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Going to the gym has always been part of Kari Hamra’s routine until last year’s government-ordered closures forced her to replace workouts with daily rides on her Peloton stationary bike.
It was then that she discovered something surprising: she did not miss the gym. At least not going back and forth, filling water bottles, changing clothes and above all, getting away from her husband and her two boys.
Now that her gym in Springfield, Missouri is open again, she is slowly coming back. But finding a more convenient exercise schedule at home and seeing an increase in COVID-19 cases in her hometown this summer has left her wondering how much she needs the gym. She thinks that if there had never been a coronavirus epidemic, “I would still be a gym rat.”
The pandemic has reshaped the way Americans exercise and revolutionized the fitness industry, accelerating the growth of a new era of high-tech home workout equipment and virtual classrooms.
Thousands of small fitness centers and studios that were forced to close a year ago are now gone for good. Others find it difficult to stay afloat and have have redesigned their spaces, turned to more personal training and added online training.
Is Peloton a gym killer?
We don’t yet know if gyms will survive the virtual workouts provided by apps and expensive interactive bikes and treadmills or if they make their way to arcades, video rental stores, and bookstores.
Peloton, a tech company that makes interactive stationary bikes and treadmills and app-based workouts, is betting the home training trend is here to stay. It opens its first US plant on Monday just outside Toledo, Ohio, where it plans to begin production in 2023 and employ 2,000 workers.
Peloton shares closed at $ 116 per share on Monday, up 346% from $ 26 per share in mid-March 2020.
Workout clothing company Lululemon, known for its stretchy leggings, also bet on the trend at the start of the pandemic, acquisition of home fitness startup Mirror for $ 500 million.
Lululemon shares are trading at $ 408 per share, up 125% from $ 181 per share in March last year.
Meanwhile, demand for Peloton products increased so much during the pandemic that some customers had to wait months to receive their bikes. While the company said the order backlog had shrunk, it said sales continued to soar, rising 141% in the first three months of this year.
“A broken model of yesteryear”
Peloton founder and CEO John Foley believes tech-driven home fitness routines will eventually become more popular than gym visits, which he called “the broken model of yesteryear.”
The phenomenon is compared to video streaming services overtaking the cinema sector.
Peloton’s next steps include bringing more of its equipment to hotels, apartment complexes and college campuses. It will also launch more workouts through the company app.
“Fitness is one of the few remaining categories that is going to be massively disrupted by a digital experience,” Foley told The Associated Press.
In the first few months of the pandemic, when they were forced to shut down, many independent fitness centers turned to Zoom and other video conferencing platforms to continue offering classes like yoga and pilates and personal training sessions to their members.
But not all gym operators are looking at virtual training.
“We don’t have the budget to do it at the same price and with the same quality,” said Jeff Sanders, CEO of Apex Athletic Health Club in Penfield, New York. “Digital is great, but we’ve seen polls that show people want to stay active, but lack the interaction and closeness to others.”
9,000 gymnasiums and counting already closed
About 9,000 health clubs – 22% of the national total – have closed since the start of the virus outbreak and 1.5 million workers have lost their jobs, according to the International Health Racquet & Sportsclub Association.
The industry group is pressuring Congress to approve a $ 30 billion relief fund for the fitness industry as many clubs struggle to recover from months of lost revenue and downturns. staff and still have to reimburse the rent.
More facilities are expected to close this year, especially if the government does not intervene. The popularity of working from home isn’t helping either, according to Helen Durkin, the association’s executive vice president of public policy.
“People are integrating their lives with technology. This is where the company is, and it’s just going to integrate more,” said Michelle Segar, director of sports, University’s Health and Activity Research and Policy Center. from Michigan.
Fitness industry leaders say research has shown health clubs are no more at risk of spreading the virus than other public spaces. But San Francisco gym owner Dave Karraker believes it will be a long time before many people are comfortable stepping into a large, busy fitness center.
“They’re going to think about ventilation and air purifiers and how long has this equipment been disinfected,” he said.
He reconfigured the two small studios of MX3 Fitness and created personal training spaces. It has become so popular that he is looking for a third location.
He is not surprised that people are returning even though safety remains a concern.
“They don’t want to live this lonely existence anymore,” he said. “There are all kinds of motivations. Let’s face it, gyms are a great way to meet new people, especially if you’re single.”
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