4.0 The Wellness Trends That Are Having a Moment

As a millennial woman, I feel like we’ve already lived through an era where being as small as possible was sold to us as the ultimate goal.

We watched celebrities’ bodies be picked apart on the front pages of magazines. We were told which foods were “good” and which were “bad”. We grew up in a culture where losing weight was almost always met with a compliment, regardless of how that weight was lost, and personally, I’m not particularly interested in going back there.

Yet skinny is having another moment, alongside it, however, there are three other wellness trends having a pretty big moment right now that I think deserve far more of our attention:

Protein maxxing. Supplement stacking. Strength training.

Together, they point towards a very different relationship with our bodies.

Instead of how little can I eat, let's ask what does my body actually need?

Instead of training to burn off dinner, how about asking, how can I build muscle, protect my bones, move well and stay strong?

Instead of chasing smaller, can we focus on capable?

Protein has entered the chat, or, more accurately, protein has entered absolutely everything.

Protein coffees, protein waters, protein yoghurts, protein cereals, protein desserts. Cottage cheese in places cottage cheese probably never expected to find itself.

“Protein maxxing” has become one of the wellness buzzwords of the year, but the appetite behind it is very real.

Arla recently reported strong demand for high-protein products including skyr, cottage cheese and protein shakes, while interest in protein-packed functional drinks has surged, but it’s not just about packing in the protein anymore. Brands are packing a shit ton of other stuff in there too.

Drinks like Elevate are a good example of where this is heading. Rather than reaching for a protein shake, then your creatine, then your electrolytes, then whatever else is currently taking up half your kitchen cupboard, functional drinks are increasingly trying to roll multiple benefits into one.

Protein + creatine + electrolytes + vitamins + functional ingredients.

Essentially: how much wellness can we fit into one drink?

I get. We’re all busy, most of us don’t want a 12-step supplement routine, and if one drink can tick off a few things at once, why wouldn’t we be interested?

What I also find interesting is who protein is now being marketed to.

For years, protein felt aimed at bodybuilding, shaker bottles and the weights section of the gym. Now it’s being positioned around energy, strength, healthy ageing and everyday nutrition.

Protein has gone mainstream, and yes, we probably don't need protein added to absolutely everything we consume, but I like what the shift is encouraging us to ask.

Instead of what should I cut out? What should I be adding in?

The supplement stacking

Then there is the ever-growing supplement cupboard, if you aren't drinking them all together already. Taking a multivitamin suddenly feels incredibly 2015.

Now we have magnesium before bed, creatine in the morning, collagen in our coffee, electrolytes after training and Vitamin D because we live in England.

Supplements themselves obviously aren't new. What's changing is how specific we're becoming about them. Rather than simply taking “vitamins”, we're choosing products because we want them to perform a particular job.

Magnesium → sleep and recovery

Creatine → strength and performance

Collagen → skin and joints

Electrolytes → hydration

Protein → muscle and strength

Ashwagandha → stress support

Some of these categories are also moving far beyond their original audiences.

Creatine is probably the best example. Once firmly associated with men wanting to get bigger in the gym, it's increasingly appearing in conversations around women, healthy ageing and cognitive performance.

Collagen has moved from supplement tub to coffee shop and electrolytes have somehow become an everyday handbag essential. Wellness is becoming increasingly functional:

What am I taking, and what is it actually doing for me?

There is, of course, another side to this. The wellness industry is very good at convincing us we need things. A supplement can't replace eating properly, sleeping, moving or looking after ourselves, however good the branding is. And the evidence behind different supplements varies enormously.

Forget skinny. I want to be strong.

This is probably the shift I'm most interested in.

Women are lifting.

Vogue recently argued that it's time for brands to invest in “women who lift”, pointing to strength training becoming not only a fitness movement but a cultural and commercial one.

At the same time, strength is increasingly being discussed through the lens of longevity.

Muscle isn't simply about aesthetics. We're talking about maintaining muscle mass as we age, bone health, mobility, independence and what our bodies are capable of doing later in life. I think that distinction really matters, particularly when skinny culture appears to be creeping back into the conversation.

For a very long time, women's fitness was sold around taking up less space.

Burn calories, lose weight, tone up. I remember that fitness culture. I grew up in it.

While the packaging might look different this time around, I don't think we need another generation of women believing that the ultimate sign of health is how little space their body takes up, especially when there is another conversation happening at exactly the same time:

Lift heavier, eat enough protein, build that muscle and ensure you recover properly. Simply put, get stronger.

Of course aesthetics haven't disappeared from wellness., let's not get carried away, wanting to lose weight doesn't automatically mean someone has an unhealthy relationship with their body either. However, if we're choosing which wellness trends deserve more airtime, I'm putting my money behind strength, because being strong gives us something beyond an aesthetic, it gives us something our bodies can actually do.

It’s all connected.

What initially looked like three separate trends starts to look like one.

We're protein maxxing because we want to support muscle.

We're taking creatine because we want to perform and recover.

We're strength training because we increasingly understand the importance of maintaining muscle.

As someone who already lived through one round of size-zero culture, and now have two baby girls, I know which conversation I'd rather be part of.

There will inevitably be another wellness trend next month. There always is.

But, eating properly, lifting something heavy, building muscle and wanting to stay strong for longer?

Those are trends I hope stick around.

A few things I'm loving right now

For collagen, I've been using Ancient + Brave True Collagen for over a year now.

Recently I've actually started getting compliments on my skin which, frankly, considering how tired I am juggling two under three, is not where I expected the compliments to be coming from. Could it be my red light? Absolutely. Could it be the collagen? Potentially. Could it be a combination of a million things? Probably, but I like it and I've stuck with it.

You can choose bovine or marine and I normally pop mine into my coffee, protein shake or electrolytes in the morning.

I've also become a creatine convert.

I was genuinely nervous about taking creatine at first. I build muscle relatively quickly and had this slightly weird relationship with the idea that taking it was somehow going to make me huge. Spoiler: it didn't.

I've been using Ancient + Brave's creatine and really like it for supporting my training, energy and recovery.

And then there are two female-founded studios I'm currently obsessing over.

Studio Co in Oxted for Reformer Pilates.

Daisy founded Studio Co in Sevenoaks and opened her second studio in Oxted this summer. The space is beautiful and intimate, the team are fantastic and yes, the reformers happen to be in one of my favourite colours, so naturally I was sold.

More importantly, they've been brilliant at helping me rebuild my core strength and confidence in my movement.

Beyond Fitness in Fitzrovia for Lagree.

It's led by powerhouse Paola, who was born in Sicily and has created such a beautiful, inclusive space. I recently did a Lagree class there and my glu

tes were still reminding me about it three days later.

Both are brilliant women building brilliant spaces.

All I can really say is: thank you and go.

While we're here, I'm always looking for new people to work out with.

London or Surrey,

who's joining me?