The future of fitness is together but alone

For some, social isolation will leave them craving the community aspect of their favorite studio or gym more than ever before. Others who responded to the pandemic by purchasing a Peloton, outfitting a home gym, or downloading an app like Obé Fitness might not turn back.

It’s interesting to consider that the rise of on-demand content (and displacement of physical location) hasn’t commoditized instructor-led experiences or the personalities that drive them. If anything, individual personalities have moved front-and-center to the experience, as brands have taken a fundamentally human-centric approach to building cont... See more

Speaking of Peloton, let’s not forget that they’ve spent hundreds of millions of dollars on production studios, music licenses, and instructor talent to create a premium experience. So, when they heavily discount their app, making it free for 90-days, it’s hard to imagine fitness-seekers won’t defect from their local studios.

In a crowded software market, hardware can be your moat. The most successful of these companies is Peloton. If you buy a bike (or presumably a Tread), to just get your hardware to turn on, you have to pay Peloton $39 a month for a subscription. And while your parents’ generation ended up using exercise equipment mainly as a clothes horse, these new... See more