The Evolution of the Fitness Industry

Since the economic shutdown in March, industries throughout the world have been been fighting to stay alive, reinvent themselves in order to remain relevant and otherwise have been reimagining what business in their space is poised to look like following the covid pandemic.

The fitness industry is no exception as it may be the pinnacle of this scenario considering it’s long standing identity crisis prior to 2020. It’s true, the fitness industry has been ripe for disruption for many years (see Fitness Industry Disruption – The Opportunity of Convenience Sep. 2019) and as the incorporation of new technology, changing social expectations and the elimination of unnecessary consumer expenses continues to rapidly play out, fitness spaces and programs as we once new them are dying off.

Fortunately as old processes are eliminated, new opportunities become available to deliver greater streamlined solutions to an everchanging fitness consumer market. This article will start the conversation of what the fitness industry of the

Necessity of Fitness | America’s Obesity Epidemic

With the term ‘Covid-15’ starting as a humorous way of telling others that we gained (at least) 15 pounds during 2020, has quickly shown itself as a serious concern with new data indicating that for the first time in U.S history, 42% of Americans are now clinically obese. In addition to what an active lifestyle can positively do for our waistline, it’s also no secret that habitual exercise maintains tremendous cognitive, emotional and vast holistic health benefits. With this in mind, it’s not a matter of whether an effective fitness industry is valuable, it’s in what format, messaging and context can the fitness industry adapt into to meet this demand.

Convenience | Value of time efficient exercise

With the necessity of an effective fitness industry not being a dispute, the question now is what is the solution that consumers require moving into the new normal. The first box that has to be checked in Convenience. Convenience is now the common denominator with all new successfully innovative products & services from grubhub, Amazon, Postmates, Uber, and more. The new age of fitness must be time sensitive, functionally and intuitively convenient.

At-Home Exercise | Fitness within the users existing forums

The convenience that has been most prominent, especially while consumers have been locked down, is the application of at-home fitness. While many users prefer public fitness club environments you can’t under-estimate the many leveled convenience of processing through exercise routines at home. This spectrum of convenience has been leveraged by such brands as Tonal, Peloton, the mirror and many others as they aim to leverage the desired at-home fitness market.

Apart from meeting exercise users in their home, other common commercial fitness forums which are poised to survive are apartment, hotel, corporate, educational and recreation fitness amenities. The reason for this success is similar to that of the at-home convenience which is the ability to multi-purpose the users presence at these locations with other necessary business. These fitness environments meet the convenience factor for users while also giving the communal fitness experience that many users prefer.

Functional Training | Cognitive engagement & enhanced motion

The emerging fitness user will continue to move toward more functional methods of training. Functional training not only offers greater cognitive engaging movement but provides users with greater ranges of motion, thereby increasing the overall health benefits and mobility of the user. This process however will not happen overnight as functional training equipment manufacturers and personal trainers alike will be challenged to make these training styles inviting and intuitive. Consequently, functional training will find an easier foothold within consumer homes as the ease of use and confidence will be significantly higher when novice exercise take to exploring this new and exciting form of exercise.

Sanitation

Commercial fitness environments have had a sanitation problem long before the covid19 pandemic. However this global event effectively placed a spotlight on the industries lack of preparation and the significant health hazards present within these environments. In fact, studies have shown that fitness surfaces can maintain 360 times more bacteria than a toilet seat!

In order to re-instill consumer confidence, fitness centers will need to effectively and fully meet this challenge with protocol that exceeds client expectations. As a result the fitness center of tomorrow will be far cleaner and more comfortable for the health concious exerciser.

Premier Fitness Service is an all inclusive supporter of commercial fitness amenities. With fitness environments representing the dirtiest communal spaces found anywhere, our fitness experts have pivoted to addressing these challenges with the worlds most powerful & safe disinfecting materials and protective equipment. For more information on the fitness and sanitation solutions provided by Premier, check out our website below;