Global Fitness Industry – A Review

Gyms, health and fitness clubs market refers to places that provide exercise facilities such as different exercise machines, fitness guidance, fitness training classes, personal training and other services related to health and fitness.

The fitness market is evolving steadily, with new business models, training concepts, and trends constantly emerging. Even though this industry faced setbacks in 2020 due to the pandemic, the fitness sector has shown how quickly it can adapt with online training along with mainstream gyms and fitness facilities.

Health and Fitness Clubs- Statistics and Facts

Health and fitness clubs offer their customers the infrastructure and the facilities for their workouts and physical activity in exchange for a membership fee. The market size of the global fitness and health club industry has been steadily increasing in recent years, crossing 96 billion U.S. dollars in 2019.

24 Hour Fitness and Life Time Fitness are the largest health clubs worldwide in terms of revenue. It is also interesting to know that the world approximately holds over 2,00,000 health and fitness clubs with the United States, Germany, and the United Kingdom having the highest number of fitness club memberships.

Biggest Fitness Club Operators

Gym operators based in the US and Japan dominate the top 10 biggest fitness clubs. LA Fitness is now the largest fitness operator in the world having a revenue of about $2.09 billion. Here are the top 3 industry leaders based on the revenue- LA Fitness– $2.09 billion, Life Time Fitness– $1.75 billion, and 24 Hour Fitness– $1.51 billion.0943

Top Fitness Franchises 

Entrepreneur’s 2021 Franchise List includes Planet Fitness ranks highest at number 8 for the third year in a row. Also featured in the top 500 are Club Pilates, Jazzercise, Retro Fitness, Snap, Pure Barre, and CycleBar and their rankings reflect the impact of new trends towards fitness on-demand, HIIT, etc.

Global Fitness Market

The global health club market is worth approximately $96.7 billion, with more than 2,00,000 clubs and over 184 million members worldwide. In terms of fitness market growth, a slower growth rate was recorded in the previous year due to the pandemic.

A very essential and remarkable change in the fitness industry is occurring due to the global competitions such as Mr. Olympia, Men’s Physique, Mr. World, Mr. Universe, Arnold Classic and many more as this offers a platform to aspiring fitness athletes and bodybuilders to showcase themselves. This trend is helping to gain more people onboard to pursue bodybuilding as a professional career.

Fitness Equipment Market Expansion

The Fitness Equipment Market size exceeded $10 billion (USD) in 2020 (irrespective of the pandemic) and is expected to expand at over 11% CAGR from 2021 to 2027. Moreover, the global industry shipment anticipation is that it can cross 25 million units by 2027.

Increase in Demand of Home Gym Equipment

As we all know, in 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic hampered the fitness equipment market due to the closure of health clubs and gyms globally. The industry observed a temporary downfall, and concerns associated with the spread of the virus through physical contact restricted several people from visiting the gyms. However, this resulted in the increasing demand for fitness equipment for homes, as people preferred to exercise indoors.

Innovative Product Launches

In 2021, the fitness industry is seeing a mini-boom as people who have missed the social interaction and motivation of in-person training are excited to be back and are spending on membership fees.

Unlike a year before, fitness equipment manufacturing was carried out only in a few developed countries such as the US, Germany, Canada, UK. However, now regional manufacturers are emerging in countries such India, Brazil, Thailand etc. who are introducing innovative products for their niche consumer market as well.

Fitness equipment manufacturing companies are focusing on launching differentiated products to solidify their position and capture a large market share. For example, Matrix Fitness offers a training console that offers a guided strength training experience. Similarly, Into Wellness/Realleader USA have introduced an economical range of products to suit the Indian market.

Online Market Segment

The pandemic took a toll on public health and a huge impact on all business sectors, including the fitness industry. 

Social media is playing a very pivotal role in creating psychological  motivation for people to stay fit and look good. Moreover famous celebrities such as Dwayne Johnson (The Rock), Vin Diesel, Jason Statham are all influencing the masses to stay physically fit. 

The information on exercise science, nutrition, mental well-being that is available on digital platforms such as YouTube, blogs, vlogs of athletes and celebrities is helping people to effectively get results with minimal and focused efforts.

Online Fitness Training

The online fitness training trend has certainly emerged due to the pandemic, and on the positive side, it has also opened up new perspectives for trainers as well as fitness enthusiasts who are able to continue guiding and exercising respectively, without going to fitness facilities. So, online training has enabled people to workout with their favorite trainer or on their preferred virtual landscape while being home.

Online Exercise Videos and Courses

Since online fitness training has gained a lot of popularity in recent times, various online exercise videos on different platforms like YouTube, Instagram, etc. have been in demand where trainers and fitness enthusiasts have been actively posting several exercise videos and tutorials to help people train while being at home. Similarly, many certified online training courses are being signed up for where a person can learn how to become a trainer online.

Mental Wellness Becoming a Priority

Lockdown and the stress related to the pandemic has been life alternating for everyone of us and this has led to massive mental health awareness. Along with physical training, the importance of meditation, yoga, and other alternative mental wellness options has been recognized. Online videos and courses related to the above have also increased and people have become more open now to seek help and guidance in these aspects.

Fitness Trends – How the New Normal is Shaping Fitness

Body Weight Training

The global Covid-19 restrictions have also encouraged the development of bodyweight training, and free weights, all of which can be done at home with the right guidance. Body weight training is basically using the weight of the body as resistance, to perform simple as well as complex exercise movements. There are many online trainers who guide online for body weight training and Joanna Soh is one of them who is a certified Personal Trainer (ACE), Nutrition Coach.

Outdoor Training

One of the most current growing trends is outdoor training. Be it on the beach or at the parks and other outdoor places, fitness enthusiasts can workout better in fresh air and feel motivated outdoors to exercise more instead of working out in the constraints of an indoor fitness facility. 

HIIT

HIIT stands for High Intensity Interval Training, and it is followed by medium to low intensity breaks. Its key element lies in performing high intensity workout with reduction of workout time to result in exercise effectiveness even when performed for short periods. This type of training can be done in fitness clubs, as well as at home or outdoors, and is therefore one of the trends for 2021 due to its flexibility.

Fitness Programs for Older Adults

Exercise is meant for wellbeing not just for the younger generation but also for the elderly. A lot of gyms and fitness facilities have included special training programs and group sessions for the elderly who are enthusiastic in working out regularly.

Wearable Technologies

Wearable technologies, which have been gaining popularity every year since 2016. Fitness trackers, heart rate monitors and smartwatches are useful for both consumers and practitioners for various reasons such as- to monitor and store biometric data, prompting people to work on their performance, improve it over time, etc. In this regard, Apple Watch and Samsung Galaxy Watch Active2 are well-heard of in this new fitness trend to keep a track of their progress on these devices.

Conclusion

The global fitness industry is transforming gradually every year also due to the digital growth. This digital recognition has not only been benefiting the industry but is also widening the opportunities for fitness enthusiasts around the world. Furthermore, the digital platforms have also made people more aware of the importance of health and fitness in today’s times.