How COVID-19 changed the fitness industry in India

COVID-19 has led to a dramatic shift in the fitness industry in India and has opened up several new avenues including stay-at-home fitness lessons, fitness apps, as well as fitness content on social media.

When the Coronavirus pandemic first broke out and a nationwide lockdown was announced for the first time in March 2020, the fitness industry in India suffered a major slump. Not only were most gyms and public fitness centres closed down under government orders, they were also seen as places most vulnerable for the spread of the virus due to shared machines, towels, a lot of shared space, and the heavy breathing that came along with fitness.

Curfews were also imposed on most parks and public roads and people couldn’t go out for their usual walks or runs either. It became increasingly difficult to go out and exercise and as a result, many people had to look for solutions within the confines of their own homes.

While this led to already ardent fitness lovers purchasing exercise bikes, treadmills or even setting up a home gym, there was also a greater focus on health amidst the general public due to the threat of the COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting lockdown.

According to a report by mobile data and analytics provider App Annie, 2020 witnessed about 71,000 new fitness and health apps being launched, which constituted a 13% increase over 2019.

Moreover, according to an article published on the World Economic Forum website, there was a 46% increase in downloads of health and fitness apps across the world between Q1 and Q2 of 2020, with India witnessing the highest increase in the downloads – of a whopping 156%.

This resulted in approximately 58 million new active users in India.

Data from Indian fitness and health app HealthifyMe alone saw a rise of 5 million users during the pandemic and it ended up accounting for a quarter of its total user base of nearly 21 million.

Not only fitness apps saw a growth in popularity, but fitness content on social media also became extremely common. The video sharing platform YouTube got flooded with tutorials and guides on exercising at home, be it for beginners or experts.

This is a similar story when it comes to the online ordering of gym equipment and machines as more and more people started setting up home gyms.

Although the pandemic has reached its fag end by 2022, the trend of working out from home, just like working from home, seems to be here to stay.

Talking to Financial Express Online, fitness equipment retailer Grand Slam Fitness Director Prateek Sood said, “From the rise of commercial gyms and online personal training sessions, the virus outbreak has steadily transformed the fitness industry. The industry is increasingly leveraging digital opportunities for a connected experience with customers. Classes covering everything from Zumba and Hooping to Yoga and Crossfit are being live streamed through digital tools. Home workout apps are witnessing a tremendous upsurge among millions in self isolation, helping them ease anxiety and stress caused by the crisis.

“Last year we saw a huge demand for home gym equipment from April to September. But this year we are seeing that individuals from Tier 2 cities want to invest in gym business due to increasing health issues. Coronavirus taught them that health is wealth and they have started investing in it. The spread of COVID-19 has encouraged brands to drive both a stronger online presence and discover new ways to connect with customers. Looking at the highly loyal and enthusiastic customer base, creativity and adaptability displayed by brands, the fitness industry will bounce back soon,” he added.

Talking about the trend that was seen among people during this time, Head of Physiotherapy and Sports Medicine at Nanavati Max Super Speciality Hospital, Dr Ali Irani said, “In these last 15 months, the pandemic has taught us to do exercises at home. Our exercises have changed from gym and heavy weights to breathing exercises, Pranayam and Yogic exercises. Many have opted for Online Yoga, many have also chosen Online Pilates classes. So all the exercises were online.”

He also expected the trend in breathing exercises to continue in an upward graph. “In our experience at the hospital of more than 3,000 COVID positive patients, most of the patients had a vital capacity of less than 1.5 litres, much less than the lungs’ actual capacity of 4.5-5 litres. So, I think with time, we will understand that the most important thing for us are these different types of breathing exercises or Pranayam, which would increase our vital capacity. I believe that people will now also be looking at exercises that would build their immunity, so we are sort of going back to our sciences of naturopathy, ayurveda and unani.”