Speakeasy gyms, yoga bubbles, athleisure WFH fashion and dumbbell shortages –12 ways the pandemic has changed fitness and exercise as we know it
The coronavirus outbreak has closed gyms around the world, prompting gym rats, fitness freaks and, well, anyone remotely concerned with their health to find creative ways to stay in shape –from forming illegal Fight Club-style underground gyms to a surge in downloads of workout apps like Strava and Fitbit
In an effort to stay fit and sane in these trying times, gym rats have become especially innovative when it comes to finding ways to exercise during the pandemic.
With quarantines and stay-at-home mandates prompting temporally closures at many gym chains and fitness boutiques across the world, people have turned to new ways to get their blood pumping. Some are equipping their own at-home studios with Peloton bikes and NordicTrack treadmills, leading to massive sales booms and weeks-long back orders, while others are unfurling their yoga mats and queuing up virtual streaming classes from their favourite instructors.
In areas where gyms have started to slowly reopen to the public, companies are enforcing new policies including mandating masks, reducing capacity, and enhancing sanitising, while in the US esecially, others are ignoring protocols altogether and defying state mandates at “speakeasy gyms”.
We took a closer look at some of the biggest trends in fitness as the pandemic continues on.
Dumbbells are impossible to find …
In addition to hard-to-find items like toilet paper and Clorox wipes during the pandemic, dumbbells have been an unexpected addition to the list. Like most at-home-fitness items, demand for dumbbells has increased dramatically in recent months, leaving sellers in short supply and Americans without free weights.
According to Vox, part of the shortage has to do with supply chain delays from early shutdowns in China, where 95 per cent of dumbbells are manufactured. The dearth of the weights was compounded by lack of inventory from sellers, like Dick’s, Target and Amazon, that usually stock up on fitness products at the beginning of the year and were, of course, unable to predict the pandemic-related surge.
… and Peloton bikes are in short supply, too
Demand for Peloton has skyrocketed during the pandemic, so much so that the company has struggled to keep up as quarantined bikers clamour for the stationary bikes. In the first quarter of 2020, US sales increased by 66 per cent while subscribers to the Peloton app increased by 94 per cent.