Fitness industry evolved amid pandemic, says Sunil Sharma Dinda: Here’s what is there for 2022

The worldwide fitness business was valued at over 96 billion dollars in 2019, with over 170 million people preferring to keep fit every day. Despite the pandemic's interruption, the number of gym subscribers and fitness fanatics has increased dramatically in the last two years. The industry's agility and durability worked in its favour. For example, the fitness industry responded to the transition to remote working during the initial lockdowns by offering remote workout solutions that allowed fitness aficionados to follow their workout routines online. Let's take a closer look at this development. The worldwide fitness business was valued at over 96 billion dollars in 2019, with over 170 million people preferring to keep fit every day.

In the midst of the outbreak's many problems, people took time to learn new methods to live healthier lives and take better care of themselves. According to a recent study, 75% of Indians eat home-cooked meals, 54% exercise frequently, 47% have regular health checks, and 30% use technological applications and technologies to improve their fitness programmes. Fitness applications, for example, had a 156 percent rise in overall downloads during the epidemic, the greatest of any country.

Sunil Sharma, an ISSA certified strength and conditioning coach, uses his understanding of food groups and different diets to help his clients shape up their bodies. "Fitness enthusiasts were not only reaching their daily walk and body workout targets but were also practising mindfulness and meditation on the fly," he writes, citing a number of fitness and wellness apps.

Even before the pandemic, fitness technology had already been a buzzword. Smart wearables, such as smart wristwatches and bands, become more popular among Indian fitness lovers around March 2020. According to industry statistics, the Indian wearable market surged 170.3 percent year over year in Q1 2021, as more people began monitoring their heart rates, calorie intakes, sleep cycles, and daily water usage.

Fitness technology trends will reach new heights in the coming year. And a portion of it is anticipated to expand as the number of cases of Omicron, a recently mutated virus, rises, with 1.5 lakh cases expected by February next year. While the third wave is expected to inspire more people to use online and hybrid training modules, it will also allow large-scale tech innovations to emerge and thrive in the fitness industry.