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The only people I know who seem to feel really good about their COVID fitness levels are those who prioritized it before the pandemic and are so committed that

The only people I know who seem to feel really good about their COVID fitness levels are those who prioritized it before the pandemic and are so committed that they were willing and able to figure out alternatives. People who didn't prioritize it or struggled to get into sustainable schedules are doing poorly. Even some of my friends who had really good routines fell into pretty serious depressions at the start of it and haven't been able to find a new schedule that works for them. I'd love to see stats on who's buying home gym equipment and what percentage of them are people just getting started training VS former gym-goers who are trying to adapt. The home fitness market was already exploding before this, I'd love to know if this is just the same target audience adopting it faster than anticipated.

thomascgalvin 6y ago
It's been impossible to buy any kind of home fitness equipment for a couple of months now. I've seen kettlebells going for $500 on Amazon. People definitely thought they were going to jump into home fitness with both feet, but just like New Year's resolutions, I doubt that many of them stuck with it. If I had to guess, there are two groups of people who are taking advantage of the quarantine to better their fitness routine: people who were already serious, and already had a home gym; and people who are doing something that doesn't take a whole lot of equipment, like yoga.
- neutronicus 6y ago
  The other side of the fitness coin is diet, and the two hours a day returned to me have been instrumental in improving that. People may come out of quarantine simultaneously less fit and less fat. Fitness-wise, there's only so much you can do with a 4-8-month-old in a third-floor apartment, but jogging a couple miles with a stroller is kind of nice at any rate.
  - thomascgalvin 6y ago
    This might be a case where perfect is the enemy of good. People overestimate how much and how hard they have to work to make a positive impact on their fitness. You don't need to join Crossfit, run ten miles a day, or lift for forty-five minutes, five days a week. For someone who is sedentary, jogging a couple of miles with a stroller is a huge improvement. So is twenty minutes of yoga. Consistency is more important than going all-out, all the time.
    - sickcodebruh 6y ago
      Even _walking_ a couple miles with a stroller is significant!
    - neutronicus 6y ago
      Personally I've been pretty hardcore about various kinds of fitness (including the synecdoche of the day, CrossFit) so it's been an adjustment to be the dumpy dad jogging behind a stroller. I will say that I really wish I could lift weights or at least do pull-ups right now because I'm getting all kinds of random aches I don't get when my upper body's in shape.
    - lazyasciiart 6y ago
      Caveat: jogging strollers aren't recommended for babies before at least six months, because they don't really have any neck muscles to handle changes in direction or stopping. Wait until they can hold their own head up and look around. BUT you can use that time to try running with an empty stroller at least once, it feels pretty different and also you might notice some unexpected obstacles along your normal route!
  - jldugger 6y ago
    I mean, the average person doesn't really need much equipment if the goal is to lose weight (in contrast with the niche hobbyist market of building muscle). There's a ton of bodyweight exercises[1] you can use that require no gym or even weights. [1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bodyweight_exercise https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bodyweight_exercise
    - neutronicus 6y ago
      A decent body weight program is going to require a pull-up bar and if you rent that's a tough ask
      - jldugger 6y ago
        Maybe I'm just bad at physical fitness but I've never been able to do a pull-up. Seems like the kind of thing that requires both upper body strength and a lean body, which is kind of where I want to finish, not where I get to start from.
- vangelis 6y ago
  I grabbed some big landscaping rocks. They're heavy, asymmetrical but smooth, and make for a good workout.
- chimen 6y ago
  Get a TRX equipment and work with your body weight. I train all my muscle groups with it. It weighs about 500 grams and can fit in any backpack.
  - thomascgalvin 6y ago
    I had a TRX setup, but switched to wooden gymnastic rings. The rings are a lot more durable.
  - taylortrusty 6y ago
    Dumb question - how do you use these in a home? I looked up their TRX kit but they all seem suited for gyms? https://store.trxtraining.com/trx-full-body-workout-bundle/ https://store.trxtraining.com/trx-full-body-workout-bundle/
    - dillondoyle 6y ago
      There are a lot you can buy with door anchors. Basically little discs or like a fabric 'bump' which goes the top of the door, which you close, and then you pull the opposite direction of where the door swings open. I got these ones before lockdown panic - though I use them with my pull up bar which allows one to do a lot more exercise than if you're stuck with a door block you. The pull up bar doesnt leave any marks though I also have an old house with solid wood frames i've wondered hw secure it would be resting on the lip of a cheap mdf narrow frame https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0787N367J/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o06_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0787N367J/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b...
- cellularmitosis 6y ago
  Door pull-ups are a pretty good hack. Your t-shirt and shorts cut the friction enough that your body just slides along the door surface. Place a sock under each palm for a more comfortable grip. Between that, push-ups, planks, going for a walk, and running up some stairs, you can keep a baseline of fitness which isn’t too shabby.
