Survey Finds Americans Embracing Hybrid Home/Club Workouts

A survey from The Beachbody Company finds that though 15 percent of U.S. adults who exercise regularly said they will never feel comfortable working out in a gym, more than half (61 percent) said they will eventually feel comfortable heading back, while 23 percent are comfortable resuming their gym workouts.

At the same time, a majority (90 percent) described their at-home fitness routines as effective, including a majority (54 percent) who said their routines have been very or extremely effective.

Additional key findings include:

• 85 percent of respondents who exercise regularly said they plan to work out at home over the next three months;
• 85 percent agreed that there are convenience and accessibility benefits to working out at home that they can’t get from working out at the gym;
• More than 63 percent of respondents who exercise would prefer a mix of working out in a gym and at home in the future;
•  Men are proving to be huge proponents of at-home workouts and more likely to continue exercising at home (59 percent) than women (45 percent);
• 86 percent of Americans said their workouts have been as good, or better than they expected, including 46 percent who said their home workouts have exceeded their expectations;
• City dwellers have embraced home workouts the most, with 77 percent working out 3 times a week or more and 66 percent have found their at-home workouts extremely or very effective;
• 53 percent of Millennials and 54 percent of Gen X said their at-home workouts have exceeded their expectations.

“The only thing worse than this ongoing disruption caused by the pandemic is actually getting sick, and I think that’s why we’re seeing so many people being proactive about their health despite the circumstances,” said The Beachbody Company Co-Founder and CEO Carl Daikeler. “Millions of people are exercising at home, they’re learning how to be more conscious about their nutrition, and they’re finding ways to manage their stress with content. For instance, the fact that two-thirds of Americans have been working out at home at least three times a week is extremely promising, and hopefully, a sign that healthier habits are here to stay. As gyms navigate a path to reopen around the country, we expect to see a hybrid model where the traditional gym membership is a complement to more frequent at-home digital fitness, nutrition planning, stress-reducing content and online community engagement like we offer – with a priority on health over vanity.”