A nine-month pandemic has led to a major shift in how, when, and where we exercise. Here's what your workout will look like in 2021.
This year has changed the way our lives look in many (or, most) ways. And our fitness routine is one area where we have seen some significant shifts. A new trends report released by ClassPass, a subscription site that allows members to book in-person and online boutique fitness classes and wellness treatments at a variety of venues, gave us some insight into how our exercise habits have evolved over the past year — and what we can expect moving into 2021.
Being confined to our houses over the past nine months has provided many people the flexibility to recommit to a fitness routine (or cling to one for an ounce of sanity in a world where we now live where we also work). In fact, 25% of professionals are exercising more now than at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the ClassPass report.
And the shifts we have seen this year will become the trends of next. Curious how fitness routines are changing? Here are the major takeaways from the report, and what it means for your fitness routine in 2021.
The lunch break is back
Gone are the days where people arrive at the office and keep their butt glued to a desk chair for nine hours. For the first time in a long time people are utilizing a lunch break — and they are using the time to work up a sweat.
“For the first time ever, 12 p.m. is the most popular time to work out during the week,” according to the report. “Lunchtime workouts have seen a 67% increase in popularity. This shift can largely be attributed to a rise in remote work — and the ease of no-shower required virtual meetings. Even as people have returned to studios, the 12 p.m. weekday time slot for in-person classes is more popular now than it was before lockdowns.”
And health experts say a midday workout is good for your physical and mental health (not to mention your productivity). Interested in making lunchtime fitness a part of your routine next year?
A new focus on restorative fitness
Self-care and mental health have been trends on the rise in the wellness space for the past few years. But the sky-high stress levels of 2020 have led to an even bigger uptick in fitness for the sake of our mental and emotional health. Restorative fitness genres — yoga, Pilates, and barre — took the majority of the slots in the top five most popular digital workouts this year (and meditation and stretching made it into the top 10), as members called for ways to manage pandemic stress.
“All of our old motivations for staying fit to have gone by the wayside during the past nine months. Our tropical vacations, weddings, reunions, all these in-person events that made us focus on reaching a 'goal weight' are all virtual or postponed,” Sadie Lincoln, co-founder, and CEO of Barre3, a fitness studio franchise, and online workout platform, told TODAY.
“For the first time ever, the larger community is now seeing more and more people replace those thoughts about an ideal body type with learning how to be more present and mindful within their own bodies in fitness," said Lincoln. "It’s truly a wonderful development for our community and makes it more inclusive for those who have struggled to join in the past."
A digital/in-person hybrid
Digital workouts will remain popular because of their convenience, but that doesn’t mean in-person classes are obsolete. The survey found that 92% of professionals hope to return to fitness studios and gyms in 2021, with 40% planning to return exclusively to in-studio workouts when they feel safe to do so.
“The past year has shown us that digital fitness has its clear benefits," said Lincoln. "It's convenient and removes some of the financial and time barriers that we might face getting to an in-person class, as well as any self-conscious feelings about working out with others. "People are learning to be physically and mentally at home in their bodies and that’s a magical thing!”
This explains why half of the respondents are planning a hybrid mix of in-studio and at-home workouts next year. The report found that members are booking equipment-heavy classes like HIIT, cycling, Pilates, and boxing, surmising that members will rely on in-person classes for workouts that are tough to do at home.
“Our fitness communities are really vital to our physical, mental, and social well-being and while digital options have helped us through the pandemic, they can’t completely fill that void of connecting and exercising with other clients and instructors in the studio,” said Lincoln. “The brands that will really succeed once we are vaccinated will be the ones that have both in-person and digital offerings. The omnichannel model will become the only way for fitness communities to stay dynamic and create innovative in-person and digital experiences. We’re entering a phase where the consumer will decide what works best for them and we need to meet them everywhere they want to be. We need to be able to seamlessly serve a client who still craves the community of their in-person classes, but has an irregular schedule and needs to do some classes online, too.”
