Duncan Bell is workin’ out
Will the popularity of home gyms continue once lockdown ends fully? Probably…
One of the more heartening things about the recent global apocalypse has been that people have still been taking the time to stay fit.
Many people quite reasonably assumed the population would come out of the other end of this twice as wide as when it went in. Not so, statistics say, and really it’s not so surprising. When the news is full of nothing but the grim fate awaiting the unwell, booming interest in fitness and health seems like a natural reaction to me.
If you are one of the many people who have been trying to avoid becoming half person, half sofa while stuck at home, you will probably know it has not been easy. Not just for the usual reasons to do with willpower or lack of space in your domicile.
No, the big issue with getting in shape in 2020 has been the near total lack of fitness equipment to buy. It started as a perfect storm of demand wildly outstripping supply, just as it became much harder to ship replacement stock from China, where practically all home gym equipment is manufactured.
You didn’t really read about this, as there were no scenes on the news of people wrestling over treadmills in Rebel Sport, or piling their shopping trollies high with dumbbells while people tut-tutted at them then tweeted about how, like, totes selfish they are, basically.
However, things later took a bit of a sinister turn. Soon, it became apparent to those with eyes to see, that chin-up bars and weights benches were even more soughtafter than bog roll and sanitising aloe vera hand gel. As a result, certain people started using the same type of bots used to snap up tickets for concerts – remember them?! – and limited edition Nike trainers to snaffle fitness gear.
This meant the only place you could buy kit for your desirable home gym was on re-sale sites, at massively inflated prices, from men called Wayne.
I never really got anywhere with the whole home gym thing as a result, until I was fortunate enough to receive for review Wahoo’s KICKR exercise bike. Actually, to call it an exercise bike is a bit like calling a cruise missile a pop gun. It’s basically a MAMIL-pleasing, high-end road bike that just happens to have no wheels.
If you’re the sort of person who really likes to test themselves, I heartily recommend this workout plan. First: spend three months doing nothing more vigorous than repeatedly lifting large glasses of agreeable Rioja and chunks of pie
If you are one of the many people who have been trying to avoid becoming half person, half sofa while stuck at home, you will probably know it has not been easy. Not just for the usual reasons to do with willpower or lack of space in your domicile.