I agree with 7 out of 9 of these predictions very very strongly.
https://www.linkedin.com/posts/jitendrachouksey_heres-how-i-think-the-health-ecosystem-will-activity-7367113334850019328-pMgr?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop&rcm=ACoAABd1p7ABPwi68MAMGFoh1UjdR7mLIptxzSo
I am ambivalent on the advanced wearables. Some of the technology and interventions are incredibly complicated. But I am rooting for wearables to win. It will mean more data and a capacity for more nuanced and informed medical intervention’s.
But I disagree strongly on this one:
- I don’t see a bright future for gyms. More and more societies will integrate gyms and healthcare into their communities.
And it’s not just because I own a gym :D It’s because gyms will move towards much more coaching and community driven projects.
There has been a massive influx of coaches into the industry since 2020. There are many more sports science and PT grads now than before since graduate courses exist. More sports science graduates are returning from the West too. And many coaches jumped into the fray from other careers too.
These coaches are putting in time on the field honing communication and their capacity to be effective.
They do this in college, sports academies and private gyms. These settings are inherently constrained in the audience they attract. Even their cost structure and floor space layouts cater to training modalities that do not accommodate 20-25 people trying to perform compound lifts, calisthenics and plyometrics in an hour.
And training athletes is not lucrative. There are only so many opportunities.
This coaching talent will have to start catering to regular joes and janes. In this competitive, large market those with a great coaching framework, communication and presentation will prevail. And they will quickly realise that the club houses, apartment gyms built to templates provided by the likes of Acme and Afton will not cut it for an effective service.
So I speculate that the gym of the future will be many more open floor layouts. Fewer dedicated cardio sections. Conditioning based training can work in many settings with fewer machines. More barbells maybe. But definitely more freeweights like clubs, dumbbells, kettlebells, sandbags etc. Electric motors will provide more compact alternatives to bulkier pulleys and cam-based mechanisms. And this is will be portable.
And coaches might have gyms that can quickly move from setting to setting using a small truck. No single fixed home. This will be a smaller investment than fixed real estate that is increasingly seen as a burden. They can tap into futsal courts and other settings that can be used on an hourly basis.
Traditional gyms will exist but will cater to the sports of bodybuilding, powerlifting, strongman and Olympic lifting.
But strength training like American Diners will evolve into something very different 10 years from now:
https://lnkd.in/ge_vk9wA