If you’re looking to supercharge your wellness routine beyond the usual advice about regular exercise, ample hydration and adequate shut-eye, we’ve rounded up three wellness trends that Hong Kong experts say will leave us feeling refreshed, moisturised and sharp for 2025.

1. Fitness communities

According to Max Woodward, a former professional rugby player and the co-founder of soon-to-open Quarry Gym inside the 1880 Hong Kong members’ club, the coming year will see a doubling-down on the aspect of community within fitness, as people seek physical connection in a post-pandemic world.

“We’ve seen this with the explosion of social run­ning clubs and events such as Hyrox,” he says, referring to the global indoor fitness competition, which was founded in 2017 and held 65 races around the world in 2023 alone. Woodward expects that “larger group events such as run clubs, Padel and fitness challenges will continue [to gain] in popularity”.

According to Strava’s annual Year in Sport trend report, which combined the activity data of more than 135 million people across 190 countries, 2024 saw a 59 per cent rise in running-club participation globally, while large group activities increased by 13 per cent and had three times more downtime than solo activities, reflecting time being made for coffee and conversation mid-workout.

Parallel to the casualisation of workouts, Woodward predicts that, to cater to diehard fitness enthusiasts, gyms will play a larger role in people’s fitness routines as they become more specialised. “As races like Hyrox and marathons continue to gain popularity, people will begin to realise that specialised training is more effective in order to get stronger and fitter, which in turn gets them the outcome they want.”