Trends Driving the American Fitness Boom

Mark Twain once famously quipped, "The reports of my death are greatly exaggerated."

The same can be said of the American fitness industry. 

In a recent article by Derek Thompson titled "The Great American Fitness Boom," he shares compelling data showing that over the past four years, Americans are working out and playing sports more than during any period for which we have good data. In fact, according to the American Time Use Survey (ATUS), the share of American adults who say they exercise or play sports on any given day has increased by about 20 percent over the past two decades.

People are working out more than ever. That's a great thing when it comes to the health and well-being of our population.

It's also a good thing if you're looking at investing in a growing industry segment and are thinking about starting a franchise business in the fitness space. The key is knowing where to focus.

Key Trends in Fitness Participation

It's great to know that Americans are moving their bodies more than ever. But what I think is even more interesting is where that participation is happening. Knowing where people are spending their time and dollars can help inform where it may make sense for you to invest from a business standpoint.

One interesting finding in the ATUS study is that every age group and gender saw rising participation in "exercise, sports, or recreation." The groups with the largest increase in participation were the younger demographic (ages 15-24) and older people (ages 65+).

But where are exercise enthusiasts gravitating? What types of exercise are they participating in?

The following graph reveals the answer:

As the chart shows, the form of exercise that is experiencing the highest level of growth right now is… drumroll please… pilates!

Yes, pilates.

Now, I don’t know about you, but that surprised me. I’m familiar with pilates, certainly. But I’ve never done it. I gravitate much more toward the high-intensity, CrossFit-style fitness programs.

But I must not be representative of the typical gym-goer — or, at least I don't prefer the form of exercise that most people are choosing as they're deciding to get off the couch and move their bodies.

As you can see, this "fitness boom," as Thompson calls it, is being driven by lower-impact types of exercise.

Pilates. Yoga. Kettlebells. Barre.

The more I think about it, the more this makes sense. As you no doubt remember, gyms were one of the biggest casualties of COVID. My perception was that people got used to working out at home and that the gym industry hadn't fully recovered.

Not so.

Quite to the contrary, people have worked their way back to active gym membership and fitness participation at record levels. I think part of it is that people realized during COVID that to protect our health and prevent against the next pandemic, we need to take care of ourselves by losing weight, eating clean, and moving our bodies. But think about the people who had previously been sedentary and are now starting to exercise. Are they more likely to dive right in to high-intensity fitness programs? Or does it make more sense that they'd ease into something more accessible like pilates and yoga? To me, it's the latter.

Regardless of the why, lower-intensity fitness programs are where the trends are — and therein lies the investment potential as you’re considering franchise businesses. If active participation is growing in pilates and that's where people are increasingly spending their money, then it may make sense for you to meet this growing demand by opening a pilates-style fitness business.

A couple of the franchise concepts we like that serve the type of clientele we're talking about are BODYBAR Pilates and SPENGA.

Follow Your Heart, Not Just the Money

While trends are important, they're not everything.

If you’re a fitness enthusiast and your heart is with a different style of exercise, then pursue that. Ultimately, you want to enjoy what you do every day. You want to be passionate about the services you're offering and the community you’re building.

I have a good friend who recently opened a CrossFit gym and he's killing it. His community is growing and thriving. He puts on city-wide competitions, which he is energized by. He is profitable and loves what he does every single day. It wouldn’t have made sense for him to open a pilates studio just because that’s what is trending. CrossFit makes all the sense in the world for him and he’s building a great business around it.

But if you don’t have a particular fitness bent and you like the idea of getting into the booming fitness space, then it may make sense for you to take a serious look at a good pilates or yoga concept.

Drop us a line and we'll run a territory check to see what's available in your area.