The fitness industry has changed a lot in recent years. Take gym booking tools, for example.

Not so long ago a member app was a nice-to-have: a fun bonus feature that members didn’t necessarily demand, but were pleasantly surprised to get. These days it’s more a must-have, as members have now come to expect the ease and convenience of booking their own classes, trainers and machines, in their own time, from their own phone.

The most successful gyms, health clubs and fitness studios catch these sorts of trends early, offering new and exciting features and technologies that enhance the member experience.

So what fitness industry trends are on the horizon in 2025? In this guide we’ll reveal a handful of key trends in gym booking software that forward-thinking fitness businesses should know about.

What Are the Emerging Trends in Class Booking Software?

Modern gym booking tools are incredibly clever and functional pieces of software, and they’re only becoming more so as time goes on, as evidenced by the following booking trends:

Virtual fitness

It was a trend that started out of necessity during Covid, but has since become a fixture in gyms across the globe: virtual fitness experiences, whether in the form of pre-recorded workouts, live-streamed classes, remote personal training sessions or interactive fitness apps.

Modern gym booking software allows you to seamlessly integrate virtual classes into your gym schedule, and allows your members to choose between in-person and virtual sessions - whichever suits them best.

Wearable integration

Knowledge is power. The more workout data you have, the more insights you can draw from it, and the sooner you can reach your fitness goals. This, in simple terms, is the reason why fitness wearables like watches, rings and chest straps have exploded in popularity in recent years. And it’s a trend that forward-thinking gyms are taking notice of.

By allowing members to book equipment and classes that integrate wearables and the data they generate - treadmills that connect directly to smartwatches, classes that display data like heart rate and calorie burn on a screen - you create a more engaging, fun and fulfilling experience for your members.

AI-driven personalization

We’ve only just begun to see the potential of artificial intelligence (AI) in the fitness industry, and in 2025 AI tools look set to revolutionize how gym members approach health and fitness. AI algorithms can analyze vast amounts of information, then provide a detailed, tailored plan for each of your members, based on their goals, fitness level and workout preferences.

The member can leverage AI chatbots, powered by machine learning algorithms and natural language processing, to identify and book the classes that will help them lose weight, add muscle or improve performance. This in turn helps to increase how engaged your members are with your gym. These personalized workout plans also form an incredible opportunity to upsell members to personal training sessions or a higher membership tier.

How AI Tools are Transforming Fitness Industry Class Management

AI solutions could transform your gym business in any number of meaningful ways beyond creating personalized training programs. Ultimately the ways to use AI are limited only by your imagination, but here are a few examples that can serve as inspiration:

• Automated class scheduling: AI-powered gym booking solutions can analyze attendance patterns, like popular classes and peak gym hours, then automatically optimize your class schedules based on the insights generated.

• Personalized member experiences: Not only can AI-driven apps provide tailored workout plans, they can recommend specific classes and trainers, track the member’s progress towards their goals, and suggest new workouts as the member’s fitness, skills and preferences change.

• Attendance and capacity monitoring: AI systems can track real-time attendance figures, then notify members of particularly crowded or empty classes, and suggest alternative times that may offer a better experience.

• Virtual coaching and feedback: One of the most significant potential applications of AI in fitness is how it could offer every single one of your members a virtual personal trainer experience. For example, computer vision technology can be used to analyze and deliver personalized, real-time feedback on form and technique.

The Impact of Virtual Classes on Modern Gyms

Many gyms are naturally (and justifiably) skeptical of leaning too heavily into the world of virtual training. A key reason why people work out at a gym rather than at home is the feeling of community, and being surrounded by like-minded people.

But in 2025 there are ways to integrate virtual trainers and classes that can enhance the sense of community and overall member experience within your gym, rather than harm it:

Hybrid virtual class

The hybrid virtual class model combines in-person and virtual elements. Members can either attend the class at the gym, or join remotely from their home or from another gym via a live-stream.

This approach gives members more flexibility in their fitness and wellness regimes. If a member doesn’t have time to travel to the gym, or can only do half a class, they can join at their leisure, train hard and leave when they need to. This helps members get maximum possible value from their membership, and offers the familiarity of training with the same instructors and class members.

Hybrid virtual classes can be surprisingly simple to implement: you can just start a private or public live-stream on social media. But if you want to elevate the member experience, it’s wise to capture the classes using high-quality cameras and microphones, and broadcast them through purpose-built video conferencing platforms or custom apps that allow remote participants to chat with the instructor and other members.

