Augmented At-Home Workouts Gain Popularity

You zip up your laptop case, grab your keys, and sigh as you let your shoulders down for the first time since lunch. Fitting in time for the gym after a full day of work is a struggle, and gym memberships are an extra expense. And if you have a kid to take care of at home? The roadblocks pile on quick. Because of this, at home, on-demand workouts are gaining popularity.

Peloton is leading the way with stationary bikes and treadmills, while others (like Flywheel) are following suit. Peloton’s products have live and pre-built-in studio classes, giving you a multitude of workouts at your fingertips, with a leaderboard to track your progress.

Also new to the party is Mirror, an interactive home gym with on-demand and live workouts, virtual personal trainers, real-time personalization, and the ability to work out with friends. Mirror can sync with bluetooth heart rate monitor or an Apple Watch to gather real-time data during your workout. When it’s off, Mirror is exactly that -- a four-foot-by-two-foot mirror.

Going deeper into an augmented experience are two companies that gamify your workout: Exergame and Blaze Pod. Exergame uses limited space, but is sure to make you move. Think of it as a mix between exercises in agility and reactivity. Blaze Pod is in Kick Starter stages, but has interesting potential. It can be used with multiple exercises from burpees, to situps, to shuttle drills, and more, using what they call “Flash Reflex” measured to the millisecond.

Gamified workouts uncover two trends in fitness: For one, people are always searching for something new. See recent trends in HIIT, Crossfit, etc. Second, they want to get fit without it feeling like a workout. They’re bored with going to the standard gym and hitting the stair stepper for 20 minutes after a dumbbell workout.

These workouts give you the freedom to workout at any time, while still giving structure with options for live workout classes and on-demand workouts. So maybe you don’t have the time or traditional workouts aren’t your thing. The new wave of fitness will fit you in.

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