At Technogym, we strive to promote the idea of “Wellness,” not only from a Fitness perspective but by taking a 360 degree view that encompasses everything from nutrition to personal health to overall wellbeing. We try continuously to identify important trends and habits that motivate how people consume Wellness, how they workout, and what they really want to obtain from their fitness regimens.
As Millennials increasingly come of age, we have begun to see their profound effect on the world at large. We have begun to witness a sea change in how Millennials’ views on wellness have begun to affect how the fitness industry operates, especially in the United States.
To explore this further, Technogym embarked on a nationwide study of 5,000 Millennials aged 14 to 34 to analyze their attitudes and habits when it comes to fitness and health, entitled “The Wellness Deficit: Millennials and Health in America.”
What we saw was an emerging “Wellness Deficit” amongst Millennials, primarily driven by financial insecurity, poor health, and concerns over their appearance. Although Millennials have greater access to wellness tools and technologies than previous generations and have more opportunities to embed exercise into their daily lives, only 52% rate their overall level of wellness as ‘good’ or ‘excellent.’ The barriers preventing “Generation Stress” from exercising include being too busy (50%), and lack of motivation (35%).
However, Millennials do recognize that physical activity is crucial to improving overall wellbeing and is a fundamental way to reduce stress. The study showed that nearly 90% of respondents are aware of the obesity epidemic and feel something should be done to address it. When it comes to their personal fitness preferences, 77% overwhelmingly said that they would like their workout at the gym to be as interactive and fun as possible. 44% of Millennials believe the traditional gym, as we know it today, will evolve by 2020 – the gym of the future is seen as a relaxed, interactive, customized and fun environment.
As Millennials represent the future of wellness, their choices and preferences will ultimately determine how wellness in the United States evolves over the next 10 to 20 years and beyond. Because of this it is imperative to understand how this generation views and approaches wellness as a whole.
Closing this “Wellness Deficit” must be a priority, not only for individuals but for any organization with a stake in the wellness of the next generation, whether in the worlds of government, education or business. We, at Technogym, are constantly evolving to meet the needs of anyone who exercises, especially concerning the social aspect of exercise and sport and how to keep everyone engaged through technology and new fitness programs. Technogym offers a complete ecosystem of equipment, personalized training programs, mobile apps and integrations with the most popular third party tracking apps and devices in order to provide a unique wellness experience anywhere, whether at home, at the gym, at work and outdoor.
Through initiatives like our annual “Let’s Move for a Better World” program, which pits gyms and clubs against each other to collect the most amount of MOVEs bringing communities together to make an impact on childhood obesity; the Technogym App, which allows users to convert physical energy into meals for malnourished children globally in partnership with the World Food Programme; or the mywellness cloud digital platform, which allows users to aggregate and analyze all the fitness data collected from their mobile phones, Technogym equipment, and third party fitness trackers in one central, easy to access location, we have taken great steps to evolve as a company, in line with how our fitness consumer has evolved.
The study provides interesting insights for Club owners, medical facilities, and many others in the wellness/fitness ecosystem. I invite you to review the study here.
I look forward to your thoughts and perspectives so we can continue the wellness conversation.