- asdff 6y ago
  Certain equipment has had a run, but you can get resistance bands all over the place. I bought 150lbs of resistance for $40, and I just looked and there are still plenty in stock. I think people have to get more creative with their physical fitness. You don't need freeweights to achieve great results. Here is an excellent guide: https://yoga-horizons.com/pdfs/Fatmans-Guide-to-Cable-Training-2.pdf https://yoga-horizons.com/pdfs/Fatmans-Guide-to-Cable-Traini...
- megameter 6y ago
  Seconding all those saying resistance bands. They are the perfect complement to daily walks or jogging since weight is minimal and they easily sling over the shoulder. I see more people using them every month. For ideas on how to use them I suggest looking up Undersun Fitness on YT.
D895n9o33436N42 6y ago
I was fat before the pandemic. I continue to be fat during the pandemic. I will be fat after the pandemic is over. Fitness is for other people. I’m doing great, thanks for asking. I drink good whiskey on my porch while I watch the bomb ass explosive sunsets that Florida is so famous for. I shoot projectile weapons into an earthen berm. I listen to my favorite synthwave playlists. I eat good food. I go to the beach. Just because I’m fat doesn’t mean I’m doing poorly. In fact I’m willing to bet that I’m happier than most posers who go around telling everyone that they do CrossFit. (That my iPhone has capitalized CrossFit is alarming in itself...)
- IMTDb 6y ago
  I fail to see how this is relevant to OP's question about the demographic of people buying home gym equipment since you are obviously not one of them.
  - lnanek2 6y ago
    To be fair, the OP talked about home gym equipment like he's talking about weights, but that's not what the Forbes article is about: " Trainers have gone online, video-based workouts are the new normal, and high-tech home gym equipment is making its way into more homes than ever before. " And even following the link to gym equipment has: " From companies that strictly provide a software platform that enables video workouts to hardware companies that facilitate live group workouts, the wide range of options available to consumers is plentiful. Peloton, one of the more notable names in the industry, experienced a 66% surge in sales earlier in the year as more consumers became willing to shell out thousands of dollars for hardware that connects someone to live classes and other riders. Tonal, another in-home hardware fitness company, told reporters back in March that the company’s sales tripled at one point in the early days of March when people were being encouraged to stay home more regularly. " So really the article is more about remote classes and training and tech to facilitate them, not home gym equipment. So comments about this lifestyle appealing to new people or not are more on topic than topics about buying home weights.
- cutty 6y ago
  Have fun dying early.
lnanek2 6y ago
Definitely not my experience. I was going to the gym regularly before: lifting weights and cycling. Post pandemic I've lost 5 pounds thanks to cycling outdoors, swimming outdoors, lugging heavy bags camping in the wilderness, Ring Fit, Just Dance, Box VR, Audica, Beat Saber, yoga and pilates TV shows, and first one set of resistance bands and now a second more advanced set. Started doing acroyoga with my girlfriend, which is a blast. Similarly, one friend is double my level in Ring Fit and we send photos back and forth egging each other on, and another friend is constantly sending me YouTube videos of how to do perfect plays in Just Dance and showing me her score and has hacked the group play mode to work remote by streaming the host screen by video call. How could someone not find a schedule that works for them now that they just need to turn on YouTube whereas previously they had to go visit a gym or a trainer? It's way easier now, as the Forbes article states.
- greymalik 6y ago
  > How could someone not find a schedule that works for them now My answer to that question is having children while no longer being able to outsource childcare.
  - Enginerrrd 6y ago
    I'm in the same boat there but I'm training more consistently than I ever have. I have a double stroller so I take the boys running, or I load them up and do sprints uphill if I don't feel like going for a long run. It's not unlike pushing a sled. I also set the littlest one up in his bouncer while the 2 year old plays with the tools in my garage and watches me lift weights or do pull-ups. Exercise can and should be a family activity. On the weekends my wife and I each throw a kid on our back and go for a ruck in the forest. You can also use children like a kettlebell. They love it and it's a great workout. The two year old also loves to help me with push-ups and planks by climbing on or under me.
- WorldMaker 6y ago
  A lot of people are only socially motivated to fitness: 1) With less socialization in general, less motivation towards fitness. (The "who cares if I am a fat slob if no one sees me outside of the house?" problem.) 2) Gym tools like personal trainers are an "accountability-buddy", a big reason why they are such a common gym amenity is that some people need that "mentor that keeps me accountable" or other peer pressures of a gym environment. You can only do so much social motivation over Zoom.
ErikVandeWater 6y ago
If anyone is interested, for home workouts I highly recommend a macebell. It its a weight on the end of a 3 foot pole. It's beautiful because it allows you to adjust the leverage the weight has against you to adjust the difficulty. It's very dynamic and fun to work out with and tons of exercises from isometric to full-body can be done with it.
staysaasy 6y ago
