• Loading stock data...
Sunday, July 13, 2025

Will the Home Fitness Boom Stretch Beyond the Pandemic?

  • Peloton has seen explosive growth as a result of the pandemic.
  • Industry insiders see brick and mortar gyms rebounding as vaccines roll out.
Peloton

The projections are rosy. Peloton’s stock price has surged more than 385%. Tech giant Apple has even entered the game.

2020’s at-home fitness movement — sparked in large part by the pandemic — is expected to continue until COVID-19 has been defeated.

However, there are reasons to question whether the sweat-at-home trend has stamina this time.  

“The new thing is the interactive part,” fitness industry veteran Jonathan Goodman said. “There’s a joke among infomercial fitness sellers. Everything that they sell has to have handles and has to fold up because, eventually, it’s going to have to fit in a closet or underneath your bed. I don’t think much has really changed.”

This generation of home workout equipment costs a bit more than a Thighmaster or Gazelle.

Peloton’s high-end bike costs $2,495 and its treadmill goes for $4,295. 

Mirror, the interactive home gym play that Lululemon purchased in June, runs $1,495 minus any weights often used in workouts. 

Tonal, which has built-in resistance for strength training, retails for $2,995. 

Monthly subscriptions for each range from $39 to $49 — about the cost of a monthly gym membership.

By year’s end, the connected fitness equipment segment is projected to comprise 7.5% of the fitness industry, according to research firm CB Insights. That’s up from 2.9% in 2015.

Peloton’s connected fitness subscriptions climbed 137% year-over-year and its revenues grew 232%, according to its last quarterly report released in November.

October sales for home fitness equipment more than doubled 2019, according to The NPD Group.

“Some of the peaks in 2020 will be tough to [match], but I expect interest will remain high and we will see gains against the base of 2019,” said Matt Powell, vice president and senior sports industry advisor at The NPD Group. “Connected will be the key to 2021 and beyond.”

The pandemic resulted in at least a six-month delay in release of CLMBR’s connective climbing machine, although founder and CEO Avrum Elmakis isn’t worried about the demand when it debuts in mid-2021, around the time vaccines are expected to be available for most of the U.S. population.

This begs the question: What will be the new “normal” for fitness?

“I don’t think people are going to rush back to crowded gyms,” Peloton CEO John Foley told Time in May. “I just don’t see that happening.”

Elmakis doesn’t necessarily agree.

“I think nothing takes the place of community and experiencing something in real life with other people [at gyms and boutique fitness businesses],” he said. “Having said that, I think there’s a large percentage of the population that’s kind of adapted and formed new habits.”

“I think there’s a place for both [home and gym workouts],” Elmakis said.

CLMBR is also somewhat rare within the new entries into the home fitness market as it will offer a commercial version of its machine. Well-established brands like Life Fitness, and Icon Health and Fitness, the parent of NordicTrack, Pro-Form and Freemotion, compete in both spaces. 

Peloton largely based its business with at-home equipment, but the company signed a deal to acquire Precor — one of the top suppliers of commercial gym equipment — for $420 million on Dec. 21. With the transaction it will create a new commercial division.

“I’d say we have kind of a dual-pronged approach,” Elmakis said. “There are really good bike manufacturers like Stages that make really good bikes, right?  No cyclist would say they’d want to ride on a Peloton bike versus a Stages bicycle at a cycling class. What we have is disruptive and it’s a unique form factor that lends itself to kind of this new world economy where I think gym owners are going to be looking for ways to accomplish.”

Gyms big and small are planning for a hybrid approach, something operators have already shifted toward since the shutdowns earlier this year to the re-openings in most of the U.S. after the first wave of the pandemic. The shift to remote training has allowed the fitness business to keep in touch — and in some cases grow — during this time, although that’s been easier for smaller gyms that focused more on community-building. 

Not many people understand the task like Adam Zeitsiff, who stepped down as CEO of Gold’s Gym in August after the chain was acquired by RSG Group through a bankruptcy auction. In October, Zeitsiff was tapped as the CEO of Intelivideo, a firm that helps gyms distribute online workouts to their members.

“As somebody who ran a global health club brand and who is now helping gyms go digital, I am extremely bullish on the health club market,” Zeitsiff said. “Health clubs are going to continue to boom. Once we get past this and everyone gets that vaccine in their arms and they’re comfortable, brick and mortar gyms are going to go through the roof like never before. … But anyone who is going to be really successful, they’re going to have offerings for when members are not with them. You need to keep that engagement.”

