Americans Returning to Gyms – Ready for Lifestyle Sampling
Life post-lockdown calls for bringing back togetherness and normal ways of life, including the need for gyms and fitness facilities.
Many can agree that the pandemic has caused Americans to make changes in their lifestyle. From something as little as finding new hobbies during lockdown, to larger impacts, like the way we communicate with others in person, our lives, in many ways, look different today. And that goes for our gym routines, too.
The mass unavailability and limitation of gyms and fitness studios led Americans to find new outlets for staying fit, which led many to at-home exercises. Sales of digital home gyms, virtual class subscriptions, and even outdoor exercise equipment, like bikes, have grown since the pandemic hit. This lifestyle change was largely noticeable during the earlier stages of lockdown, but has finally started to shift back since last year.
As time passes, restrictions in most, if not all, countries are starting to ease, lift, and get back to the “normal” we used to know and love. As for the U.S., this is great news for businesses like fitness centers and yoga studios that are ready to welcome everyone back. And people are more than eager to get back to in-person fitness training sessions and gym workouts. It is reported by NPD that foot traffic in late 2021 was only down by 8% from the same time period in 2019, before the fitness world’s dramatic change.
Americans Returning to Gyms
A more recent report from Mintel discovered the following:
Only 15% of Americans exercisers agreed digital platforms eliminated and replaced the need for gyms.
Increase in the number of Americans, who exercise once a week or more, from 67% in 2020 to 72% in 2021.
Parents, mainly fathers, are exercising more often than those who aren’t parents during the pandemic. “A third (33%) of dads with children under age 18 in the household exercise daily versus 22% of consumers overall. In fact, parents with kids under age 18 over-index for using exercise as a way to boost their moods (40% vs. 34% of consumers overall) and take time for themselves (39% vs. 35% of consumers overall),” reports Mintel.
Activities like exercising in the gym make us feel good, both in and out. What makes this experience even better is when we get to socialize with others or just have the mere accessibility to fitness equipment that is otherwise not available in homes. Whatever the reason may be for this eagerness, fitness centers and gyms are happy to welcome people back into their facilities. Sure, there are Americans that still prefer at-home workouts, but there are expectations that have even the most careful of folks interested in seeking a more hybrid approach for workouts that do involve in-person activities.
Brand Connections can help marketers reach consumers in these targeted areas of interest.
Brand Connections can become a valuable partner to brands looking to reach these consumers as they prepare and begin to return to the in-person fitness lifestyle by distributing free product samples at gyms, specialty fitness studios, yoga classes, Pilates and more. In fact, we ran a recent online survey and discovered that 81% of consumers would like to receive free samples and 75% claimed that trying a sample would lead them to purchase that product. Sounds like it’s time for all of us to get back into the gym!
Contact us to help your business connect with those returning to “on-site” workouts.
Original blog published here.