Health Trends to Move, Recover, and Thrive in 2025
2025 is upon us already! 2 out of 52 weeks have already passed by! That means there are new trends that will be coming out for how to best prioritize one’s health and wellness. These trends are related to but not limited to holistic health and sustainable habits for movement and energy. But which ones are worth your time and effort? Well, throughout this blog, we will discuss various health trends and their impact although it won’t be an extensive look at each one. If you desire an in-depth look at each one, more time will be required in your own time to make the most up-to-date decision for you. Here are health trends to move, recover, and thrive in 2025.
Group Classes and Pilates
Group classes and pilates are one way people are doing group fitness classes again post-COVID. They are great ways to get the body moving and to receive the benefits that come along with moving our bodies. Pilates isn’t just back; it’s becoming bigger and bigger. Pilates is a phenomenal way to work on movement and your breath at the same time. Depending on your goals and where you are now, it may be enough for some, but for others, other types of fitness practices are required.
Micro-Habits
Health trends don’t always entail movement, although as therapists we know about the important role it plays in our health and wellbeing. There is more to health than just movement. Micro-habits are an influential part of our overall health. Examples consist of implementing small, mindful habits such as journaling, stretching, hydration, supplementation, and so on. Journaling can be an amazing way to get some steam off our chests. Stretching is a good tool to have and use but if proper hydration isn’t a regular thing, then our bodies won’t function at their optimal level. No matter how much stretching one does. Dehydration can lead to decreased blood flow due to increased viscosity (thickness) of blood with there being less water in circulation.
Should I Supplement?
Supplementations could have their blog post as there seems to be a supplement for everything on the block and then some. So, which are the important ones to take, and which can you pass on? Well, that would require more of an in-depth analysis of them to get a more accurate explanation, but it also depends on your lifestyle, goals, food consumption, and other factors. So, if you would like us to do a separate blog post diving more into supplements, let us know and we can make that happen!
Food as Medicine Movement
“Let food be thy medicine” is a quote you may have heard from Hippocrates. Food plays an important role in our health and wellbeing as that is what supplies our bodies with the building blocks to carry out their daily functions such as repairing structures, recovery, and more. Cooking at home is a phenomenal way to jump-start this as then you know exactly what is all in the meals and dishes you prepare. Well, if you check the labels of what you buy at least. But here we go again with checking labels and then you may be saying “When I check the labels, I’m not finding anything good!” I hear you. Yes, it may be a change, and it will require patience to be practiced. But you can do this!
Recovery Tools
Recovery tools, are where to begin as you can find people vowing for thousands of products that will be the one cure you need for your symptoms. Here, we will briefly discuss three recovery tools – cold plunges, saunas, and massage guns. Cold plunges, you may have seen videos online about this, so is the hype worth it? Cold plunges do have their benefits if done properly and safely, but it isn’t optimal for all conditions. These short exposures to cold can help the body reestablish baselines so that it doesn’t stress out as easily during other activities. It is also a way to increase your mental grit.
But there is the potential for serious harm if the jump is too extreme for the cold temperature, so if you want to give this a try, incrementally decrease the temperature of the water with subsequent exposures. Always prep and have a plan for worst-case scenarios to get warm and then stay warm.
What About Using Heat?
Saunas come in different forms as there are dry saunas and wet saunas. If your goal is to detox or stress reduction, then dry is the way to go. But, if your goal is improving respiratory health or pain relief, then wet saunas are the way to go. Each has other benefits too but there are also instances when you shouldn’t be doing a sauna. For example, if you have heart conditions, low blood pressure, or are pregnant dry saunas are not recommended to participate in due to the associated risks. Massage guns are a way to help increase the flow of fluids via the input of the vibrating head to various parts of the body. This can help to relax muscles, move stagnated fluids in the body, or as part of a warmup/cooldown.
Massage guns come in various models and vibrating frequencies which are indicated for different uses. Here at Freedom Physical Therapy, we sell massage guns that we as a company trust will be able to provide the output that you are seeking. So, if you are interested ask us about it at your next visit or stop in to inquire about them.
Wearable Tech and AI
Wearable tech and AI are continually changing and being able to track various health measurements such as sleep, heart rate, hormone cycles, steps, and so much more. These are beneficial in the sense that they provide real-time health data at your fingertips. Which wearable tech is the best fit for you depends on your needs and goals with what you want to get from it.
Hormone Health Awareness
Hormone health awareness is becoming more popular which is nice to see as hormones play a role in overall health and well-being. So, if they are out of balance, they could potentially be the reason for the headwinds. Hormones change throughout the lifespan, but at all times they impact metabolism, sleep, energy, mood, fertility, and more. To do a comprehensive dive into each hormone and its impact is beyond the scope of this blog post. If you are interested in that, let us know and we can get to work on that. Also, consultation with your primary care physician and medical team as a whole would be beneficial.
Let’s Get 2025 Off to a Healthy Start
We are now at the end of this blog post and hopefully, you have noticed a theme with any health trend, topic, device, etc. It is all so individualistic and depends on where you as an individual are now and where you want to be in the future! Remember though, small steps lead to big impacts and movement is important in many forms, you don’t have to do just a single type of movement. Nor should you, as our bodies like new stimuli so move in many different ways. If you are feeling a bit overwhelmed with all this information or just with health and movement in general, you are always welcome to book a consultation with us at one of our Freedom Physical Therapy locations – Mukwonago, Brookfield, Grafton, or Fox Point. Enjoy more Freedom in 2025.