One tip that helped me a ton – if you're WFH, turn your former commute (or some % of your former commute), and force yourself to work out during this time. I started that at the beginning of COVID and without exaggeration it's been life-changing. I put 0 pressure on myself to hit goals, I just run / do pushups / walk briskly, but I make sure to use the commute time on that rather than working more or browsing the internet.
- blackearl 6y ago
  I've changed to work out in the middle of the day (thanks flexible job) which is a fun but challenging diversion from work. For me it's super tough to do morning workouts, and after work I want to relax, but in the middle of the day I'm still in my work mindset so it's been a nice change.
  - Insanity 6y ago
    I actually do the same, I also feel like it helps me work better afterwards.
  - ra7 6y ago
    I started doing midday workouts for exactly the same reason as yours and it has made a massive difference to me. It also helped me cut down on sometimes unhealthy cafeteria lunch (back when things were normal) in favor of salad/smoothie post workout, so I count that as a win-win.
- Johnny555 6y ago
  That's what I do -- I used to keep an hour blocked off of my calendar for "commute time", now I use that time to workout. At the beginning of the quarantine, I bought a spinning bike (I've been thinking about getting one for over a year, but going to the gym spinning classes a couple times a week was relatively convenient since the gym was near work). I also invested in a set of dumbbells. Now I work out 5 days a week -- alternating between spinning and strength training. If I miss the morning exercise for any reason, it's easy to fit in a 15 minute session sometime during the day, something that was much harder to do when I was going to the gym for exercise. I don't think I'll ever return to the gym now that I've experienced the convenience of working out at home in a virtual online class.
112012123 6y ago
I think it heavily depends on the individual. Personally I've gone from nearly sedentary to running ~35 miles per week (and lost ~15 lbs in the process).
- pferde 6y ago
  While it's an amazing progress, make sure not to overdo it. Muscles get used to increased stress quickly, but joints (especially knees) and tendons not so much - and those also heal much slower after a stress-induced injury.
  - 112012123 6y ago
    A really good point! I'd run a bit in the past - though not to this extent - and it's amazing the degree to which injury management becomes a part of running. I'm definitely an amateur compared to most people, but I've already learned so much about random human anatomy each time something breaks...
- pbhjpbhj 6y ago
  I've gone from walking 80minutes/day and doing 16-8 'fasting' to eating comfort foods and barely leaving the house. Principally for me I was able to use getting to work as a motivator to exercise (and everything else fell in to place to some extent); now work is in the bedroom. It's a problem principally of depression/lack of motivation; but one that I was managing prior to lockdown. Experiences are so varied across the board. It wouldn't surprise me if overall people, like me, were worse off in general health terms.
axegon_ 6y ago
Correct. In my case I was pretty worried that I'll end in a downwards spiral due to gyms being shutdown and whatnot and I did everything I can to make up for it. Before the lockdown, I was at ~10% body fat. In an attempt to not go to 24-25% as I was a few years back, I started exercising daily and with 0 intentions, I dropped down to ~6.2% body fat. I went back to the gym as soon as they re-opened and still carried on working out at home. Well... These last few days have been a struggle cause I got a dog and... He gets excited easily to put it mildly... But that's me. There are a few people from work that live near me and one of them looks 15 years older in every way imaginable.
watwut 6y ago
I found it easier to get exercise, enough sleep and good food while working for home. It was generally more tiring with kids at home, but specifically I had more time to exercise and when we went outside as familly I as adult had waaay more chance to move too. Since there were no kids outside, we went to place where I could do sport too more often.
johnfn 6y ago
My anecdata is definitely in opposition to your anecdata :-) I’ve personally struggled in the past to keep a consistent fitness habit because it felt like it took a lot of time. However, Covid gave me a couple of extra hours a day, and, coupled with the discovery of amazing body weight exercises on YouTube, I’ve been working out virtually every day for the past 3 months. That’s longer and more frequently than I have ever exercised previously.
- sickcodebruh 6y ago
  I think that speaks to your ability to adapt, which is great! My wife found herself in a similar boat: prior to COVID, she did abbreviated workouts every day after work; since COVID, she's arranged her schedule to get her ideal workouts every morning plus yoga and some extra runs with me. I've finally reached a same place, doing 5-6 days a week instead of 3-4, but it was almost entirely because she harangued me. Finding a fitness routine was never natural for me and I feel for all the people who got thrown off their game and still haven't recovered.
- meheleventyone 6y ago
  Yeah I agree with this although not Covid enforced working from home means I now swim 5x a week. Before although I didn’t have a big commute I definitely felt social pressure that made me feel like I didn’t have time to fit it in. I found it really energises me in the morning and obviously it’s done wonders for my overall health and fitness.
fatnoah 6y ago
>People who didn't prioritize it or struggled to get into sustainable schedules are doing poorly. I'm one of those people that has fitness goals met mostly through routine and access to the gym. There are no gyms within 20The complete dynamiting of my child's summer schedule, WFH, and everything else has made it so that there is no routine any more.
d1zzy 6y ago
