47 Fitness Facts Mostly About Home Workouts: Part One

• All the things you never knew about home workouts and really, the history of working out.

Are you a gym junkie or do you like to workout at home? Here are a bunch of fitness facts, for all the workouts, no matter where you are.

• The world has over 205,000 gyms
• Globally, home fitness is a more than 21 billion dollar industry
• 1/3 of Americans with smart phones use a guided workout or fitness app
• More than ½ of Americans own fitness equipment, weights being the most common. This is one of the most interesting fitness facts, I would have thought it’d be a treadmill personally, though I also prefer weights to be honest.
• People aren’t always using their workout equipment though, at least by evidence of statistics. (In 2020, adult obesity stood at 42.4%, the first time the nation has ever passed the 40 percent mark. Obesity rates have increased 26% since 2008)
• 16% of the population bought home equipment during pandemic, 49% of it already isn’t being used
• 43% of Americans say they just don’t feel motivated to workout at home
• But, crazy fun fitness fact, the home fitness industry is 50 years old and multi-billion dollar industry
• Working out for health, and especially in a home setting, is a relatively new concept
• 1950’s weightlifters went to train exclusively in gyms, and they were almost all men
• Heart disease is the nation’s biggest killer but doctors say regular exercise helps keep the heart healthy
• In 1959, Jack LaLanne brings the first American home workout to us. As a California gym owner he also shared nutrition and dog tricks. His videos were basically gentle calisthenics
• In 1961, JFK launches a fitness program to help make the nation healthy, including physical fitness into schools. There are no better fitness facts than where it first began.
• Then came a fitness craze. People were running and jogging in the streets. There were more health clubs But with this, time, money or social anxiety can keep away from a public workout setting
• In 1956, a doctor found that the most effective way to maintain astronauts health is aerobic exercise, like running or cycling.
• These movements use large muscles in your arms, legs, and hips. The harder you work, the more oxygen needed. Your breathing is more rapid, maximizing oxygen in your blood, and your heart beats more quickly to deliver it to your muscles.
• Other benefits of aerobic exercise is lower blood pressure, reduced dementia and heart disease.
• Jacki Sorensen  cam onto the scene in 1969 with high-energy based movements to music. Termed aerobics with mostly women, it was new and fun. But you still have to go to class
• But in 1980 Richard Simmons, also a gym owner, aspires to influence people to create dance clubs out of their homes with his workout program. This was more convenient and less intimidating for some, but still. The show was on in the early mornings so, if you missed the show, you missed the workout.
• Jane Fonda had a successful aerobics studio and  in comes the VCR (only 2% of homes in 1982 had VCRs)
• She spent $50,000 and took three days to create her first videotape. The tape went to stores in April 1982. But at a cost of $59.95 (today $177.00) it wasn’t exactly a bargain
• However, 3000 copies sol in its first month. Word of mouth spreads and the video hits number 1 on the charts for 41 weeks. It ended up being one of the top ten selling video tape for over 4 years
• Popularity of Jane Fonda’s workout tape ended up driving VCR sales and doubles year after year per household
• Ultimately, Fonda released 22 videos, released 17 million cassettes and, to go with the fad, 30 million leotards were sold in 1983 alone

For 47 Fitness Facts Mostly About Home Workouts: Part Two, click the title. What’s your favorite fitness fact so far?