Virtual fitness classes are hot as coronavirus forces people to stay home

Virtual fitness classes have been around for a while, but in China, the coronavirus outbreak is suddenly turning more people into homebound gym rats.

Keep, a Chinese fitness app that offers workout programs ranging from yoga to cycling, saw its ranking in the country’s iOS App Store shoot up from under 200th before the Lunar New Year to 65th this week, according to App Annie statistics. Supermonkey, a 24-hour gym chain that lets users book classes on WeChat and pay as they go, introduced live-streamed lessons less than two weeks ago. The company’s free online classes have more than 2 million views each on Weibo’s Yizhibo.

Les Mills, which offers on-demand virtual classes, said traffic during the Lunar New Year was higher this year than before, although the holiday was extended by the Chinese government to try to contain the coronavirus. Other people appear to be turning to the Nintendo Switch’s exercise game Ring Fit Adventure to exercise at home. Online scalpers in China have been selling the game at twice its normal price.