Amaresh Ojha, Business Head, RoundGlass Traqade & RoundGlass Gympik

An IIM Bangalore alumnus, Amaresh Ojha is a renowned name in the Indian fitness industry. Driven by his passion for fitness and its implications in urban life, Amaresh founded Gympik in 2013 with an aim to aid the discovery process of fitness solutions for end users. His vision to offer value to customers has led him to develop an integrated fitness ecosystem that revolutionises the way users discover ways of leading healthy and fit lives. RoundGlass Gympik has been able to lead this fragmented space by leveraging technology and co-creating value for its affiliates by facilitating direct interactions between fitness providers and seekers.

As Business Head of RoundGlass Gympik, Amaresh heads the business strategy, product development and scalability verticals at Gympik, ensuring innovation across every function of the business. Having worked with tech companies like Cisco and Bluestone, Amaresh brings his expertise in technology to RoundGlass Gympik’s core. Under his leadership, RoundGlass Gympik has prolifically expanded & is present in 40+ cities in India. It is also the only fitness technology brand that has disrupted the industry by solving the problem from both the member and service provider’s end.

 

The fitness industry will undergo a major transformation in 2021.The fitness sector is required to keep up with the times and provide a more individualized approach to fitness and health in the face of ever-changing technologies. Fitness will be more accessible and pleasurable for everybody in 2021, with at-home workouts, virtual training, and health monitoring all on the horizon.

The industry is rife with uncertainty. In the past year, many fitness centres have lost their revenue and some had perished. The pandemic threw our lives – and our fitness routines – into disarray, pushing gyms to go online while we shifted to at-home workouts. Living in lockdown changed the attitudes of the masses towards physical activity. Daily exercise became the only consistency in our cramped lives, acting as an antidote to the constantly changing news cycle. One effect of the crisis has been a greater emphasis on fitness, with news and media providing near-daily reminders in a way that was not seen prior to the pandemic. One of the greatest risk factors for serious sickness or death as a result of Covid-19 is poor cardiovascular health. Post Covid, it is likely that governments around the world will encourage people to exercise more as part of their terms of enhancing public health. 

Let’s take a look at what the future holds for the fitness industry in a post-Covid world.

Mind-body and soul Fitness

Exercising for stress management was one of its top trends in 2020, which came as no surprise considering the long-standing link between physical activity and mental health. We rarely think about how crucial exercise is for mental health until it is taken away from us. For a long time, it has been the most disregarded topic of conversation.

Mindfulness has become a popular addition to workouts, people are now looking for ways to stay motivated by mixing physical exercise with mental calm. People are now looking for ways to stay motivated by combining physical exercise with mental quiet, and mindfulness has become a popular complement to workouts. Although mindful workouts such as yoga and pilates have long been popular in the fitness business, pandemic-related stress has prompted consumers to combine the two with an ever-growing number of training modules. In addition, there is a growing drive for more deliberate exercise, with an emphasis on form and muscle activation rather than mindlessly going through the motions of a workout. These changes may improve workout quality and help the trainees to experience a better balance of mind-body and soul. 

Virtual Fitness

The expanding number of fitness streaming services and apps has resulted in a plethora of options for consumers. Many services offer similar fitness libraries. Most of them include a wide range of workouts, including everything from high-intensity interval training to yoga. The cost of a subscription is usually relatively similar. With such an abundant offering in fitness, the social feature of digital fitness items may end up being the most important distinction for today’s more discriminating and price-conscious consumers. To identify virtual workouts that suited them best, young fitness enthusiasts used a variety of mobile apps and social media outlets. Hundreds of virtual classes and membership programmes have been launched by gym chains and fitness studios of all sizes to meet the fitness needs of the general public. These programmes will continue to be popular because they allow users to achieve their fitness goals while saving time and money in the comfort of their own homes. Similarly, fitness professionals who have made the move from on-premises gym workouts to at-home workouts are predicted to continue with remote fitness training.

Innovations like AI-powered virtual trainers that can lead fitness enthusiasts along their fitness journey and provide one-on-one feedback such as proposing their optimum routines, correcting postures, and assisting them in meeting their dietary demands will also boost the virtual fitness trend.

At-Home Fitness 

Though at-home fitness has been one of the components people have been considering for long, the recent developments have resulted in a significant increase in at-home fitness. Gyms all over the world closed in March 2020 leaving no options for people to carry out their fitness routines other than the four walls of their houses. To obtain their workout fix, many consumers resorted to apps, fitness streaming services, YouTube or Zoom and personal training services. Consumers are now more conscious about their health and most of them don’t mind in resorting to home fitness. For some, the temptation of the gym will be too strong to resist. However, there has been a shift in perception of what home fitness can do; it is now far more involved, and individuals anticipate more from their home training experience.

Gym or Studio workouts

In light of COVID-19, fitness trends research has found that the majority of consumers have kept their gym and studio subscriptions and plan to resume at-gym training. The pandemic has also made them realize how important it is to get outside and exercise. Even as the risk of COVID-19 spreading lessens, people will remain apprehensive of crowded spaces, thus gyms and studios may benefit from moving more equipment and activities outside. As a result of the pandemic, impromptu and permanent open-air gyms have sprouted, with several gyms and fitness stores now offering outside lessons.

Many people will, however, return to their gym in the future. Gyms continue to provide benefits that people cannot always obtain at home, including quick access to a variety of equipment and workout space, as well as expert knowledge from trainers and instructors, as well as the community and motivational component of working out with the fellow gym goers. A fitness brand’s success will still continue to be marketed by the advancement of technology. Health clubs will need to develop digital solutions to cater to a variety of personas, their fitness needs, and expectations as more individuals seek fully connected experiences. 

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