Fitness is timeless, but the modern workout club is far more popular than its predecessors. In recent years, healthcare and exercise have been trending at an incredible pace. The fitness world is flourishing, and gym memberships are rising in number.

While workouts have numerous benefits in and of themselves, soon-to-be gym patrons and seasoned club-goers, alike, seem to have taken to the many benefits a workout club can provide. But what are these benefits, exactly?

Workout Club Popularity

Let’s take a look at why the modern workout club has more to offer than ever before. First, though, let’s examine some of the reasons for their recent popularity spike.

Reason One: Growing Fitness Awareness

Today, a lot of people are going to gyms to counter a variety of health risks. These health risks weren’t always known about, however.

In the past, would-be fitness-lovers weren’t aware of, let’s say, the negative health impacts of living in an urban area. Likewise, they might not have been well-read on exercise’s ability to reduce depression, stress and anxiety.

As our grasp on fitness’s scientific underpinnings strengthens, so too do the public representations of active, healthy lifestyles. To some extent, the fitness visibility boom can be connected to a rise in film-stars promoting healthy lifestyles.

Well-groomed bodies, on-screen muscles and interviews about dieting tips have certainly made exercise more popular—inspiring plenty of people to get more involved in organized fitness.

Reason Two: Increased Gym Visibility

If we look around, we see workout club advertisements everywhere. Health club memberships are growing because they’re simply promoted more, these days. Big, well-established fitness chains are reaching out to prospective clients—and prospective clients are joinng them to achieve healthy lifestyles.

Gym advertisement isn’t confined to fitness in and of itself, either. A number of fitness chains have expanded their product and service portfolios to enter different markets.

Many sell sporting goods, nutrition products and even instructional media. As they acquire more equity to fuel their growth, these brands see a higher demand for their services.

Unsurprisingly, multinational fitness chains are gaining ground in foreign areas—as the markets for anything fitness-related have fewer entry barriers than ever before.

Reason Three: Better Equipment

Fitness is ever-evolving. Powered by science, technology and a universal drive for health, many entities in the wellness industry have channeled time, money and research into the development of better workout equipment.

One of the biggest advantages of joining a health club is immediate access to great workout equipment. In the past, this equipment was mostly limited to simple weights. Now, however, diverse cardio machines, strength machines and sports-specific training gear are available.

When a fitness club’s equipment caters to all types of gym-goer, memberships increase a lot. Gyms aren’t just for bodybuilders, anymore. They’re for everyone, including the inexperienced who’d otherwise skip the membership to exercise on their own.

Reason Four: Better Health Insurance Coverage

In general, healthy people cost less to insure. Over the years, employers have begun implementing fitness club programsto trim insurance costs. At the same time, insurers have started to incentivize healthy lifestyles more than ever to make better policyholder investments.

In fact, a lot of employers and insurers have even begun covering external workout club expenses—as long as employees use them. This paradigm shift has impacted the fitness market considerably, providing a healthy stream of supplemental revenue within the industry.

Reason Five: Wearable Fitness Technology

Innovations like the Apple Watch, the Fitbit and Garmin have redefined the way fitness-lovers track their progress. If a person has a smartphone, they have instant access to calorie counting apps, exercise routine logs and even sleep schedule optimization tools.

Those with wearables can track how many steps they take, per day, and determine how many calories they burn. Wearable tech has become soadvanced, it can even monitor a person’s blood pressure.

Because wearables have lowered the barriers to healthy lifestyle considerably, more people are gravitating towards fitness clubs to take advantage of such innovations.

The trend of incorporating custom-tailored health data into our lives won’t slow down, either. In the near future, insurance companies may even provide better rates to those with healthy, verifiable scores on their wearable apps.

Reason Six: Streamed Fitness Programs

Modern workout clubs don’t limit their routines to brick-and-mortar locations. Every year, more gyms offer livestream featurettes, or even entire classes, online. For those who can’t make it to the workout club, accessing their program’s latest routine isn’t difficult.

Streamed fitness classes have entered the mainstream, giving fitness-lovers the ability to exercise on their own time—whether it be over lunch, between classes or after dinner.

While streamed classes might seem like a way to circumnavigate gym memberships—the opposite is true. A lot of fitness video viewers tend to sign up for in-person classes, supplementing them with remote workout sessions when scheduling gets tough.

