Online workouts are here to stay
As gyms prepare to reopen their doors, pilates expert and former Olympian Steph Prem has revealed the ways in which Australia’s fitness industry will change forever.
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To go, or not to go? That’s the question the estimated 40 per cent of adult Victorians who frequent gyms will be asking themselves as fitness centres prepare to reopen their doors around June 22.
But it will be a changed industry. Vigilance about wiping down equipment will be paramount, and permitted numbers will be low at first. Some gyms will introduce booking systems and others will not offer shower facilities.
Research by Bastion Insights shows around 40 per cent of Australians have been exercising less during the lockdown period, while one in four are exercising more. And many of them may now simply prefer working out in their own home or at a local park.
Fitness enthusiasts who spoke to News Corp this week said they had paid as much as $5000 to set up their own home gyms.
A spokesperson for fitness retailer rebel said that in April, weights were being sold at four times the rate they did in April 2019, and demand for pilates and yoga equipment was more than twice the usual weekly average.
“More Australians are turning to home workouts. We noticed the trend as soon as authorities started talking about social distancing,” a rebel spokesperson said.
Meanwhile, online fitness has boomed. Subscriptions to Chris Hemsworth’s Centr app reportedly jumped by 300 per cent, and this week former Bachelor star Sam Woods revealed sign-ups to his app 28 increased by 258 per cent leading up to May.
Pilates instructor Steph Prem, who runs boutique fitness studios in South Yarra and the CBD, told News Corp the online fitness trend was here to stay.
The former Olympic snowboarder has been putting her expertise online during the lockdown via Zoom classes and as part of Medibank’s Live Better at Home initiative, a free online hub encouraging Aussies to maintain a healthy lifestyle.
“Regardless of how quickly these restrictions drop, people find it so much easier to work out from home,” she said. “I am definitely going to include a digital element to my business coming in to this next phase. A lot more people are going to be working from home now, or they are going to have more flexible work environments, so absolutely there will be a model for those 20 to 30 minute platforms for working out at home.”
Ms Prem said big chain gyms could be hit hardest initially, as people would feel safer in small environments, but she was “optimistic that things will go back to normal for both”.
“I’m really optimistic that people miss the camaraderie and the community that comes with a gym, or a pilates or yoga studio,” she said. “With gyms, people will miss the equipment and they will miss that strength training and they will want to go back to that.”
Snap Fitness CEO Ty Menzies told News Corp that online fitness classes would continue to be popular even after gyms re-open.
“There will be a number of people who will still feel anxious about coming back to the gym,” he said. “Or they may only want to do a couple of days a week and potentially work out at home to limit any sort of risk, so those virtual workouts will give really handy tips for them to supplement their workouts.”
Snap would be arranging for increased cleaning, sanitation stations and barriers between equipment when its 207 Australian centres re-open, Mr Menzies said. Users will be reminded to bring their own towels and told to wipe down all machines after use, while shower facilities would not be accessible at first, he said.
Social distancing requirements might force some franchisees to implement booking systems for users, Mr Menzies said, but Snap’s 24-hour operating model would actually work to their advantage, with a more even spread of gym-goers throughout the day.
Ms Prem said some studios would likely ask users to bring their own equipment such as yoga mats and blocks, while circuit classes that called for rapid transitions between pieces of equipment would have to be curtailed.
The lockdown period had forced many people to adapt their fitness routines, Ms Prem said, with many “learning to move their bodies in new ways”.
“I travelled the world as an athlete and you learn to get pretty creative about what you can do with your own body and how you can travel. It’s pretty great that we can share that with people, that you can do so much on your own.”
Mr Menzies said he was encouraged by the opening of Snap Fitness centres in New Zealand, where outlets were reporting patronage at 90 per cent of pre-COVID levels.
“There’s significant consumer sentiment in New Zealand to get back to the gym, and I have no doubt that getting out of the house and back to the gym will be something that Australians will be very eager to do,” he said.
A spokesperson for Fitness First said their procedures for reopening were still being finalised, but they would include social distancing, increased cleaning, staff training and the provision of hand sanitiser and disinfectant wipes for all gym users.
Originally published as Online workouts are here to stay