Future of the Fitness Industry In 2021

The year 2020 bought about a lot of changes in the way we eat, think, act, live, but most of all, it brought about a change in the way we treat our minds and bodies. Since March 2020, we saw many-a-things change and we even adapted to it—working from home, coordinating on zoom, ordering online, attending events online, etc., but another major change we saw across the spectrum was people trying various means to keep their minds and bodies fit. Be it online classes, virtual training, immunity building techniques, new recipes, Ayurveda, etc.; the common thread amongst all this in the fitness industry was one: wellness.

Among them, there were two major concerns driving all these adoptions:

1. People wanting to increase their immunity, become strong from within, and manage stress and anxiety.

2. People have wanted to get stronger, lose weight, or achieve whatever fitness goal they have been putting off that was ultimately affecting their way of living.

While sales for home workout equipment sky-rocketed over e-commerce sites, fitness influencers took charge and started multiple series to help people workout in the comfort of their homes.

Here are some trends that ruled a good part of 2020 and will most definitely influencer our habits in 2021:

Workout from ‘anywhere’: In the online fitness industry, pre-lockdown was limited to a few workout options because we had the luxury and the option to try out workouts such as gymming, boxing, etc., at the physical locations. Call it to need of the hour or a long-overdue adoption, fitness has entirely moved online. Be it yoga, kickboxing, dancing, meditation, Zumba, HIIT, etc., there are apps and methods to practice each of these workout forms, from the comfort of your home.

Holistic wellness: Fitness has, for a long time been thought of only as a means to lose weight, heal an injury, become flexible, etc. The most significant realization that 2020 brought about was holistic wellness, i.e., a healthy mind and body. Wellness isn’t complete if it doesn’t nourish your inside and outside and more and more people are coming to realize this. Wellness mediums such as yoga, meditation, sleep stories, gratitude meditations, etc., have gained popularity for these exact reasons and are here to stay once people realize the long-term benefits of these.

Fitness inspired by tech: Virtual gyms, live classes, and whatnot. It is the technology that is going to help brands and end consumers to come together and achieve more. So it is quite predictable that companies are bound to invest in technology and by technology, I also mean the fitness watches and gears that are exploding in the market even in 2020. As per recent studies and surveys, millennials use fitness apps more than other age groups, with women using them twice as much as men. Also, 46% want as much quantifiable data about their health as possible, and 54% are likely to buy a body-analyzing device.

Wellness is not just a New Year resolution. With 2020 ending, most people are mentally prepared for a newer, hopefully, better year. Enough and more emphasis has been given on the importance of physical and mental fitness in the past but the pandemic sure brought it to the top of the list showing people that wellness is no longer a choice but a lifestyle, and must be taken seriously.

This article was curated from Entrepreneur
Image Credit: bristekjegor/freepik