Reason Seven: Social Media Engagement

Platforms like Facebook and Instagram have become hotspots for fitness communities. Plenty of fitness clubs have created entire cultures around sharing individual progress pics, routines and success stories.

Social media engagement increases member accountability, but it also inspires friendships before, during and after everyday workouts.

As a result, more people are signing up for fitness clubs featuring a heavy social media presence. A lot of exercise advocates even state that social networks motivate people to exercise more, which is certainly a win-win situation for gyms not only looking for more members—but healthier members, too.

Reason Eight: Knowledge About Nutrition

In the same way our knowledge about fitness is ever-growing, so too is our knowledge about healthy foods, diet routines and weight loss. Consumer demands are moving away from processed food, favoring healthier, organic options.

As a result, healthy-minded individuals across the nation have begun pairing their nutritious diets with gym memberships to maximize the benefits. Many health clubs feature in-house nutrition cafes, too, making it even easier for dieters to get the healthiest food around.

Reason Nine: Better Membership Prices

Todays gyms are much more accommodating, financially, than those of the past. By creating high-value, low-price membership options, fitness complexes are attracting members who otherwise wouldn’t be able to afford weekly exercise sessions.

While budget gyms have been around for a while, today’s affordable providers have expanded their fitness options to remain competitive with more established entities.

Because of this, affordable gyms are often synonymous with gyms geared towards heavy lifters. When the amenities line up, more memberships occur.

Reason Ten: Better Options for Seniors

Age isn’t necessarily a barrier to fitness, but it’s been historically tough for elders to find programs to support their needs. As doctors, fitness researchers and dieters become increasingly well-versed in senior fitness needs, more seniors are joining workout clubs.

The human body has different requirements as it ages, of course. For this reason, the modern gym’s adoption of comfortable equipment, accessible to all ages, is a wonderful addition for those of old age.

A lot of fitness programs developed around elderly needs are also being developed at an unprecedented pace—boosting elderly gym memberships even more.

Reason Eleven: Personalized Fitness Programs

Fitness programs in generalhave become much more flexible. Rather than the one-size-fits-all program approaches of the past, today’s programs are increasingly multifaceted. As a result, individual gym-goers can approach fitness classes with ease.

While some modern gym classes are segmented to offer support to different fitness brackets, others offer specialized, one-on-one training.

These classes are more affordable than ever, too, enticing a variety of health conscious individuals to sign up for classes.

Reason Twelve: More Office Jobs

As technology becomes increasingly relevant in day-to-day life, more jobs are taking place in the office. A lot of these jobs lead to sedentary lifestyles, and sedentary lifestyles are influencing workers to get fit.

Exercise and a healthy diet are fantastic counterbalances to sitting all day, and many exercise clubs have adopted exercise classes directed towards office workers who sit all day.

Since the young, working-age group is acquiring more disposable income, they’re expected to heighten the popularity of fitness even more. A lot of today’s jobs might take place at a computer, but a growing knowledge about health is helping people get up, get out and get fit.

Reason Thirteen: Higher Gym Diversity

Because today’s gyms accommodate for all walks of life, their diversity has reached new heights. Gym culture has changed for the better—welcoming women, millennials and those with body image issues.

Gym target markets still exist, of course, but they’ve widened to include diverse audiences.

This higher degree of diversity has also perpetuated the number of options today’s gyms include—which only makes membership more attractive.

Whether a person works in an office, has a disability or has little knowledge about fitness, there’s a workout club to call home.

Reason Fourteen: Gyms are Forming Partnerships

While gym visibility has increased, in general, so are gym partnerships. Today’s fitness providers offer unique discounts with restaurants, health food providers and more.

Some have even partnered with other gyms, giving customers more flexibility when accessing exercise options as part of a network.

The Exercise Options of Today

Plenty of options exist for those seeking healthier lifestyles—and the fitness club industry is booming.

As gyms continue to grow in size, complexity and popularity, we’ll likely see more locations which offer a vast array of exercise and sporting options.

Conclusion

If you haven’t considered getting a fitness club membership yet, now is a better time than ever. In a single visit, a gym employee can open the doors to a healthier, more active lifestyle.

Check out your area’s fitness complex options, and take advantage of today’s leading exercise opportunities.

-Terry Asher