One thing that helped a lot was that by having a commute I had a pretty good excuse to bike, it only took slightly longer than driving and it provided a break between work and home, to give me more time to adjust between the 2 modes. Not having a commute removed most of the motivation to bike. I force myself now (and I hate it most of the time) to go once a week over the local mountain but that still means only about 20% of weekly biking time I was doing before with commuting. Still, it's better than nothing.
- NegativeLatency 6y ago
  Found it really nice to be able to get some frustration out biking home as hard as I felt like. Now I just kinda transition from the computer to the couch downstairs.
jarjoura 6y ago
Woah there cowboy. I've been on waiting lists for any serious at home gym equipment since April. Not a peep, but I refuse to pay Marketplace/Craigslist scalpers. I was lucky to get resistance bands and those have been working well at least. Having a long ass commute and a dog to attend to meant my life was pretty much office and home. I was always too exhausted to consider a serious workout routine. However, since shelter-in-place started I've lost a ton of weight, gotten amazing sleep and never felt physically better. I've been working out daily and walking/hiking on the weekends, if anything, just to get out of my house. I've also cooked all my meals because I've made it a personal goal to get abs by the end of the year. So I want to know what I'm putting in my body. This has become a life changing moment for me, so I don't see any reason why this wouldn't be true for others. If the pandemic threw you off your old daily routines, and that's your only reason for giving up healthy habits, were you really committed in the first place? What would have happened if you simply moved or started a family or some other life changing event in the future? Would you just give up your routine then?
- churp 6y ago
  Check out Nowinstock.net. It worked for me!
- Johnny555 6y ago
  I've been on waiting lists for any serious at home gym equipment since April. Not a peep, but I refuse to pay Marketplace/Craigslist scalpers. If you're just interested in general fitness, no equipment needed, there are any number of online workouts to follow that will give you a great whole body + cardio workout using nothing more than your body weight. (though I bought both a spinning bike and a set of dumbbells at the beginning of quarantine... I've finally reached the point where the dumbbells aren't quite heavy enough for everything, so I've been watching eBay for a good deal on additional weight plates since as you noted, it's hard to find workout equipment)
  - AmericanChopper 6y ago
    My quarantine routine was yoga mat + YouTube yoga session every morning before work. It’s been pretty great tbh. (Btw, yoga with adriene is a very good YouTube yoga channel)
bitexploder 6y ago
Definitely me. My main fitness hobby, a grappling martial art (Brazilian Jiu Jitsu), had to stop. My diet fell apart, and my fitness level dropped precipitously. I am rebuilding now, lifting again, drilling BJJ things, walking with my wife, etc. it was not an easy adjustment. I’d definitely say I hit some mild depression.
- Joof 6y ago
  Same, but outdoorsy stuff and I had to quarantine with a family member in Houston. I basically went from top 10% athlete level to feeling like a total couch potato. I just went back out this week and it's gonna take about a year to get back.
- qchris 6y ago
  Just wanted to commiserate with you a little about the combat sports. I was in the several weeks into a training camp for my first amateur muay thai fight when my state's shelter-in-place order came out. Not being able to work with training partners and equipment (weights, heavy bags, and whatnot), and especially not having that as an outlet anymore has been really hard. Like you, I think I'm finally making a little progress towards rebuilding, but there's been a couple pretty rough patches along the way.
  - bitexploder 6y ago
    thanks, it’s definitely hard. I know some people have been creating new healthy habits for themselves, but I was already very active as a runner and BJJ player. I should have taken it seriously and adjusted instead of being lazy. Stopping an extremely active life style cold turkey is like stopping medication. It sucks. Plus it’s not like I can stop. I already got a little cauliflower ear. It’s blackbelt or bust now :)
Buldak 6y ago
The pandemic disrupted my fitness regimen because it disrupted my daily routine in general. Ironically, I found that I had more free time to run, but ran less and was somewhat listless in general. (It didn't help that all of my races got canceled, too.) I've only recently returned to my pre-Covid weekly mileage.
sushid 6y ago
I wholeheartedly disagree. I had a good fitness routine pre-COVID and the lack of a work-life balance and proper gym equipment has definitely made me less fit in the last ~5 months. I'd say this is generally true amongst my group of friends as well. For instance, I had a friend who was avidly taking muay thai lessons for the last few years give it up for the time being since it's not feasible to recreate that experience in his own 1BR. A lot of people are doing what they can with freeweights and online classes but it's just not the same.
Denzel 6y ago
Counter anecdote: my mother started Nutrisystem and prioritizing fitness because the pandemic gave her the time away from work to focus, experiment, and dial in a new routine. She’s lost almost 20 pounds and counting, healthily, and currently weighs less than she has in 30 years; her doctor halved her blood pressure medicine a couple weeks ago, and predicts she’ll be able to stop it entirely soon — once again something she’s been on for 30 years; her blood work came back with flying colors; and she went on her first actual grueling hike in her life a couple weeks ago. She has a new lease on life due to the pandemic: a window of opportunity where she didn’t have to work to live. Now she’s ready to return to work, with her new habits, and never look back.

