2020 might not have given you way for the perfect beach body, but you can continue to stay physically and mentally fit. With the hit of the pandemic, the fitness trainers and companies had to get creative and bring out ways to continue their business in the Covid Hit World. Numerous live-streaming applications and services came into picture to boost fitness while practicing social distancing. The global downloading of these fitness apps increased by 46% in the pandemic stage. Apart from that, we might just lose our hands at the gym, but the virtual workout isn’t going anywhere.
The global Digital Fitness market was valued at USD 8037.7 million in 2019 and it is expected to reach USD 26550 million by the end of 2026, growing at a CAGR of 18.5 during 2021-2026; where in, in 2020 itself, the market size was valued at USD 4.4 billion. Among other countries, India saw the highest increase in downloads of fitness apps – rising by 156%. What happens in 2021 depends on the vaccine rollout, however, exciting new ideas and technology have emerged making sure digital fitness stays intact.
The situation in India is driving a massive surge in the demand for virtual classes for yoga and high-intensity interval training (HIIT) cardio workouts such as Zumba, Aerobics, and Pilates. Not only gym workouts, but Indians try to stay fit by combining household chores with virtual classes and DIY home workout routines.
Working out at home could be boring but some applications made it quite interesting to workout during tough times. Shivjeet Ghatge, co-founder and CEO of the StepSetGo app said, “The problemis not how to count your steps. The problem is how to keep up your motivation”. StepSetGo, a winner in the Aatmanirbhar Bharat App Innovation Challenge, found a way out to maintain social engagement while physically distant. Apart from offering fitness motivation, it makes every step count, and every workout fun and rewarding. Every 1000 indoor steps you take is rewarded with 1 SSG Coin. These SSG Coins can be collected over time to claim products & discounts in the in-app ‘Bazaar’. Over 5 million users are enjoying the app today, and certainly, it’s a winner.
You have a chance to become a Hero in Another World with the Zombies, Run! App. All you have to do is walk, jog or run anywhere in the world. Hear your mission and music through your headphones. If you’re chased by zombies, you’ll have to speed up! You’ll automatically collect supplies to build up your base. You get to create your own missions and have fun at any speed. Over 1 Million users did not run out of motivation, would you? Try it out!
Sarvesh Shashi, founder of Sarva that focusses on yoga-based wellness, says the platform recorded 1,440 hours of yoga and meditation videos over the last year. Apart from curated yoga workouts, Sarva offers mediations & sleep stories as well and is now a family of 500,000+ users.
When it comes to online training, SOHFIT aims to change people’s perspective on fitness. They have been successful in putting out the fun in the 40 day challenges as well as virtual bootcamps. SohFit reached a greater reach altogether during the pandemic having trained celebrity clients including Alia Bhatt, Mira Kapoor, Kiara Advani and Parvin Dabas. “To me, fitness is not purely about muscle gain or even weight loss for that matter. It is the ability and the confidence to do things you never thought your body could do. It is a state of mind. Don’t train for a special occasion, train for life”, says Sohrab Khushrushahi, the Founder of SohFit.
Similarly, Tridev Pandey, the Founder of Nice&Easy Fitness Studio offers online classes and has trained a number of celebrity clients like Sanya Malhotra, Sunny Singh and for boxing Parvin Dabas for strength, conditioning and in sports.
We live in a digital world. When you could order a crate of eggs on your fingertips, then why not order a bit of health! Everyone has the access to a healthy lifestyle, and so do you.
Even after the pandemic is finally under control, seamless experiences for members will be an important aspect. Gyms will open up at some point and we are pretty sure many of you want to go back to them, but do you think you’d feel safe enough in the current situation?
