There is no doubt that the pandemic has and will change many areas of our lives. We will certainly not go back to the office of 2019 nor the movie theater, even education will change.Why? The old forms of doing things simply weren’t all that efficient . If people can be as productive from home, why rent an expensive building? Ditto classrooms.
That said, I recently came across an article, sent by my mentor Pat Rigsby claiming that gyms and personal training are going the way of the dodo bird.
Granted, I do have a biased view but let’s take a closer look.
Myth 1: People like to train at home
No, they do not. I consider myself a rather motivated person and I absolutely hated training at home during the lockdown. It took all the discipline my mother instilled into me to even do something. Bold statement coming up: you will be able all kinds of in home training items for pennies on the dollar come fall.
Why? Humans are social creatures. Going to the gym is a way to interact, compare physiques, motivate each other, check out potential dates, talk about sports…you get the idea.
It also creates accountability if you are meeting your training partner or coach.
Also, unless you have a lot of space and money your home gym will not be as good as commercial one ( we even have custom made dumbbells:))
Myth No2
Coaching can be delivered online. Yes,and it has for decades. VHS anyone?
It is somewhat ok for cardio classes and other other instances with low injury potential. On the other hand, there are millions of unwatched tapes out there.
Virtual coaching simply isn’t effective when it comes to fat loss and gaining muscle.
How come? Because in order to do either one, you have to contract the muscle as much as possible while keeping perfect form. This is where the power of the touch comes in.
Also, how do you spot someone over zoom?
Myth No3
I can educate myself regarding training and diet. Yes, and you should . However, I have a decent idea of human anatomy but I still will not drill my own teeth or perform in home surgeries on myself. Expert advice definitely seems like the more effective way to go.
Yes, we will not go back to the gym 2019 but we will go back to training at a gym. As a businessman you have to realize that most people have less disposable income so you need to compete harder
Personally I believe it comes down for a few parameters
1. Does the gym have a vision? Stand for something? We wanted to be the best bodybuilding gym in NYC and went after it. Plain and simple. We spend the money on education to be the best coaches as well as purchased top of the line equipment.
1. People and by that I mean mainly coaches. Gyms offering proper coaching will do very well.
2. Things aka equipment. People will not spend 200$ a month to train with some beat up gym 80 lat pulldown. This is the reason we went all out and bougth the best equipment known to mankind.
3. Cleanliness. Goes without saying.
See you at 57th street!
Maik