Along with many other businesses, gyms across the United States were forced to close amid the Covid-19 pandemic. Now, as some begin to reopen, they may struggle to get members back, according to a new survey.
In a poll released Thursday, online broker TD Ameritrade found that 59% of Americans say they don’t plan to renew their gym memberships once the pandemic has ended.
The main reason? More than 56% of respondents say the pandemic helped them find “more affordable” ways to exercise and live a healthier lifestyle.
TD Ameritrade surveyed 2,009 adults over the age of 24 with at least $ 10,000 in investible assets from March 4 to 12 and from April 24 to May 4. Of that group, 776 respondents said they lead a healthy lifestyle and exercise regularly.
In the survey, respondents said they spent about $ 177 a month (or about $ 2,124 a year) on things like gym memberships, fitness classes, and personal training.
Molly Passantino, a senior retirement specialist at TD Ameritrade, says she believes Americans turned to cheaper fitness apps, outdoor activities like running and walking, and buying their own home training equipment during quarantine likely caused the change. .
“There is also an element of uncertainty. Americans are likely to wonder how gyms would work in the post-pandemic world. Will it be safe, will it be feasible to go?” Passantino says.
Despite the survey, Crunch Fitness CEO Jim Rowley, CEO of Crunch Fitness Worldwide, says the brand’s reopened gyms are working well. (Crunch has 304 locations in the U.S., 169 of which have been reopened.)
“Our training volume [number of members coming in to workout each day] It has been less than last year, but our sales volume [number of memberships sold] has been higher and our cancellations [cancelled memberships] have been relatively constant, “compared to last year, Rowley tells CNBC Make It.
“So we are very encouraged by what we see as we have been able to reopen.”
Rowley says he is discouraged because certain states like New York and New Jersey have not yet allowed gyms to reopen entirely. (New York and New Jersey are two of the few states that are not currently experiencing an increase in coronavirus infections.)
Rowley says Crunch conducted their own survey of 1,551 members in late April and found that 47% were not satisfied with their workouts at home, but 83% said they were likely to return to the gym when it reopened.
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