Forget the six-pack. This has been the year Indian wellness culture became less about chasing a number on the scale, more about longevity, hormones and how well you actually sleep. Threading through all of it is a cast of familiar faces. Alia Bhatt, Deepika Padukone, Ranveer Singh, Sara Ali Khan, Bipasha Basu, Kusha Kapila, Shruti Haasan, Milind Soman and Alaya F., among them, each turning a personal routine into a public syllabus.
Nutritionist and fitness influencer Namita Satheesh and celebrity yoga and wellness expert Anshuka Parwani break down the nine trends that defined the year — and why, increasingly, the real workout is happening in your head.
Protein powder has left the gym-bro aisle behind, with brands widening into everyday snacking — bars, mixes, shakes — rather than gym-only supplements. Creatine has followed, now recommended for general recovery and even brain health, not just bulking.
● The Whole Truth, Yoga Bar, Cosmix and MuscleBlaze have all expanded their protein product lines
● Ranveer Singh launched his own supplement brand, SuperYou
● Kusha Kapila has posted about upping her protein intake as part of her fitness journey
Namita Satheesh says protein has finally shed its gym-only reputation. “Traditionally, the Indian diet doesn’t have enough protein, and that can be seen trickling down into a lot of lifestyle diseases as well, since it’s so carb-heavy. If you’re not able to plan and prep for the amount of protein that you need, protein powder helps fill the gap.”
Cold plunges, infrared saunas and compression-therapy boots have moved from elite athlete facilities into premium gyms, and are now sold as standalone bookable sessions.
● Contrast therapy has quietly gone from niche athlete habit to a structured, mainstream offering this year
Satheesh notes how far the trend has run ahead of the basics, saying, “These do have a reasonable amount of research behind them in terms of helping with your recovery and overall health. Sleep is always the best form of recovery, and I think that’s something everybody is actually ignoring — going on six hours of sleep and then taking a cold plunge is not going to do anything for you.”
Running was always social, but 2026 has evolved the run club into a branding exercise. City-level clubs have rapidly grown across the country over the past year while the run itself has become a vehicle for something else: a partnership, a marketing event or even a show. It’s almost become less about the run and more about giving people a reason to keep returning to the same group every week.
● The community draw is a genuine health input, and a good way to get people to be active
● The trend is creeping into other sports as well, such as pickleball and padel
“We are so attached to our devices these days that we don’t really get that much community time. I genuinely think community and having friendships is a very important metric of health,” says Satheesh.
The loudest, sweatiest workout in the room isn’t winning anymore. Pilates studios, mobility-focused formats and slower, control-based movement practices have gained real traction.
● Sara Ali Khan and Bipasha Basu have shared glimpses of their Pilates journeys online
● Parwani’s high-intensity clients — Alia Bhatt, Deepika Padukone, Kareena Kapoor Khan, Rakul Preet Singh — have all brought mobility work into the fold
“It’s no longer about just being aesthetically sculpted on the outside. They understand mobility, they understand flexibility, they understand the different muscles that yoga and Pilates use — and how that affects your grip strength, your wrist strength — the basic things you need for a healthier ageing life,” says Anshuka Parwani.
PCOS, perimenopause and postpartum recovery — long treated as footnotes — are now widely discussed, with fitness programmes tailored to hormonal stages rather than one-size-fits-all advice. The specificity matters because the older approach of treating all female fitness as one undifferentiated category routinely ignored how hormonal stages change what a body needs.
● Shruti Haasan has spoken publicly about her PCOS and joined OZiva’s PCOS-awareness journey
“It’s great to discuss perimenopause, postpartum, endometriosis and more, because hormonal health is such a big umbrella, and it’s very real,” says Parwani.
Functional beverages have moved from niche health-store items to mainstream shelves, fueled by gut-health marketing. Protein shakes and cleansing shots aren’t new, but the sugar-free reformulations and probiotic additions are.
● Kombucha, electrolytes, collagen shots and probiotic, sugar-free protein shakes are riding a wave of gut-microbiome interest and label-conscious buyers
“Read your nutrition label,” says Satheesh. “Adding protein to something doesn’t make it healthy. It just helps you hit your protein goals. They are separate things.”
Breathwork and nervous system reset sessions have reframed exercise as a tool for regulating stress response.
● Deepika Padukone has long spoken about mental health, helping normalise the idea that stress is physiological
Parwani says, “If you’re working from your parasympathetic nervous system, — how you rest and relax — everything gets better. You’re sleeping better, eating better, your cortisol is in order. That’s why Pranayama is important, because it’s breath regulation — nervous system regulation is just fancy words for the same.”
The 75-day, no-exceptions discipline challenge (two workouts a day, strict diet, 3.5 litres of water, daily reading and progress photo) has spawned more realistic remixes — 75 Soft, 75 Medium — but the original has a devoted following.
● Alaya F. took on a tougher version of her own, 97 Hard, (she was born in 1997) and timed to finish on 09/07/2026
● Fitness influencer and wrestler Ankit Baiyanpuria remains the format’s most viral Indian face
● Creator Srishti Shrivastav has documented her attempt
“I’m not a 75 Hard believer, because I know it is very rigid — if you don’t do it right, you have to start from day one. My firm belief is nothing should be extreme, because that can be demotivating. In your 30s and higher than that, you shouldn’t be doing so much — your output is not meant to be so rigid,” says Parwani.
HYROX has gone from a niche competition to a global fitness format: alternating 1 km runs with functional stations such as rowing and wall balls, letting athletes compare performances across cities and countries.
● Chef Pooja Dhingra and former WWE wrestler Sanjana George have both documented their HYROX attempts online
● Milind Soman was named World of Hyatt’s partner for its HYROX India collaboration
Satheesh says, “It gives people a goal and a fun way to test themselves outside of stepping on a weighing scale, or an aesthetic goal.”