Will the future of gyms come through video lessons?

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Alfredo Estrella / AFP

  • Durant hit by the health crisis, the sports halls of Lyon are organized to continue to exist despite the closure of clubs.

  • For some, the solution involves the use of live or replay video lessons.

  • Other smaller structures rely more on outdoor classes, seeing the videos as only a temporary tool.

They are among the big losers from the health crisis.

Closed for the duration of the confinement and until the beginning of June, the sports halls had to lower the curtain again on September 29.

Long before the establishment of a curfew in several French departments, including the Rhône.

How then to ensure their survival?

The use of video lessons is one of the avenues on which Appart Fitness is strongly committed, which today has around a hundred clubs in the region and which has 150,000 members.

"For us, this is the key", admits Thibaut Morel, marketing communications director of the channel.

“We are also going to strengthen our offer in this area by investing in a creation studio to develop good quality programs.

Until then, video lessons were a troubleshooting solution but the objective is to make it a real professional offer, ”he adds without indicating a price but specifying that the price will be“ well below conventional subscriptions ” (50 euros per month).

The "digital shift"

“We understood that the members were ready to practice at home.

It's a complementary offer that can count, ”he continues.

Over the past six months, the company estimates that just over 10% of its subscribers have watched the sessions offered live on the Internet.

But the goal is to quickly shift into high gear to reach 25%.

"We must take the digital turn which was not really requested at the start by members," said Thibaut Morel, aware that health restrictions have profoundly changed the situation.

Matthieu Verneret, coach and manager of the young Leaf Circle gym located near the Tête d'Or park, also asked himself the question.

The young man literally cardboard during confinement.

The courses they offered live for free attracted more than 1,000 people every week.

“Afterwards, people were locked in their homes.

They had no other choice.

So it worked very well and it allowed us to have a good comeback by registering subscriptions to the room in June ”, he explains.

But also to retain a third of the daily visitors to the confinement by offering since mid-May four weekly video lessons (live and replay) for the modest sum of 5 euros per week.

“Today, 150 members are taking these courses,” he explains.

But for Matthieu Verneret, videos are only a “temporary and alternative solution”.

"Videos do not replace what you can find in a gym"

"They just make it possible to get through the crisis," he believes unconvinced that this is a key to the future.

“People need contact, people.

Videos are no substitute for what you can find in a gym, ”he argues.

The solution, for him, goes through what he had already put in place before the arrival of the coronavirus on the territory: “smaller, more human” clubs, with courses limited to 10 or 12 people.

As well as outdoor sessions.

“It's in line with health standards and it corresponds well to what the public expects.

Before the crisis, we had already measured the fed up of people regarding the gyms which are in factory mode ”.

An opinion shared by Emeric Pochon, manager of the CrossFit Gerland box in the 7th arrondissement of Lyon and which has 650-700 members.

"Video is a tool to be used as a last resort," he says.

If we take away the freedom of movement, it has its interest but that is not sustainable over time ”.

Especially since CrossFit requires the use of specific equipment, poorly suited to practice in apartments.

The plebiscite of outdoor classes

The young man now opts for outdoor lessons limited to 12 people to keep his box alive.

“On September 28, we set up an outdoor room on a huge lot adjoining the box.

We stored the equipment in sea containers, he says. This allows us to ensure 95% of the planning courses ”.

And the customers are there.

"The lack of a changing room is still a drag but the members are very present even on rainy days because we feel that they need an escape and that the practice of sport is vital for them".

Here again, the “community aspect” takes precedence above all, according to him.

"One of the disadvantages of videos is also the lack of contact with the coach who can provide visual correction, show gestures, correct bad positions", concludes Emeric Pochon, specifying that his courses offered in the open air have enabled him to attract new subscribers.

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