Goodman, founder of The Personal Trainer Development Center, doesn’t see one major money maker for traditional larger gyms rebounding.

“You’ve got basically two main income streams in large commercial facilities: membership and personal training, Goodman said. “Membership has obviously gone down and it’s going to take a long time to come back. And then you look at personal training, and that’s been turned on its head.”

“Anybody who’s really good is not going to go back because they’ve been away for long enough that they either went off on their own [as a trainer] or they left the industry for other jobs. There’s been a big talent drain,” he said.

The new role for many of those top trainers? Working as Peloton, Apple Fitness Plus, Tonal or Mirror instructors.

Linkedin
Whatsapp
Copy Link
Link Copied
Link Copied

What to Read

May 31, 2025; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Sydney McLaughin-Levrone (USA) reacts before the women's 100m hurdles during the Grand Slam Track Philadelphia at Franklin Field
exclusive

Track’s New Money Is Running Into Old Problems

The sport’s big-money era has hit some speed bumps in 2025.
Bobbleheads are seen at Vintage Indy Sports, Tuesday, April 29, 2025 in Speedway. The local sports memorabilia store opened recently.

Baseball’s Bobbleheads Are the Center of the Collectibles Universe

Baseball’s most important keepsake drives long lines—and big business.
Rimouski, QC - JUNE 1: Final Game of the 2025 Memorial Cup between the Medicine Hats Tigers and the London Knights on June 1, 2025, at the Colisée Financière Sun Life in Rimouski, Qc.

CHL Is Facing a ‘Pandora’s Box’ of Questions Amid NCAA Talent Departure

As players defect to college, the Canadian Hockey League won’t cede ground.
Jun 28, 2025; Arlington, Texas, USA; Seattle Mariners catcher Cal Raleigh (29) bats during the game between the Texas Rangers and the Seattle Mariners at Globe Life Field.

The Torpedo Bat Business Is Still Going Strong: ‘Here to Stay’

Demand for the oddly shaped bats has stayed strong across the sport.

Featured Today

American Celebs Want to Be Sports Owners. Soccer Is Where They Start

As U.S. team prices climb, investors set their sights abroad.
July 5, 2025

Baseball’s Celebrity Row: Behind MLB’s First-Pitch Ritual

Often planned, sometimes spontaneous, the ritual throw is baseball’s celebrity row.
July 4, 2025

3,000 Hot Dogs, $20K in Prizes: Behind the Nathan’s Eating Contest

Nathan’s serves up thousands of hot dogs and $20,000 in prize money.
July 3, 2025

Geoffrey Esper Can’t Catch a Break at Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest

“Hot dogs is not one of my favorite competitions of the year.”
Sponsored

Win. Advance. Repeat: The Professional Fighters League’s Rise to Prominence 

As of 2025, PFL has introduced a World Tournament format, where every fighter must battle through a high-stakes bracket to reach a championship.
Sponsored

How On Location is Redefining the Olympic Winter Games Hospitality Experience

As the Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026 approaches, On Location—the Official Hospitality Provider—is redefining luxury hospitality.
The 2018 Ragin' Crossfit Games are held at Blackham Coliseum in Lafayette.
March 14, 2025

CrossFit for Sale After Years of Drama and Attrition

The intense fitness workout got popular in the early 2000s.
Sponsored

Game On: Portfolio Players Stories, Brought to You by E*TRADE from Morgan Stanley

Dealmaker Jeffrey Kaplan maps the evolution of sports as an asset class
Sponsored

How On Location is Redefining the Olympic Winter Games Hospitality Experience

As the Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026 approaches, On Location—the Official Hospitality Provider—is redefining luxury hospitality.
Sponsored

The Surprising Ingredient That Can Improve Your VO2 Max

In the high-stakes world of sports, VO2 max—or maximum oxygen consumption—has emerged as a critical marker of endurance and performance.
Peloton Bike
October 31, 2024

Peloton Earnings Beat Expectations As It Still Loses Subscribers

Peloton tapped Peter Stern, former Ford executive and cofounder of Apple Fitness+, to be its new CEO.
September 4, 2024

Under Armour Sells MapMyFitness Back to Founders 11 Years Later

The founders sold the tracking app to the apparel giant in 2013.