The 1920s were called the Roaring Twenties because the world sped up.
Jazz clubs. Fast money. Art deco. New freedoms. New technology. People wanted movement after years of war, grief and uncertainty. Society dressed up, danced harder and chased optimism wherever it could find it.
A century later, our own twenties have roared too… just in a very different way.
Covid. Lockdowns. Political division. Trump. Wars. Inflation. AI anxiety. Economic instability. A permanent sense of uncertainty humming in the background. These years haven’t felt glamorous; they’ve felt loud – and fitness culture has absorbed every part of it.
The pandemic accelerated wellness from hobby to identity. Health became personal, political and performative all at once. Suddenly everyone cared about recovery metrics, nervous systems, cold plunges, cortisol, sleep scores and protein intake. The modern wellness consumer doesn’t just want to look fit anymore — they want to optimise life itself.
The interesting question now is what happens next as we move toward the second half of the decade.
The signs are already there.
The iconic London nightclub Tramp has just launched Tramp health, and in person lifestyle and wellness experience on site.
Wearable tech isn’t disappearing, it’s becoming more invisible and more intelligent. Brands like Oura are pushing wellness deeper into everyday life through sleep, recovery and longevity tracking, while the broader wearable market continues to expand into AI enhanced health monitoring and behavioural coaching.
Supplements are shifting too. The old school bodybuilding aisle has evolved into “functional wellness”: protein sodas, longevity blends, magnesium drinks, adaptogens and GLP-1 conversations entering mainstream culture.
According to recent wellness reporting from Fitt Insider,Vogue and broader trend forecasts, consumers increasingly want products that promise energy, recovery, focus and lifespan not just aesthetics.
Studios are also changing shape.
The next wave probably isn’t about bigger gyms. It’s about experiences people cannot get from screens. Sauna clubs. Recovery spaces. Social wellness clubs. Hybrid hospitality concepts. Fitness travel. Boutique communities built around belonging rather than just burpees. Recent reporting suggests consumers are actively craving in person wellness experiences as a reaction against digital fatigue and loneliness.
At the same time, the industry is consolidating.
Large wellness brands are buying attention, data and loyalty. Luxury hospitality is moving into longevity. Fashion and wellness continue to overlap. The line between fitness brand, media company, recovery clinic and lifestyle club gets blurrier every year. Even the language has changed, fewer six pack promises, more conversations about nervous systems, hormones, burnout and “feeling well”.
That matters for independent teachers and studio owners.
The next few years may reward businesses that feel more human, more local and more emotionally intelligent. Not necessarily the loudest brand in the room but the one creating genuine trust and connection while the world still feels noisy.
Maybe that’s the real link between the two roaring twenties.
Both decades emerged from instability. Both created new cultures around escape, identity and aspiration. Both used the body (fashion then, wellness now ) as a way to process uncertainty.
From Gatsby to gut health, every roaring decade leaves its mark on how people try to feel alive and from flappers to cortisol every hedonistic period reveals what people are really anxious about.
