make it possible to make food the old-fashioned way (while, of course, utilizing all that modern technology has to offer to simplify the process).
5. Customized everything
Although it’s taken years, the “one size fits all” approach to health and wellness has fallen by the wayside. There definitely seems to be a deeper appreciation of how unique each and every body is, and that’s why so so SO many brands are now offering totally individualized services and products.
We’re talkingsupplements,workout plans, accessories, and more, crafted with YOU in mind — not some nebulous “ideal customer.”
What’s more, we’re hoping that 2022 brings an end to the ever-raging diet wars. Let’s focus on eating mostly whole foods, enjoying what we eat, and choosing the foods that make us feel best. For one person that may meanstrict keto, and for another it might meangoing vegan, but we can all get along.
Food manufacturers are continuing to embrace this approach, too, withless-processed product linesmade for health-conscious eaters of all dietary persuasions.
