It is rightly said, “Health is Wealth”. Health is a key ingredient of a happy life. Without health, a person’s life has no value. All the luxuries and pleasures of life look useless when compared with health. Health is a prerequisite for a happy and healthy life. People realized the importance of health and this gave rise to the Health and Fitness industry. There was a sudden boom in demand for health and fitness experts and fitness centers as well. India’s fitness industry’s worth is more than 5000 crores and grows 18% annually. There are more than 30,000 health and fitness centers in India, which makes it one of the biggest fitness industry in Asia. But the rapid spread of the deadly COVID sounded the death knell for the fitness industry. In order to comply with the lockdown and social distancing norms, gyms and fitness centers are closed temporarily. The pandemic and the subsequent crisis has hit the fitness industry hard. With losses of billions, many gyms are on the verge of closing down. Thousands of trainers and support staff are sent on unpaid leaves by the gym owners. The is a huge decline in the demand for service and fitness equipment. The American based international fitness chain; Gold Gym which has over 20 centers in every city is laying off its employees and fitness trainers. The Gold gym is one of the most popular chains for fitness and gym. It has over 700 centers across the world. However, due to the pandemic, Gold gym has suffered huge losses and has filed for bankruptcy in the United States. Though the future looks bleak and unpredictable, Gyms are trying their best to revive the industry and are wooing and retaining customers with discounts and offers.
The contagious nature of COVID has forced the countries across the globe to enforce lockdown. With social distancing norms in place, work from home has become a new normal. People are confined in their homes and forced to do every activity like exercise or work-related stuff in their home. The authorities are trying the level best to curb the impact of the virus, but the future looks gloomy and nobody is sure when the normal life will resume. We are physically separated but are digitally connected with the world. Technology and the internet have enabled the gym centers to try some innovative ways to connect with their customers. Gym instructors are launching live streaming fitness sessions and pre-recorded online classes to stay in the game. Gym centers are very much equipped to offer remote fitness options to their customers. People are not taking their health lightly and despite being prevented from going out they are using technology to connect with their gym trainer and are staying fit. There is a sudden uptick in the demand for Digital studios. But, the traditional fitness studios are yet to go digital and will take time in upgrading themselves. But the government should come up with a solution to revive the fitness industry and allow the gyms and fitness centers to function soon.
Yukti Kumar @ Samacharline