thomascgalvin 6y ago

It's been impossible to buy any kind of home fitness equipment for a couple of months now. I've seen kettlebells going for $500 on Amazon. People definitely thought they were going to jump into home fitness with both feet, but just like New Year's resolutions, I doubt that many of them stuck with it. If I had to guess, there are two groups of people who are taking advantage of the quarantine to better their fitness routine: people who were already serious, and already had a home gym; and people who are doing something that doesn't take a whole lot of equipment, like yoga.

neutronicus 6y ago
The other side of the fitness coin is diet, and the two hours a day returned to me have been instrumental in improving that. People may come out of quarantine simultaneously less fit and less fat. Fitness-wise, there's only so much you can do with a 4-8-month-old in a third-floor apartment, but jogging a couple miles with a stroller is kind of nice at any rate.
- thomascgalvin 6y ago
  This might be a case where perfect is the enemy of good. People overestimate how much and how hard they have to work to make a positive impact on their fitness. You don't need to join Crossfit, run ten miles a day, or lift for forty-five minutes, five days a week. For someone who is sedentary, jogging a couple of miles with a stroller is a huge improvement. So is twenty minutes of yoga. Consistency is more important than going all-out, all the time.
  - sickcodebruh 6y ago
    Even _walking_ a couple miles with a stroller is significant!
  - neutronicus 6y ago
    Personally I've been pretty hardcore about various kinds of fitness (including the synecdoche of the day, CrossFit) so it's been an adjustment to be the dumpy dad jogging behind a stroller. I will say that I really wish I could lift weights or at least do pull-ups right now because I'm getting all kinds of random aches I don't get when my upper body's in shape.
  - lazyasciiart 6y ago
    Caveat: jogging strollers aren't recommended for babies before at least six months, because they don't really have any neck muscles to handle changes in direction or stopping. Wait until they can hold their own head up and look around. BUT you can use that time to try running with an empty stroller at least once, it feels pretty different and also you might notice some unexpected obstacles along your normal route!
- jldugger 6y ago
  I mean, the average person doesn't really need much equipment if the goal is to lose weight (in contrast with the niche hobbyist market of building muscle). There's a ton of bodyweight exercises[1] you can use that require no gym or even weights. [1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bodyweight_exercise https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bodyweight_exercise
  - neutronicus 6y ago
    A decent body weight program is going to require a pull-up bar and if you rent that's a tough ask
    - jldugger 6y ago
      Maybe I'm just bad at physical fitness but I've never been able to do a pull-up. Seems like the kind of thing that requires both upper body strength and a lean body, which is kind of where I want to finish, not where I get to start from.
vangelis 6y ago
I grabbed some big landscaping rocks. They're heavy, asymmetrical but smooth, and make for a good workout.
chimen 6y ago
Get a TRX equipment and work with your body weight. I train all my muscle groups with it. It weighs about 500 grams and can fit in any backpack.
- thomascgalvin 6y ago
  I had a TRX setup, but switched to wooden gymnastic rings. The rings are a lot more durable.
- taylortrusty 6y ago
  Dumb question - how do you use these in a home? I looked up their TRX kit but they all seem suited for gyms? https://store.trxtraining.com/trx-full-body-workout-bundle/ https://store.trxtraining.com/trx-full-body-workout-bundle/
  - dillondoyle 6y ago
    There are a lot you can buy with door anchors. Basically little discs or like a fabric 'bump' which goes the top of the door, which you close, and then you pull the opposite direction of where the door swings open. I got these ones before lockdown panic - though I use them with my pull up bar which allows one to do a lot more exercise than if you're stuck with a door block you. The pull up bar doesnt leave any marks though I also have an old house with solid wood frames i've wondered hw secure it would be resting on the lip of a cheap mdf narrow frame https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0787N367J/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o06_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0787N367J/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b...
cellularmitosis 6y ago
Door pull-ups are a pretty good hack. Your t-shirt and shorts cut the friction enough that your body just slides along the door surface. Place a sock under each palm for a more comfortable grip. Between that, push-ups, planks, going for a walk, and running up some stairs, you can keep a baseline of fitness which isn’t too shabby.
asdff 6y ago
Certain equipment has had a run, but you can get resistance bands all over the place. I bought 150lbs of resistance for $40, and I just looked and there are still plenty in stock. I think people have to get more creative with their physical fitness. You don't need freeweights to achieve great results. Here is an excellent guide: https://yoga-horizons.com/pdfs/Fatmans-Guide-to-Cable-Training-2.pdf https://yoga-horizons.com/pdfs/Fatmans-Guide-to-Cable-Traini...
megameter 6y ago
Seconding all those saying resistance bands. They are the perfect complement to daily walks or jogging since weight is minimal and they easily sling over the shoulder. I see more people using them every month. For ideas on how to use them I suggest looking up Undersun Fitness on YT.

