Work(out) from home: Pandemic fuels online exercise boom
Interactive comment sections and virtual reality headsets: Online fitness gear and services have boomed during the pandemic as at-home athletes seek a proxy for gym life. While home workouts long predate the coronavirus, they have taken on a social aspect that looks set to become the standard in a world reshaped by the pandemic.
"A big part of going to the gym together is sort of suffering together... you build a camaraderie around that," Jeremy Needham, who does customer education for US boxing fitness company Liteboxer, told AFP at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas.
"And now that we don't share that space, at least in real time, we have to do it virtually," he added.
Like other companies that sell internet-connected fitness gear, Liteboxer offers customers access to workouts, competitions and other features for a monthly charge -- on top of the roughly $1,200 wall-mounted machine.
The market for fitness tech has been growing for years, but the industry has gotten a boost in the last couple of years, similarly to how the pandemic accelerated e-commerce and remote working trends.
"Connected equipment exploded onto the scene in a big way as consumers had to shift the way to work out during the pandemic," CES organizer Consumer Technology Association (CTA) noted in an industry forecast.
Internet-connected exercise equipment was a nearly $3.8 billion market in 2021, and double-digit percentage growth is expected this year, CTA's forecast said.
"(Customers) want connectivity," said Richard Kowalski, an analyst with CTA. "They want to engage with other people online."
Connected rowing machine maker Hydrow allows customers to comment and like others' workouts, and users have developed their own social media groups.
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