Fitness

China’s fitness enthusiasts exercise caution as they seek value for money

Published

11 hours ago

July 21, 2024

China’s fitness enthusiasts exercise caution as they seek value for money

“A lot of people are just not spending like they used to,” said Dengle, co-founder of exeQute, a class-based fitness centre located in downtown Shanghai. “Before our most popular membership was a three-month membership. This month, we sold only one three-month membership, with the most popular being flexible credits on smaller packages.”

Jay Dengle and his wife Eliana are co-founders of exeQute. The couple opened their Shanghai gym in March. Photo: Handout

It comes as economic data released this week showed the world’s second largest economy growth momentum had weakened, while retail data came in well below expectations.

Still, China’s fitness market is expected to continue growing as consumers are paying increasing attention to health and fitness. New fitness models are emerging all the time, including group class boutique studios and private teaching studios. The fitness industry is expected to cross 100 billion yuan in 2026 (US$13.8 billion), compared with 70.6 billion in 2021, according to Statista.

Apps like ClassPass also offer competitive sales for price-conscious consumers, making the price per class even cheaper for users than going directly to the retailer.

“I thought customers were price-sensitive, but now I have realised that they are just not spending,” said Dengle, who believes the wave of shutdowns of prominent fitness franchises in China during the Covid-19 pandemic has weakened trust between consumers and fitness centres.

Tera Wellness, once a dominant player, shut down its operations in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou in May 2023 after declaring bankruptcy. At the time, several aggrieved trainers took to social media, claiming the company had failed to pay wages and rent, while customers were left fuming as their membership fees were not refunded.

Other franchises like SpaceCycle and Physical also shut down several branches across China in the past year, causing an uproar among consumers who had to forfeit their deposits.

Raphael Coelho, the managing partner at X-Sigma Partners, an accelerator focused on scaling up retail brands in fitness, pet care, and food and drink, said consumers in China are looking for community-oriented gyms.

“We saw this trend globally, of people wanting to go to boutique fitness studios,” said Coelho, and while China is going through a slower economic transition, only niche concepts with strong business strategy can survive.

“There may be a lot of reasons why a concept fails,” he said. “You can’t just blame it on the economy. “It may be the business model, or the structure may have always had a problem to begin with.”

A slow market means only the best businesses will thrive and grow, he added.

02:43

Chinese dog owners race alongside their dogs in new fitness trend

One of the rare successes in China’s wellness industry is MYBarre, which opened its first gym in Shanghai in 2016.

MYBarre gym is popular with women, as it incorporates ballet, full body workout, sculpting, toning, strengthening and flexibility.

Siri Nordhejm, co-founder of MYBarre, says they were lucky to make it through the pandemic, mainly because most of her customers were Shanghai residents and not foreigners, who left the city in droves during the pandemic.

Consumers are more price-conscious and looking for the best value for money, Nordhejm said. The shift in attitude forced Nordhejm and her business partners to rethink the way they offered memberships to customers.

“We don’t lock people in the system which, I think, is definitely the way to make consumers feel happy,” said Nordhejm. They can try it for the experience and do not have to opt for any long-term contracts, she added.

“If you really have a great product, a great experience, I don’t think people mind actually spending the money,” she said.

Related Topics:beijing china ClassPass covid Economy Exequete gym gdp MYBarre retail spending shanghai Shanghai residents SpaceCycle Tera Wellness X-Sigma Partners

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Fitness

Counting steps works as well as counting exercise minutes – Harvard Health

Published

4 hours ago

July 21, 2024

Press Room

Counting steps works as well as counting exercise minutes – Harvard Health

Trying to meet physical activity goals can be confusing: should you aim for a certain amount of time exercising or a certain number of steps? A Harvard study suggests that both measurement methods are equally effective at tracking whether you’re getting enough activity to reduce disease risk and boost longevity. Researchers analyzed the health information of more than 14,000 healthy women (ages 62 or older) who wore activity trackers for a week and were then followed for nine years. Regardless of the type of exercise they engaged in, women who were the most active had the biggest reductions in risk for cardiovascular disease and early death (30% or more), compared to women who were the least active. And both the minute measurements and step measurements had the same associations with those health benefits. The research was published online May 20, 2024, by JAMA Internal Medicine. Since many people use activity trackers now, the authors say it’s time to add step counts to the federal physical activity recommendations, which currently call for 150 minutes per week of moderate-intensity activity or 75 minutes per week of vigorous-intensity activity. The equivalent in steps would be about 7,000 per day.