D895n9o33436N42 6y ago

I was fat before the pandemic. I continue to be fat during the pandemic. I will be fat after the pandemic is over. Fitness is for other people. I’m doing great, thanks for asking. I drink good whiskey on my porch while I watch the bomb ass explosive sunsets that Florida is so famous for. I shoot projectile weapons into an earthen berm. I listen to my favorite synthwave playlists. I eat good food. I go to the beach. Just because I’m fat doesn’t mean I’m doing poorly. In fact I’m willing to bet that I’m happier than most posers who go around telling everyone that they do CrossFit. (That my iPhone has capitalized CrossFit is alarming in itself...)

IMTDb 6y ago
I fail to see how this is relevant to OP's question about the demographic of people buying home gym equipment since you are obviously not one of them.
- lnanek2 6y ago
  To be fair, the OP talked about home gym equipment like he's talking about weights, but that's not what the Forbes article is about: " Trainers have gone online, video-based workouts are the new normal, and high-tech home gym equipment is making its way into more homes than ever before. " And even following the link to gym equipment has: " From companies that strictly provide a software platform that enables video workouts to hardware companies that facilitate live group workouts, the wide range of options available to consumers is plentiful. Peloton, one of the more notable names in the industry, experienced a 66% surge in sales earlier in the year as more consumers became willing to shell out thousands of dollars for hardware that connects someone to live classes and other riders. Tonal, another in-home hardware fitness company, told reporters back in March that the company’s sales tripled at one point in the early days of March when people were being encouraged to stay home more regularly. " So really the article is more about remote classes and training and tech to facilitate them, not home gym equipment. So comments about this lifestyle appealing to new people or not are more on topic than topics about buying home weights.
cutty 6y ago
Have fun dying early.

lnanek2 6y ago

Definitely not my experience. I was going to the gym regularly before: lifting weights and cycling. Post pandemic I've lost 5 pounds thanks to cycling outdoors, swimming outdoors, lugging heavy bags camping in the wilderness, Ring Fit, Just Dance, Box VR, Audica, Beat Saber, yoga and pilates TV shows, and first one set of resistance bands and now a second more advanced set. Started doing acroyoga with my girlfriend, which is a blast. Similarly, one friend is double my level in Ring Fit and we send photos back and forth egging each other on, and another friend is constantly sending me YouTube videos of how to do perfect plays in Just Dance and showing me her score and has hacked the group play mode to work remote by streaming the host screen by video call. How could someone not find a schedule that works for them now that they just need to turn on YouTube whereas previously they had to go visit a gym or a trainer? It's way easier now, as the Forbes article states.

greymalik 6y ago
> How could someone not find a schedule that works for them now My answer to that question is having children while no longer being able to outsource childcare.
- Enginerrrd 6y ago
  I'm in the same boat there but I'm training more consistently than I ever have. I have a double stroller so I take the boys running, or I load them up and do sprints uphill if I don't feel like going for a long run. It's not unlike pushing a sled. I also set the littlest one up in his bouncer while the 2 year old plays with the tools in my garage and watches me lift weights or do pull-ups. Exercise can and should be a family activity. On the weekends my wife and I each throw a kid on our back and go for a ruck in the forest. You can also use children like a kettlebell. They love it and it's a great workout. The two year old also loves to help me with push-ups and planks by climbing on or under me.
WorldMaker 6y ago
A lot of people are only socially motivated to fitness: 1) With less socialization in general, less motivation towards fitness. (The "who cares if I am a fat slob if no one sees me outside of the house?" problem.) 2) Gym tools like personal trainers are an "accountability-buddy", a big reason why they are such a common gym amenity is that some people need that "mentor that keeps me accountable" or other peer pressures of a gym environment. You can only do so much social motivation over Zoom.

