Before this became an archive page, this piece rounded up the fitness trends dominating conversation in 2017. HIIT was everywhere, wearables were just starting to feel normal instead of niche, and boutique studios were multiplying across Singapore. We are keeping the list here as a look back, not as advice for what to chase in your training now.
Key points
- HIIT and short, intense workouts were the dominant story of 2017's fitness scene.
- Wearables and step counting were becoming mainstream rather than a niche gadget.
- Some 2017 trends became lasting habits; others were a short-lived moment.
- Old trend lists are a useful reminder that consistency outlasts almost every fad.
The trends that defined fitness in 2017
- High-intensity interval training (HIIT) as the go-to efficient workout format.
- Step counting and wearable trackers becoming part of daily routines.
- Boutique studios expanding quickly across the city.
- Group training built around community and accountability.
- Functional and athletic-style conditioning moving into mainstream gyms.
- Recovery-focused add-ons like foam rolling entering everyday routines.
- Clean eating and whole-food focused nutrition trending alongside training.
- Outdoor bootcamp-style classes gaining a following.
Some of that list reads as familiar even now, which says something about which trends had real staying power and which were more of a moment. It is also a useful reminder that 2017 was still fairly early in the shift toward fitness being something people tracked, shared, and discussed constantly online, rather than something quietly done at a gym and left there.
What lasted from 2017
HIIT is the clearest survivor. Short, intense workouts did not fade so much as become a permanent category alongside steadier, slower training styles. Wearables followed a similar path, moving from a slightly geeky gadget to something built into most phones by default within a few years.
Boutique studios also held on as a category, even as specific studios and formats have come and gone since. If you want a modern version of that short, intense format from home, our 20-minute home workout guide is built around that same efficient spirit.
Group training accountability also proved to be more than a passing fad. The idea that showing up is easier alongside other people, whether in a class or an online group, has only grown stronger since 2017, not weaker. That part of the list aged especially well.
Use this as a starting point, then adjust for your body, conditions and professional advice. A plan is useful only when it responds to you.
What has changed since 2017
What has shifted most is the emphasis on balance. Where 2017 leaned hard into training harder and faster, more recent thinking gives real space to easier training too, since not every session needs to leave you gasping to be useful. Our zone 2 cardio guide covers the easier end of training that got far less attention back then than it deserved.
Recovery has also become a bigger, more accepted part of a normal routine rather than an afterthought squeezed in after a hard week. Sleep, in particular, gets talked about now in a way it rarely did in older fitness coverage. Our sleep and recovery guide reflects that shift.
Clean eating, as a strict label, has also softened considerably. What replaced it is a more relaxed idea that food quality matters, but that no single food needs to be treated as forbidden. That change alone probably improved a lot of people's relationship with eating more than any single 2017 training trend improved their fitness.
Outdoor bootcamps have also evolved rather than disappeared, with more variety in format and intensity than the fairly uniform version that was common back then. The underlying appeal, training outside with other people instead of alone in a gym, held up well, even as the specific class names and structures moved on.
What this old 2017 trends list still says about fitness fads
Looking back at 2017's trends now is a useful reminder that the fitness industry recycles ideas more than it invents them. HIIT is still HIIT under a new class name. Wearables just got smaller and smarter. The trends that mattered were the ones built on something genuinely useful, not the ones with the flashiest branding.
If you want a training plan that is not chasing whatever happens to be trending this month, the Workout Builder can help you build one around your own goals. For more restored archive reads like this one, the fitness archive is where older SHAPE trend pieces are being kept for exactly this kind of look back.
The bigger point of revisiting an old list like this is not nostalgia. It is a small reminder that fitness advice tends to circle back to the same handful of solid ideas: move often, lift something heavy, recover properly, and pick a format you will keep doing. Everything trendy sits on top of that same foundation, in 2017 and now.
What is the biggest change in fitness advice since 2017?
More attention is now given to recovery, sleep, and easier training, rather than only harder and faster workouts.
This article provides general education and is not a diagnosis or a substitute for personalised medical care. Stop exercise and seek appropriate help for severe, sudden or concerning symptoms.
A Look Back at the Fitness Trends Everyone Was Chasing in 2017: questions answered
Is this a current list of fitness trends?
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No, it is an archive snapshot of 2017, kept as a look back rather than current advice.
Did HIIT work as well as people claimed in 2017?
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It can be effective for many goals, though like any training style it works best alongside proper recovery and variety.
