For Regular Gym-goers, Online Classes Won’t Cut It Forever

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As part of our commitment to putting the voice of your customers right at your fingertips, Suzy will provide continual updates on consumer sentiment and behavior during the ongoing Coronavirus crisis. Check out our COVID-19 Consumer Insights hub for more stats, webinars, and more.

June 4, 2020 — Almost three months into quarantine, public spaces across the country are finally getting ready to reopen for business. However, it still remains to be seen how fitness centers, gyms, and yoga studios will do so in a way that’s safe and hygienic for both their clients and their staff. 

On Wednesday, May 27, California Governor Gavin Newsom says that guidelines for the state’s gyms should be coming “in a week or so”. Meanwhile, in New York, chains like Equinox, Crunch, and SoulCycle are already putting together their own standards for etiquette and sanitation at their facilities. 

But just as consumers are adapting their habits around remote work and streaming entertainment, they’re also changing how they engage with physical fitness and wellness. Gyms still have some vocal advocates in the news, of course— who could forget how protestors in Clearwater, Florida made headlines for doing push-ups outside a city courthouse earlier this month? —  but it’s entirely possible that the rise of at-home options could disrupt the $94 billion fitness industry for good.

To find out if fitness centers are in danger of completely losing their target audience, Suzy reached out to 500 men and women from our always-on consumer panel who identified themselves as regular gym-goers before the start of the coronavirus crisis. What we found is that on the whole, these consumers aren’t ready to completely abandoned their gym memberships once it’s deemed safe enough to leave their homes:

• 73% plan on returning to the gym in some capacity when the COVID-19 crisis is over.

•  47% said that they would “definitely” return to the gym. 

In the meantime, here’s what these fitness fans are doing to make up for their current lack of gym access under quarantine:

• 45% are taking more walks.

• 40% are using indoor fitness equipment.

• 37% are using an exercise app.

• 31% are taking live-streaming classes online.

• 27% are using pre-recorded workout videos online.

But will demand for online classes completely disappear once gyms are opened back up? Probably not, according to what we found — an overwhelming 84% of the consumers who said they currently use these classes are planning to continue them even when gyms open back up. Where they differed is in how they thought it would impact their routine:

• 20% said they didn’t think their gym routine would change that much. 

• 37% said they would work out differently while at the gym.

• 25% said they would go to the gym less frequently.

Fitness isn’t the sole driver of physical health, of course — nutrition also has a lot to do with how people feel in their own bodies. Interestingly, our gym-goers say that their diets have not changed too dramatically since lockdown began:

• Overall, 56%  said they’re eating healthier in quarantine, and 32% said their diet hasn’t changed all that much. 

• Only 19% are buying very different types of food than they did before; these include more/frozen vegetables, chicken, energy drinks, and protein bars or shakes. 

• Only 17% have started a noticeably different diet, most frequently citing higher amounts of protein, fewer carbohydrates, or intermittent fasting.

It’ll still be a few days, weeks, or even months until gyms in the United States are able to completely open (and possibly even longer until some consumers feel safe enough to venture out on their own). But the data suggests that even gym-goers who’ve modified their nutrition and fitness routines to adapt to the current moment will eventually bring those new routines back to the gym. Brands that cater to this particular audience need to be thinking about what new innovations, products, and messaging they can bring to these customers when that moment comes — and there’s no better time to start than now. 

Want to know what else consumers plan to do when social distancing ends? Get in touch with us to launch your first question with Suzy.