Influencers will lead classes, personal trainers

WORKOUT WEEKLY 6 Seven ways Covid-19 will change the face of the global personal fitness industry

By Dave Weir A 2009 UCL study found it takes an average of 66 days to do something in a new way before it becomes a habit.

The coronavirus pandemic could last many months, which will instil new habits in over 2.4 billion people across the globe.

For the fitness industry, this will have profound implications. I predict many gym-goers will change their perceptions of training in their homes.

Equally, people who have never exercised before will start for the first time.

In this article, I will explore the seven main ways these habits will change the fitness industry forever. 1. More people will take up fitness I’ve spent many years as an entrepreneur in the gym industry and throughout those years I noticed that the percentage of the population that attends gyms tends to stay fairly steady – around seven per cent of the UK population.

Taking that wider into people who exercise for around 150 minutes a week, that increases to 14 per cent.

Enter coronavirus. The only way for most of the population to get out of the house is to exercise (or to pretend they’re exercising, at least). Also, the government is telling people to exercise as it’s a great way to build your immune system to protect you from the virus.

Government-mandated exercise, combined with a huge increase in awareness of the benefits to our immune systems, more time than ever before to take up exercise, and an abundance of accessible online content = the ceiling being broken in terms of the number of people who exercise regularly. And as per my earlier point, these habits will become deep-rooted and, therefore, hard to shake afterwards. 2. There will be more white noise, and more injuries The other result of self-isolation is the fact all the personal trainers and fitness influencers will be stuck inside and looking to keep their income going.

The new fitness enthusiast will have an abundance of choice from these content creators, but much of this choice will be poor, and some potentially even dangerous to your health.

Someone new to home training could try something more advanced than their fitness level allows and cause themselves an injury. Initially, there will be a scramble for content, then the market will mature somewhat and new fitness enthusiasts will look to the more seasoned and qualified content curators to get a guaranteed high-quality experience. 3. Physical wellbeing will be forever connected to mental wellbeing Self-isolation is mentally tough. One of the reasons we’re being encouraged to exercise is due to the mental health benefits as much as to strengthen our immune system.

It’s not exactly earth-shattering news to hear of the connection between body and mind – we’ve known this for years.

However, knowing something isn’t enough to affect change. You’ve got to actually get out and do it.

Many people who would have been anxious about self-isolation will have found they’re coping better than they expected.

They will notice the endorphin hit they get immediately after exercise. That connection will be hard to forget. 4. Some gyms won’t survive Make no mistake, a lot of gyms will go out of business as a result of coronavirus.

Specifically gyms with multiple expensive leases in prime locations, who are likely over-leveraged. Some people will likely see the end of their favourite fitness brands.

Bally Total Fitness was one of the largest fitness chains in the US in 2007, but their model relied on huge numbers of expensive leases, around 325 in total.

The publicly listed company was forced to file for bankruptcy in 2008 when the Great Recession took its toll.

Even with government assistance, I still expect many gyms will fail over this difficult period. 5. Gyms will offer ‘blended’ memberships The chains that own their own properties, and are nimble and quick to adapt, will survive.

These gyms are contacting us at the moment to tap into our expansive content, with a view to offering their members ‘virtual’ memberships so they don’t lose their customers.

Many of their customers might have been reluctant to train at home before, but as a result of Covid-19, new habits will form and they’ll be far more likely to train both at the gym and at home to balance the convenience with the physical gym environment they enjoy so much. 6. Influencers will lead classes, personal trainers will become facilitators and coaches I predict the education sector will experience a change in the coming months.

As students are forced to learn from some of the greatest online educators, when they go back to the classrooms they will take a backwards step.

It stands to reason – even the best teacher at your local school might not have the same skills, experience or charisma as a global influencer.

A RECENT survey conducted by Clubbercise has shown that taking part in online dance fitness classes regularly is helping people cope with the mental health challenges posed by the coronavirus crisis.

More than1,000 people responded to the survey which was circulated to coincide with Mental Health Awareness Week (May 18-25). 91 per cent of respondents said that the coronavirus situation had negatively affected their mental health. 97 per cent of them said that dance fitness classes had improved their mental health and 84 per cent said it had a reasonable or significant impact.

The majority of people who took part in the survey have been attending two or more online dance fitness classes a week.

The most common mental health conditions the respondents have been battling are anxiety (68 per cent), stress (67 per cent) and depression (46 per cent).

The same thing will happen in fitness. The best personal trainer in a gym can’t hope to compete with the world’s best trainers. As we transition from being digitally-enabled consumers to digitalfirst consumers, our expectations on our face-to-face training will change.

We will expect them to be curators of content, coaches and nutritionists, but choosing the best online content to fit with the specific needs of the client. 7. Companies will take more responsibility for their employees’ physical and mental wellbeing Before coronavirus, there was already a trend towards companies setting up wellbeing departments to look after their employees.

Just as the lines between work and home environments were blurring, so too where the lines between corporate responsibility and personal responsibility over wellbeing. However, it was slowmoving, and only a few companies were doing it.

With the onset of coronavirus, HR departments are going into overdrive, suddenly acutely aware of the link between employee wellbeing and their ability to do a good job. Again, these habits will become fixed, with both employees expecting more of their employers and companies doing more to retain their talent and boost the productivity of their staff.

These are just some of my predictions for how the world will change postcoronavirus. But who knows how long it will last and just how fundamentally society will shift when the pandemic dies down? It’s both an exciting and terrifying time to be alive.

Ultimately, however, humans always adapt to new conditions and the market always adapts to new human behaviour. My hope is that we will emerge from this crisis more compassionate, with better habits... and much fitter than we were before. n Dave Weir is the founder of TV.Fit. Dance fitness classes improve mental health

Survey respondents were asked to identify the main reasons why they believe Clubbercise and other dance fitness classes have improved their mental health.

At the top of the list were: the combination of dancing, music and exercise; the element of fun; the chance to get some ‘me time’ away from everything and the chance to virtually socialise with people outside of the home.

Karen, who is working from home whilst home-schooling her two children (one with special needs) said: “My mental health has suffered a lot since the lockdown, I’ve had awful panic attacks.

“Since starting online Clubbercise classes I feel better, calmer, and haven’t had any more panic attacks.”

Helen, a nurse, added: “As you can imagine work isn’t the best place to be at the moment.

“However, doing Clubbercise makes me feel alive again.”

Perhaps signaling a change in the population’s approach to wellbeing during the coronavirus outbreak, 16 per cent of respondents said they had not participated in face-to-face classes before lockdown and were completely new to dance fitness classes.

Claire Burlison, Clubbercise founder and brand director, added: “The results of this survey are just incredible and I’m really happy that we’ve been able to take our classes online.

“It’s a fantastic opportunity for Clubbercise to reach more people around the world, improving both their physical and mental health during this difficult time and beyond.”