Fully virtual class

The fully virtual class model is one pioneered by the likes of Peloton. These classes are entirely online, either pre-recorded or live-streamed.

While your gym would be wise to avoid direct competition with a multi-billion dollar company like Peloton, there is an opportunity to lean on your strengths - your brand, community, familiarity, local/specialist knowledge - to offer something unique to your members (and make a bit of money in the process).

By offering regular, fully virtual, live-streamed classes to time-poor members just before work or during weekday lunch breaks, you can help them squeeze workouts in and around their busy lives. Alternatively you can create a library of on-demand workouts that the member can enjoy at their leisure, and perhaps even offer a virtual-only membership tier that captures people who may not otherwise invest in a gym membership.

In terms of the sessions themselves, you know your members best, so custom-craft content to their needs and preferences. This is your USP versus a huge brand like Peloton; delivering workouts and training advice that you know your members are interested in, and that drive them towards their health and wellness goals.

Benefits of offering virtual classes for modern gyms

1. Increased membership retention: Virtual options provide members with flexibility, which can help to reduce a member’s risk of leaving the gym due to travel or scheduling conflicts.
2. Broader reach: By allowing members to dial in from different locations, gyms can expand their reach far beyond their immediate area.
3. Additional revenue: By offering virtual-only memberships or pay-per-view classes you can generate additional income (though you need to ensure you don’t encourage full members to drop to a virtual-only tier).
4. Greater class capacities: Virtual class options can exponentially increase your class sizes, as you are no longer limited in terms of space and rules around fire occupancy loads.

By adopting virtual class models in 2025, your gym positions itself as adaptable, member-focused and tech-forward. You also give yourself the opportunity to make more money.

Integrating Wearable Technology in Gym Class Scheduling

By collecting and sharing performance data, gym wearables - fitness trackers, smartwatches, heart rate monitors - have the potential to revolutionize how your gym schedules classes and trainers, both on a group and individual member level.

Here’s how.

Tracking performance for personalized scheduling

Wearables measure metrics such as heart rate, calories burned, workout intensity and recovery time. By choosing gym equipment that connects with popular wearables, you can collect and analyze this data (while abiding by data protection regulations around privacy and security), then use the resulting insights to tweak your gym schedule:

• Progress-driven bookings: Wearables track member fitness goals like daily steps and calorie burn. You can use this data to automatically encourage members to book classes that align with their progress. They might receive a notification through the member app that says something like “You’re 3000 steps away from today’s target! Our 7pm aerobics class is filling up fast - book now to hit your daily goal!” This helps your gym fill up classes while keeping members engaged and motivated based on individual goals.
• Skill-based allocation: Smart booking tools can be used to analyze member performance data then advise on the best level of class - beginner, intermediate, advanced - for a challenging and effective workout.
• Personalized recommendations: By combining data from wearables with AI technologies, you can offer members everything from tailored overall fitness plans to personalized treatment plans for injuries and issues, which can then be brought to life by your instructors or trainers. The AI offers a yoga class to aid recovery after intense strength training, for example. Such deep customization makes your gym accessible to everyone, no matter their fitness level or body goals.

Enhancing attendance management

Wearables can help you to streamline operations and improve attendance by offering:

• Automated check-ins: Connected devices like smartwatches can automatically grant members access to your gym based on their membership tier, and also check them into specific classes as they enter designated zones, saving time and allowing you to more easily stay within capacity limits.
• Attendance insights: This check-in functionality also lets you track which members attend specific classes, helping you understand the popularity of classes and trainers, and identify members who are less engaged. You can then use these insights to adjust your offerings.
• Dynamic scheduling: While consistency is important in scheduling, as it allows your members to plan ahead, the attendance insights outlined above can also allow you to offer dynamic scheduling - instantly adding an extra class when demand far exceeds the capacity of the current class, for example.

By leveraging wearable technology, gyms can create smarter, more personalized class schedules, boosting both member satisfaction and business success.

Future-Proofing Your Gym Starts with Smart Booking Software

The ongoing success of your gym is increasingly reliant on your ability to evolve - to stay on top of fitness industry trends and to offer the tech that your members are looking for.

By choosing smart gym booking software, you gain access to the tools you need to offer a high-end, cutting edge gym member experience, and to generate more revenue than ever before.

As the preferred choice for thousands of gyms across 110+ countries, GymMaster is that solution.

But you don’t need to take our word for it - test us out for yourself with a GymMaster demo and free trial today.