Image: © RichLegg/Getty Images

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Fitness

Be the Hero of Your Exercise Adventure with the 'Marvel Fitness Deck'

Published

19 hours ago

July 20, 2024

Press Room

Be the Hero of Your Exercise Adventure with the 'Marvel Fitness Deck'

MARVEL FITNESS DECK: Be the Hero of Your Exercise Adventure

MARVEL ENTERTAINMENT and ROBYN WARREN

9781797217482

$19.95 • Chronicle Books

50 Pages • 4¼ x 5¾ in • Cards

50 cards, full-color illustrations throughout

Release Date: August 6, 2024

Anyone can become a Super Hero with these accessible exercises! The exercises explained in this deck and the accompanying guidebook are designed for a range of workout experiences and abilities. Modifications on the cards explain how to take the movements higher, further, faster by adjusting them to your needs.

Energizing illustrations feature fan-favorite characters, including Captain Marvel, Black Panther, Iron Man, Star-Lord, Spider-Man, Storm, Hulk, Daredevil, Ms. Marvel, and more!

This deck is written by Robyn Warren, the founder of Geek Girl Strong, a super hero– and pop culture–inspired health coaching community for every body! Robyn Warren is a health educator and founder of Geek Girl Strong, an intersectional, feminist, health-coaching community for every body. Warren holds multiple education degrees, is a New York State-certified teacher, accredited Xpert pole instructor, American Council on Exercise-certified health coach, and certified precision nutrition coach based in Philadelphia.

Kyle Hilton is a lifelong Marvel devotee and illustrator whose work has appeared in the New York Times, Entertainment Weekly, Wall Street Journal, and more. As a child, he learned to draw from watching X-Men: The Animated Series and redrawing panels from any Spider-Man comic book he could get his hands on. He lives in Jackson, Mississippi, with his wife and daughter.

Marvel Fitness Deck will be available from Chronicle Books on August 6, 2024. Available at Amazon and wherever books are sold!

Fitness

Kristin Johns in Workout Gear is “Off to the Gym”

Published

1 day ago

July 20, 2024

Press Room

Kristin Johns in Workout Gear is “Off to the Gym”

Kristin Johns is headed to the gym in her workout gear. In a new social media post the influencer shows off her incredible figure in a yellow workout top and green leggings prior to an exercise session. “Off to the gym,” she captioned the Instagram Stories image. How does she approach diet, fitness, and self-care? Here is everything you need to know about her lifestyle habits.

In a YouTube video about her diet and fitness habits, Kristin reveals what she eats in a day. For breakfast she starts with a Cliff Bar. “It’s kind of a sad breakfast,” she jokes. “It’s not like a full meal, but it’s good for when you’re in a rush. For lunch she opts for something “a little more hearty,” a sweet potato bowl with peanut butter, honey, some ground cinnamon, some plain Greek yogurt, some coconut flakes, chia seeds ,and also some granola. For dinner she has grilled shrimp, veggies and rice.

Kristin prioritizes hydration. She drinks multiple glasses of “lemon water” daily, she says. She adds that she tracks her water intake on an app, “which I love ’cause I’m so bad at drinking the right amount of water a day.” According to the Mayo Clinic, hydration is important for a variety of reasons. Water helps get rid of waste through urination, perspiration, and bowel movements, keeps your temperature normal, lubricates and cushions joints, and helps protect sensitive tissues.

“Another thing that I have kind of discovered about myself and about working out and fitness and health is how important physical activity is not only for my physical health, I also think it’s equally as important for my mental health because I remember when I moved to LA, the first month, I didn’t really work out at all, or I was just doing something maybe like once every two weeks, just like a random workout,” she said in the same video. “And I was feeling so tired and sad and I was just feeling so blah, you know what I’m saying? And, once I started getting on a consistent workout routine, I just felt so much more energetic, so much happier, so much more driven to get things done. And I just think that that is the most important thing to remember about fitness is that yeah, it’s great to look good and strong and feel healthy, but also just getting out and being active just boosts your mental health so much.”

Kristin enjoys sweating al fresco. “My first favorite exercise is hiking. LA has amazing hiking trails and it’s a great workout. It really gets your heart rate up,” Kristin says.

Building stronger muscles and bones
Improving your sense of balance
Improving your heart health
Decreasing the risk of certain respiratory problems

Kristin is a big fan of using Class Plass, so she can mix up her workouts. “I usually like to go to spin classes, I go to Pilates, I do different circuit classes, boot camps, all these different things,” she says.