SOLE Fitness weighs in on the most puzzling market trends emerging from the fitness industry in 2024.
In a post-pandemic world, the home gym has taken on new importance in ways that few could have predicted 5 years ago. Where once, families may have invested in a weight set and some resistance bands, now they are laying down thousands of dollars on heavy, multi-purpose workout equipment that facilitates the kind of high-intensity cardio workouts that were previously only possible at a brick-and-mortar gym.
Since then, the possibilities have evolved, with newer, more powerful equipment hitting the market at a constant rate. But with membership-based gyms re-opening their doors years ago, what is driving the constant growth in the home workout market while the traditional gym seems to be on a steady decline?
SOLE Fitness are providers of home gym products, and have benefited greatly from the increased market growth that we have seen in 2024. In their opinion, the main drivers behind the shift in the market landscape are simple.
They explain that the economics of the situation are as follows: gym equipment is more affordable than ever, while memberships are rising in price. Grit Daily News even went so far as to call 2024 the "year of the failed fitness resolution", but in doing so, they fail to consider that developing a home routine that rivals or even exceeds one that might be found in a gym is now extremely easy, leaving many to reconsider how they work out.
SOLE also points to shifts in the prevailing workout philosophy to explain why people are abandoning their gyms to develop new routines at home.
High-intensity training (HIIT) is one of the biggest fitness trends to come out of 2024, based on research regarding the effectiveness of short-burst workouts as opposed to slower, longer ones. Studies showed that HIIT leads to a higher rate of calorie burn and a shorter recovery time: both highly appealing to those with limited time to devote to a workout.
HIIT has virtually replaced cross-training - the kind of training most commonly seen in a full gym setting - as 2024 winds down. These workouts are typically easier to complete at home, are less complicated, and require only one or two machines to complete rather than a full circuit.
The tech available to home gym enthusiasts is perhaps the most attractive aspect of this new market. Where gyms might be wary to invest in high-end equipment for communal use, home gym enthusiasts are spoiled for choice when it comes to tech-assisted workouts.
The top-selling product from SOLE Fitness, for example, is the next-generation F80 treadmill, featuring a large touchscreen display and app integrations that allow users to pre-load workouts onto the machine.
Smart mirrors and wearables round out the market to make home workouts, if anything, more cost-effective than paying $100/month to attend a gym - with all the hassle that entails. Will the market successfully scramble to catch up and adopt this technology? Only time will tell.
