The new life of gyms post-pandemic: more customers, with personalized training, outdoors and online

There are more and more exercisers turning to gyms or personal trainers in Portugal, a visible trend with the opening of new gyms all over the place but also in public spaces where you see more and more people exercising. accompanied by a trainer. And there is also fierce competition to win new customers from a business that tends to continue to grow: from subscription offers and free days to significant discounts on monthly fees, differentiated rates with or without loyalty and transferable access to the household, packages in family or with a group of friends, extended hours that can reach 24 hours, everything serves to capture the attention of those who want to exercise.

This is a new phase of strength for this business, which was one of the most affected by the Covid-19 pandemic. Four years ago, gyms were closed at a time when it was unknown how to deal with a new virus (SARS-CoV-2) that was spreading rapidly throughout the world. As a precaution, many of these physical activity spaces closed their doors, until they were forced to close 100%, like many other sectors.

Sustained growth in the number of practitioners was felt until 2019, but in 2020 the confinements imposed by the pandemic had a marked impact on this activity. Portugal Activo, a sector association, estimates that 30% of gyms closed their doors during that period.