Fitness Crises During the Pandemic & How to Overcome Them:

The coronavirus pandemic has changed most of our habits, from work and social relationships to the way we engage in sports and fitness. A branch that, given the impossibility of training in person, has moved into the digital world with a boom in visits to dedicated apps and sites and the proliferation of video lessons or training in streaming.

Online fitness during the Covid pandemic

With gyms and training spaces closed for months, the sector necessarily had to reinvent itself: companies and their customers were thus pushed to develop their creativity and devise new ways to stay fit and not give up on the physical activity. These include the use of fitness apps, streaming services, wearables, and connected devices that have allowed people to stay active while practicing social distancing.

From connected equipment in the home to smart clothing, digital fitness tools have proven capable of providing on-demand workouts by combining flexibility, convenience and customization not always easy to find in a shared environment away from home. A new method practiced both by those who, even before the pandemic, habitually went to the gym but also by those who, forced to stay in their homes and therefore lead a sedentary life, have rediscovered the usefulness and pleasure of movement. The restrictions have in fact made the need for sport explode as a natural and irrepressible need to combat home isolation.

Furthermore, before the health emergency, training generally meant taking the time to go to the gym, a commitment that many people could not reconcile with their hectic life. Streaming services and apps, on the other hand, have brought workouts directly to customers' homes, often at significantly lower costs than a traditional face-to-face subscription.

Boom for fitness sites and apps:

Proof of the boom in digital training during the lockdown is data relating to the number of visits to diet or fitness websites or apps, which increased by 69% in France, 20% in Germany, 31% in Spain, and 23% in the UK and 133% in Italy. Research carried out in the United States then showed how downloads of fitness and health apps increased by 47% in the second quarter of 2020 and that many streaming services experienced a drastic increase in demand. In fact, if in 2019 only 7% of the users interviewed had used fitness streaming services on a weekly basis, by April 2020 this percentage had grown to exceed 80%. To cite an example, the Daily Burn online training video library saw a 268% increase in enrollments as the pandemic took hold in the US while Aaptiv, an audio-based training app supported by Insight Partners, saw double the organic traffic between March and April 2020.

There were various activities practiced by citizens and, according to Garmin data, those that grew the most during the pandemic were indoor cycling, which in Italy showed an increase of 309%, and indoor running, which grew by 130%. Training sessions streamed via social media are also very popular, proving popular with both instructors and fitness enthusiasts, especially among smaller gyms and independent trainers.

Finally, many, faced with anxiety and stress caused by external circumstances, have resorted to yoga or pilates. Also in this case the way of use was that of video lessons held by professional teachers both live and recorded. Many apps and sites have in fact offered the dual possibility, to those who made a monthly or annual subscription, to follow the sessions and access recordings of exercises at any time.

How post-Covid fitness will change:

The convenience, the reduced price and the shorter time it takes to exercise at home than in the gym could change the way you practice sports even after the pandemic. The acquisition of the new habits matured during the lockdown will in fact tend to condition the choices of sport and wellness even in the future of those who had never practiced it before and have rediscovered the importance of physical and mental well-being and of those who have replicated sports. outdoor in indoor mode. In this regard, it is believed that many people, having experienced online fitness, will continue to use it even when the gyms open again and it will again be possible to train in person.

A June survey by Gympass and Ifo revealed that 43% of the sample of respondents will continue to exercise at home, thanks to the fear of possible contagion. Safety (57%) and the desire to train relaxed without stress, perhaps outdoors for a few months (54%) are the two main reasons why there is still some reluctance to return to the gym.

A survey carried out by Sportclubby, the leading platform in Italy for booking online or gym courses and services dedicated to all types of sports, also found that many Italians will opt to train in a hybrid way. If 7 out of 10 in 2021 and with the end of the pandemic declared they want to go back to training in person, 16% of the sample admitted that the on-site courses will also support online and/or outdoor activities. 3% expect to train totally in live streaming while 1% with lessons recorded on demand. Finally, 30% of the interviewees stated that they would also train online with gyms and trainers outside their territorial area, thus opening up the possibility that clubs expand their market throughout Italy.

All of this will also lead to growth in the industry app market which, according to a study conducted by Stock Apps, will increase by 48.44% every year for the next four years. The turnover could therefore go from the current 3.55 billion dollars to 5.72 billion in 2024. Together with the earnings, the number of users will also increase, which today amount to about 825 million and in the next four years will be able to exceed the 1 billion thresholds. of people. live streaming