ErikVandeWater 6y ago

If anyone is interested, for home workouts I highly recommend a macebell. It its a weight on the end of a 3 foot pole. It's beautiful because it allows you to adjust the leverage the weight has against you to adjust the difficulty. It's very dynamic and fun to work out with and tons of exercises from isometric to full-body can be done with it.

staysaasy 6y ago

One tip that helped me a ton – if you're WFH, turn your former commute (or some % of your former commute), and force yourself to work out during this time. I started that at the beginning of COVID and without exaggeration it's been life-changing. I put 0 pressure on myself to hit goals, I just run / do pushups / walk briskly, but I make sure to use the commute time on that rather than working more or browsing the internet.

blackearl 6y ago
I've changed to work out in the middle of the day (thanks flexible job) which is a fun but challenging diversion from work. For me it's super tough to do morning workouts, and after work I want to relax, but in the middle of the day I'm still in my work mindset so it's been a nice change.
- Insanity 6y ago
  I actually do the same, I also feel like it helps me work better afterwards.
- ra7 6y ago
  I started doing midday workouts for exactly the same reason as yours and it has made a massive difference to me. It also helped me cut down on sometimes unhealthy cafeteria lunch (back when things were normal) in favor of salad/smoothie post workout, so I count that as a win-win.
Johnny555 6y ago
That's what I do -- I used to keep an hour blocked off of my calendar for "commute time", now I use that time to workout. At the beginning of the quarantine, I bought a spinning bike (I've been thinking about getting one for over a year, but going to the gym spinning classes a couple times a week was relatively convenient since the gym was near work). I also invested in a set of dumbbells. Now I work out 5 days a week -- alternating between spinning and strength training. If I miss the morning exercise for any reason, it's easy to fit in a 15 minute session sometime during the day, something that was much harder to do when I was going to the gym for exercise. I don't think I'll ever return to the gym now that I've experienced the convenience of working out at home in a virtual online class.

112012123 6y ago

I think it heavily depends on the individual. Personally I've gone from nearly sedentary to running ~35 miles per week (and lost ~15 lbs in the process).

pferde 6y ago
While it's an amazing progress, make sure not to overdo it. Muscles get used to increased stress quickly, but joints (especially knees) and tendons not so much - and those also heal much slower after a stress-induced injury.
- 112012123 6y ago
  A really good point! I'd run a bit in the past - though not to this extent - and it's amazing the degree to which injury management becomes a part of running. I'm definitely an amateur compared to most people, but I've already learned so much about random human anatomy each time something breaks...
pbhjpbhj 6y ago
I've gone from walking 80minutes/day and doing 16-8 'fasting' to eating comfort foods and barely leaving the house. Principally for me I was able to use getting to work as a motivator to exercise (and everything else fell in to place to some extent); now work is in the bedroom. It's a problem principally of depression/lack of motivation; but one that I was managing prior to lockdown. Experiences are so varied across the board. It wouldn't surprise me if overall people, like me, were worse off in general health terms.

axegon_ 6y ago

Correct. In my case I was pretty worried that I'll end in a downwards spiral due to gyms being shutdown and whatnot and I did everything I can to make up for it. Before the lockdown, I was at ~10% body fat. In an attempt to not go to 24-25% as I was a few years back, I started exercising daily and with 0 intentions, I dropped down to ~6.2% body fat. I went back to the gym as soon as they re-opened and still carried on working out at home. Well... These last few days have been a struggle cause I got a dog and... He gets excited easily to put it mildly... But that's me. There are a few people from work that live near me and one of them looks 15 years older in every way imaginable.

watwut 6y ago

I found it easier to get exercise, enough sleep and good food while working for home. It was generally more tiring with kids at home, but specifically I had more time to exercise and when we went outside as familly I as adult had waaay more chance to move too. Since there were no kids outside, we went to place where I could do sport too more often.

johnfn 6y ago

My anecdata is definitely in opposition to your anecdata :-) I’ve personally struggled in the past to keep a consistent fitness habit because it felt like it took a lot of time. However, Covid gave me a couple of extra hours a day, and, coupled with the discovery of amazing body weight exercises on YouTube, I’ve been working out virtually every day for the past 3 months. That’s longer and more frequently than I have ever exercised previously.

sickcodebruh 6y ago
I think that speaks to your ability to adapt, which is great! My wife found herself in a similar boat: prior to COVID, she did abbreviated workouts every day after work; since COVID, she's arranged her schedule to get her ideal workouts every morning plus yoga and some extra runs with me. I've finally reached a same place, doing 5-6 days a week instead of 3-4, but it was almost entirely because she harangued me. Finding a fitness routine was never natural for me and I feel for all the people who got thrown off their game and still haven't recovered.
meheleventyone 6y ago
Yeah I agree with this although not Covid enforced working from home means I now swim 5x a week. Before although I didn’t have a big commute I definitely felt social pressure that made me feel like I didn’t have time to fit it in. I found it really energises me in the morning and obviously it’s done wonders for my overall health and fitness.

fatnoah 6y ago

>People who didn't prioritize it or struggled to get into sustainable schedules are doing poorly. I'm one of those people that has fitness goals met mostly through routine and access to the gym. There are no gyms within 20The complete dynamiting of my child's summer schedule, WFH, and everything else has made it so that there is no routine any more.

d1zzy 6y ago

One thing that helped a lot was that by having a commute I had a pretty good excuse to bike, it only took slightly longer than driving and it provided a break between work and home, to give me more time to adjust between the 2 modes. Not having a commute removed most of the motivation to bike. I force myself now (and I hate it most of the time) to go once a week over the local mountain but that still means only about 20% of weekly biking time I was doing before with commuting. Still, it's better than nothing.

