By Marina Gomide
This content was created in partnership with Google Trends.
QUEENSLANDERS are searching for gyms and health supplements at some of the highest levels recorded in more than two decades, with Sunshine Coast fitness experts pointing to a major shift from simply looking good to living stronger and healthier for longer.
Google Trends data from 2004 to 2026 shows relative search interest in gyms has climbed markedly across Queensland, reaching record levels in recent years.
Among eight fitness activities compared, gym recorded by far the highest average search interest across the 22-year period, ahead of swimming, running, yoga, cycling, pilates, CrossFit and hiking.
While swimming has experienced regular seasonal peaks, search interest in gyms has trended strongly upwards, particularly since the early 2020s, while running has also climbed sharply in recent years.
Pilates has recorded a noticeable rise since around 2021, while CrossFit, which surged in popularity during the mid-2010s, has fallen from its earlier highs.
Glass House Mountains-based BeFarmFit gym manager and personal trainer, Gyan Talbot, said she had witnessed a significant change in what motivated people to exercise.
“I would say the biggest one is the conversation around exercise has changed,” she said.
“It used to be a lot about like losing weight or looking smaller and I feel like there’s now been this shift and it’s more about being strong and capable and feeling good.”
Ms Talbot said greater awareness of the long-term benefits of exercise was also attracting people who may not traditionally have considered strength training.
“Especially in the hinterland region, we’ve got people in their 50s, 60s, and 70s that are starting strength training for the first time,” she said.
“That’s because they want to keep their independence, and there’s more exposure and research and information out there showing that strength training is how you do that.”
She said the changing mindset could be summed up simply: “It’s not about how you look; it’s about how you feel.”
Running’s recent rise could also reflect the growing number of run clubs and organised events, giving people a goal to work towards, Ms Talbot said.
“There never used to be much of it around, and I feel like that’s increased, which has then given people the opportunity to work towards something,” she said.
Supplementing better health
The health boom is also extending beyond exercise, with Google searches indicating rapidly growing interest in supplements.
A separate Google Trends comparison of eight supplements and nutrition-related search terms shows magnesium dominating long-term Queensland interest.
Magnesium’s relative search interest has surged particularly strongly in recent years, reaching its highest levels in the 2025-26 period. Creatine and collagen have also risen sharply, with creatine briefly spiking above 80 on the Trends index in 2026.
The Sunshine Coast is also among Queensland’s stronger areas for magnesium interest. In the regional comparison supplied by Google Trends, the Sunshine Coast ranked fourth for relative interest in magnesium in Queensland, behind Curra, Yeppoon and Gympie.
On the Sunshine Coast, magnesium accounted for 40 per cent of comparative interest across five selected terms, followed by collagen at 19 per cent, protein powder at 15 per cent, creatine at 14 per cent and vitamin D at 12 per cent.
Glass House Mountains-based nutritionist, Dani Baxter, from Built Nutrition said the high interest in magnesium was likely extended it’s benefits well beyond exercise.
She said magnesium glycinate was associated with muscle relaxation and recovery, as well as sleep quality and reducing stress and anxiety.
“If your sleep is improving, then obviously you’re going to get better results in the gym with your mindset,” she said.
“But it’s not just necessarily people working out.”
Protein remained one of the most established supplements, while Ms Baxter said collagen’s broader appeal could help explain its growing popularity.
“Collagen will work more on your joints, skin, hair, nails, like skin elasticity, that kind of thing,” she said.
“It still is a protein that has protein content in it, but it’s a different form of protein than working directly within your muscles.”
She said collagen also had appeal beyond exercise and was increasingly associated with health and beauty, possibly explaining it’s recent surge in popularity.
Creatine has also recorded one of the most striking recent increases in search interest.
Ms Baxter said from a fitness perspective, it could improve repeated high-intensity performance, strength capacity and support muscle growth, while research had also explored benefits beyond physical performance.
Ms Baxter said the overall growth in interest reflected a wider cultural shift towards health she had observed during more than a decade living on the Sunshine Coast.
“I think there’s such a movement of people wanting to be healthy and especially like the younger generation,” she said.
“I think it’s just a health movement in general, and we’re a lot more conscious about the like long-term effects and healthy lifestyle and aging well.”
According to Ms Baxter, social media had also helped accelerate that change by making information about exercise and nutrition more accessible.
“There’s more information out there about the different things and it has made fitness more accessable,” Ms Baxter said.
“However, it also had the downside that anyone can put anything out there.
“You have influencers who aren’t qualified who are putting posts out saying, ‘Oh, this worked for me,’ or promoting products they know nothing about.”
Changing diets and weight loss
Ms Baxter said popularity online did not necessarily mean advice was supported by research.
Detoxes were one example of a longstanding trend she continued to encounter, with people believing cleanses were needed to remove toxins or seeing rapid weight loss as proof they worked.
“Our bodies actually do that naturally anyway, so we don’t need to be doing those those detoxes,” she said.
“And then obviously you do a detox and you lose weight, so then you get that reward, but you’re going to lose weight if you just don’t eat.”
Google Trends data comparing eight diet-related search terms since 2004 shows the keto diet has attracted the highest average search interest, followed by weight loss diet, and intermittent fasting.
Keto experienced by far the most dramatic boom, with relative search interest beginning to climb rapidly around 2017 before reaching a peak of 100 in 2019.
Interest has since fallen substantially from that peak, although keto remains prominent among the diets analysed.
Intermittent fasting also gained ground from around 2017 and has remained relatively prominent in recent years, while searches for “calorie deficit” have gradually increased and recently reached some of their highest levels in the 22-year comparison.
The pattern is similar on the Sunshine Coast, where keto accounted for 46 per cent of comparative search interest across five selected diet terms. Intermittent fasting accounted for 16 per cent, followed by Mediterranean diet at 14 per cent, weight loss diet at 13 per cent and calorie deficit at 11 per cent.
Ms Baxter said misconceptions around carbohydrates persisted despite greater access to nutritional information, particularly amid the growing emphasis on protein.
“I still think there is a little bit of that fear that like carbs make you gain weight,” she said.
“Everyone’s pushing protein so much, I still think you need to be having more carb than protein.”
Her emphasis was on maintaining balance rather than unnecessarily restricting particular foods.
Despite keto remaining the most prominent of the selected diet searches on the Sunshine Coast, Ms Baxter questioned whether highly restrictive diets were sustainable for most people.
She said reducing carbohydrates through a keto diet could initially produce weight loss partly through changes in stored water, while people training for performance could struggle without sufficient carbohydrate intake.
Ms Baxter said intermittent fasting could also result in people eating less simply because they had shortened the period in which they consumed food, rather than because fasting itself offered a shortcut to weight loss.
She also cautioned that fasting could affect women differently and said dietary approaches needed to consider individual circumstances.
“I just don’t think either of them are sustainable long term,” she said, referring to keto and fasting.
“I’m very, very big on balance and lifestyle, and not feeling restricted, and because that’s how you get long term results.”
Together, the search trends and local observations point to a Sunshine Coast health culture that is expanding beyond simply losing weight, with interest increasingly encompassing strength, longevity, recovery, nutrition and general wellbeing.
This content is part of a paid partnership with Google to promote Google Trends.