Technology makes home gyms popular and fun too

There weren't exactly upsides to the pandemic, but I will concede that it ushered in a few — very few — improvements to how we live. We mastered Zoom, for example, and learned to use our homes in new flexible ways, as they morphed into offices, classrooms, workshops and 24-hour diners.

But perhaps the healthiest development was the rise of the home gym. As gym-germ phobia changed our fitness routines — assuming we had a fitness routine — and drove committed exercisers to create workout spaces at home or make the ones they had better.

U.S. sales of home fitness equipment jumped by 84% in 2020, according to the NPD Group, a market research firm. It would have grown even more, if suppliers had been able to keep up with demand. Nearly three years later, the trend shows no sign of slowing, analysts say.

Now, I am not suggesting that the pandemic contributed to a nationwide boon in health and fitness. To many people, COVID was The Perfect Excuse to skip the gym. However, for those who felt the need to occasionally do something better with their time than binge episodes of “Friends” and eat potato chips, home workouts provided a healthier alternative. And once folks outfitted their spaces, they liked them.

“While the pandemic drove many fitness enthusiasts to create fullblown workout spaces at home, rapid advancements in fitness technology are now keeping them there,” said Matt Berenc, head of training and technology for Forme, a home fitness company that offers smart training and fitness services. In other words, home gyms are not only on the rise, they are also here to stay.

Carol Zurcher, of Winter Park, Florida, is among those not turning back. Before the pandemic, Zurcher had a small home gym, which she used twice a week. She also swam at her club two days a week and went to barre class or aerial yoga three days. I don't know about you, but this makes me feel both tired and inadequate. Yes, she works full time.

When quarantine prevented all that, Zurcher decided to amp up her home gym. She remodeled to make it larger and replaced her low-tech treadmill with a NordicTrack outfitted with iFit technology.

“It is unbelievable. It takes you all over the world,” she said. “I just finished hiking through Vietnam and felt like I was really there.”

During the gym remodel, workers discovered a large support beam, which she used to hang an aerial yoga hammock. Of course.

Now, she swims twice a week and works out at home five days a week — visiting foreign countries on her treadmill or streaming aerial yoga classes online. “I don't think I'll ever go to an outside gym again,” she said.

New technology is indeed what's making working out from home work, said Berenc. Here are some of the ways digital solutions have made exercising at home, once a boring slog, a lot more fun.

• Apps for all. You name the workout — Pilates, weightlifting, yoga, boxing, cycling — and there's an app that will put professional home workouts on your mobile device or TV. The popularity of programs available through platforms such as Peloton and iFit is often linked to the world-class trainers, the option of working out on any continent and the ability to go where you want when you want.

• Classes get personal. Today's technology lets you take classes with your friends across the country or around the world and dial in the instructor, workout duration and environment (beach, rain forest, mountain) you crave. For those who want more, companies such as Forme and LuluLemon's Mirror can beam personal trainers into your home on demand. “The ability to digitally connect with a trainer live through their devices has really rocked the home-fitness movement forward,” Berenc said.

• Tele-trainers. Smart mirrors with built-in cameras can provide training as well. You work out facing the mirror, and the camera watches to give feedback on your form. “The camera has built-in software that looks for anatomical landmarkers on your body as you work out, so it can let members know if they're moving the right way or not,” Berenc explained. Artificial intelligence prompts you to adjust if you're too low, too high or too fast — and to step it up if you're slacking.

• Get away in place. The built-in videos that let you work out amid virtual adventures just add to the appeal. “I just did a free weight class at the Rose Bowl,” Zurcher said.

Join me next week for budget friendly ways to set up a home gym.