How Millennials are Approaching Fitness Differently


Millennials have brought fitness classes to another level. The generation that brought about such group exercise schemes as CrossFit, Orangetheory, and Hot Yoga have formulated a new kind of community: the fitness community.
The millennial generation has made fitness more accessible. Companies such as ClassPass make going to the gym and trying new activities fun and easy. More and more millennials are moving into cities, and many millennials realize that trying fitness classes is a great way to explore their new home.
Today, working out is fun. You don’t just spend time running alone on a treadmill. Instead, you can try a variety of classes and activities stress-free. You’re also more likely to meet new friends who will encourage you to stick with it.
Fitness classes are a great way to build community and meet new people. Think about it. If you’re attending a class or session on a regular basis, you will likely get to know the people you see multiple times a week. When you make friends, they’re more likely to keep you accountable to visiting the gym consistently.
CrossFit and Orangetheory represent something akin to religion to the millennial generation. The authenticity of the atmosphere, the common struggle to improve their health, builds a camaraderie that had been previously lost on this generation. CrossFit and Orangetheory are good examples to cite.
Both CrossFit and Orangetheory have seen tremendous gains in their adherents. CrossFit began as a simple blog in 2000. Orangetheory opened its first gym in 2010. Now, CrossFit has more than 13,000 gyms worldwide, which reside in over 120 countries. To put that into context, that is more affiliate gyms than Starbucks has cafes.
Orangetheory has 400 gyms worldwide, residing in seven countries. From 2010 to 2015, Orangetheory experienced over a one-hundred growth increase per year. Although that has slowed down some, Orangetheory gyms have continued to pop up at staggering rates.
What these gyms growth rates represent is the building of previous lost communities. Such a filler was not created artificially or without intention. It was created by the millennial generation, a generation starved for community. Now many people view exercise as part of their lifestyle instead of just another chore to be completed. People enjoy belonging to a group and making new friends. Exercise and fitness classes are a great way to accomplish this!

This article was originally published on SharonGould.org.
Location: Northbrook, IL 60062, USA

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