NegativeLatency 6y ago
Found it really nice to be able to get some frustration out biking home as hard as I felt like. Now I just kinda transition from the computer to the couch downstairs.

jarjoura 6y ago

Woah there cowboy. I've been on waiting lists for any serious at home gym equipment since April. Not a peep, but I refuse to pay Marketplace/Craigslist scalpers. I was lucky to get resistance bands and those have been working well at least. Having a long ass commute and a dog to attend to meant my life was pretty much office and home. I was always too exhausted to consider a serious workout routine. However, since shelter-in-place started I've lost a ton of weight, gotten amazing sleep and never felt physically better. I've been working out daily and walking/hiking on the weekends, if anything, just to get out of my house. I've also cooked all my meals because I've made it a personal goal to get abs by the end of the year. So I want to know what I'm putting in my body. This has become a life changing moment for me, so I don't see any reason why this wouldn't be true for others. If the pandemic threw you off your old daily routines, and that's your only reason for giving up healthy habits, were you really committed in the first place? What would have happened if you simply moved or started a family or some other life changing event in the future? Would you just give up your routine then?

churp 6y ago
Check out Nowinstock.net. It worked for me!
Johnny555 6y ago
I've been on waiting lists for any serious at home gym equipment since April. Not a peep, but I refuse to pay Marketplace/Craigslist scalpers. If you're just interested in general fitness, no equipment needed, there are any number of online workouts to follow that will give you a great whole body + cardio workout using nothing more than your body weight. (though I bought both a spinning bike and a set of dumbbells at the beginning of quarantine... I've finally reached the point where the dumbbells aren't quite heavy enough for everything, so I've been watching eBay for a good deal on additional weight plates since as you noted, it's hard to find workout equipment)
- AmericanChopper 6y ago
  My quarantine routine was yoga mat + YouTube yoga session every morning before work. It’s been pretty great tbh. (Btw, yoga with adriene is a very good YouTube yoga channel)

bitexploder 6y ago

Definitely me. My main fitness hobby, a grappling martial art (Brazilian Jiu Jitsu), had to stop. My diet fell apart, and my fitness level dropped precipitously. I am rebuilding now, lifting again, drilling BJJ things, walking with my wife, etc. it was not an easy adjustment. I’d definitely say I hit some mild depression.

Joof 6y ago
Same, but outdoorsy stuff and I had to quarantine with a family member in Houston. I basically went from top 10% athlete level to feeling like a total couch potato. I just went back out this week and it's gonna take about a year to get back.
qchris 6y ago
Just wanted to commiserate with you a little about the combat sports. I was in the several weeks into a training camp for my first amateur muay thai fight when my state's shelter-in-place order came out. Not being able to work with training partners and equipment (weights, heavy bags, and whatnot), and especially not having that as an outlet anymore has been really hard. Like you, I think I'm finally making a little progress towards rebuilding, but there's been a couple pretty rough patches along the way.
- bitexploder 6y ago
  thanks, it’s definitely hard. I know some people have been creating new healthy habits for themselves, but I was already very active as a runner and BJJ player. I should have taken it seriously and adjusted instead of being lazy. Stopping an extremely active life style cold turkey is like stopping medication. It sucks. Plus it’s not like I can stop. I already got a little cauliflower ear. It’s blackbelt or bust now :)

Buldak 6y ago

The pandemic disrupted my fitness regimen because it disrupted my daily routine in general. Ironically, I found that I had more free time to run, but ran less and was somewhat listless in general. (It didn't help that all of my races got canceled, too.) I've only recently returned to my pre-Covid weekly mileage.

sushid 6y ago

I wholeheartedly disagree. I had a good fitness routine pre-COVID and the lack of a work-life balance and proper gym equipment has definitely made me less fit in the last ~5 months. I'd say this is generally true amongst my group of friends as well. For instance, I had a friend who was avidly taking muay thai lessons for the last few years give it up for the time being since it's not feasible to recreate that experience in his own 1BR. A lot of people are doing what they can with freeweights and online classes but it's just not the same.

Denzel 6y ago

Counter anecdote: my mother started Nutrisystem and prioritizing fitness because the pandemic gave her the time away from work to focus, experiment, and dial in a new routine. She’s lost almost 20 pounds and counting, healthily, and currently weighs less than she has in 30 years; her doctor halved her blood pressure medicine a couple weeks ago, and predicts she’ll be able to stop it entirely soon — once again something she’s been on for 30 years; her blood work came back with flying colors; and she went on her first actual grueling hike in her life a couple weeks ago. She has a new lease on life due to the pandemic: a window of opportunity where she didn’t have to work to live. Now she’s ready to return to work, with her new habits, and never look back.