47 Fitness Facts at Home or the Gym: Part Two

• Even more fun facts about home gyms.

Did you read 47 Fitness Facts at Home or the Gym: Part One? Because this is part two:

• With that, many workout video tapes began to surface. Pregnancy workouts came out, workouts to shape your butt, videotapes to stationary bikes and treadmills were released. Eventually, the market was saturated with workouts
• Famous faces helped push products like the Thigh Master with Suzanne Somers. This was sold to some 6 million people
• The total gym with Christie Brinkley and Chuck Norris had a lot of success as well
• In the 1960s, less than ¼ of US citizens say they exercise regularly
• By the 1980s, it’s 69%. Home workouts in the US become one of the fastest growing of the fitness sector
• Within 10 years, the amount spent on home equipment triples to $1.73 billion. (Even barbie gets a home gym in her dream house)
• The 1990s home gym products promised quick results or your money back.
• In the mid 90s, a six pack was the goal. Products hit home market with ideas of “rock hard abs.” In the fine print only, it noted that the equipment was “only effective alongside diet and exercise”
• In 2000,  there were 3,000 injuries from fitness equipment. This number is three times that of 1980. And the equipment that hurts us most? Treadmills account for 40% of injuries
• More and more people started joining the gym. It wasn’t as convenient but you exercise harder at the gym, known as the Kohler effect
• Otto Kohler had people lift together or in individual settings. In comparison, weaker people lift more. He also noted that if working out with a friend you view as fitter than you, you workout three times harder. And with cyclists, people who ride together, pedal almost three times as long
• 2000s WiiFit becomes a craze. Exercise is so much fun it’s barely a workout. (Later studies showed that the game burns 1/3 of the calories as compared to real life)
• With YouTube as of 2009, there were 160,000 results for fitness videos.
• Smart fitness equipment began coming out as well. In 2014, the peloton came back in a new way, costing $2000 just for the bike plus subscription fees There are also smart technologies such as watches and two way fitness mirror with classes and training. This way you can be in class but still in privacy
• Some smart fitness equipment tracks your identity, location, weight, and heartrate. With an added camera and microphone, products can store biometrics, like your voice and facial features,  and maybe not as secure as you think
• In 2019 alone, there were more than 63,000 health and fitness apps released
• Home exercisers can use virtual reality, which offers exotic location views. The more players immerse themselves, the longer they can workout and the less discomfort they feel
• Home workouts came back again with COVID
• 58 million people in India downloaded health and fitness apps for first time
• In the UK, online free classes search shoot up 8016%
• Smart home fitness devices and even dumbbell sales up by 1980%
• But according to consumers, home workouts are less challenging, less consistent, and just overall worse than their old gym habit
• The 2020 pandemic was the greatest disruption to the fitness industry. In 2021, 1/5 gyms closed for good

Do you workout at home? Crazy to think 20% of gyms closed last year alone, that’s the worst of the fitness facts.