Young Chinese people prefer working out in personalized way during fragmented time

“Do not lie down. Just do fitness,” posted An Ran, a post-90s young man who did jump rope three times a week for about a year, recording his progress on a social media. An is not alone, since an increasing number of young people have started to work out using home fitness equipment, making use of their fragmented time.

An Ran doing rope skipping. (Photo provided by the interviewee)

According to a report entitled “Report on Young People's Sports and Fitness in 2021,” over 40 percent of the post-95s and post-00s generation preferred to do fitness programs at home.

On the question of "What is the biggest hump for young people on their way to exercise", the answer of "Too busy at work, and no time to exercise" ranked first. Therefore, many young people have chosen to buy fitness equipment and take advantage of their fragmented time to exercise.

Xu Meng, a post-90s young woman who works as a freelancer, spends most of her time at home and placed a dynamic bicycle next to her bed to encourage her to do physical exercise more often.

A fast-paced lifestyle is changing the concept of fitness among young people. How to meet the changing fitness demands of young people is a new topic now faced by fitness industry entrepreneurs.

The report indicated that nearly 50 percent of young people worked out to "get rid of sub-health." For instance, An started jumping rope because of a medical report he got a year ago. At that time, he was diagnosed as overweight and had moderate fatty liver disease.

To motivate himself to work out, An bought many pieces of fitness equipment, including a yoga mat, resistance bands, gymnastic rings, and an exercise bike. The ease of use and cost-effectiveness are the main reasons why he chose home fitness programs.

The fitness preferences and consumption behaviors of young people have also influenced the new entrants into the domestic fitness industry.

At the beginning of its launch, Keep, China’s largest social sports platform, was more or less equivalent to a mobile fitness tool. As the number of users grew and its services expanded, the platform also began to offer services for various types of exercises.

For companies, young people's stickiness to fitness is an important factor in the retention rate of users. Compared to lifestyles such as cooking, keeping pets, or watching TV dramas, fitness is ultimately a "hard job." Therefore, how to combat boredom and retain young people has become a key concern for all platforms.

In order to retain more young users, most fitness companies have chosen to start by enhancing the level of fun and companionship, and have aimed to provide a better overall user experience. In addition, tailor-made personalized training and diet plans for fitness users are also ways for fitness companies to deepen their connection with users and lower the threshold for engaging in fitness.

It is worth noting that China’s National Fitness Plan (2021-2025) proposes that by 2025, the proportion of people in the country who regularly participate in physical exercise will reach 38.5 percent. It is conceivable that as the concept of national fitness becomes more and more deeply rooted in the hearts of the Chinese people, more new products, new businesses, and new models will emerge in the field of home fitness.

"The market for family fitness is far from saturated," said an industry insider.