Women are fueling the weight-training boom. / Andrea Piacquadio
Weights are moving in, cardio equipment is moving out. That’s the gym trend, and it’s only intensifying. Recent mainstream news stories have highlighted the changing gym culture, as gym members increasingly curl up dumbbells, squat in power racks, and row with the latest machine instead of spending time on steppers and treadmills. What’s fueling this? We check out the latest trend in exercise.
GYMS ARE GETTING JACKED
Not so long ago there were bodybuilding gyms, like Gold’s Gym, and there were health clubs or fitness centers. A good rule was: If it had “gym” in its name it was hardcore; if it had “fitness” in its name it was softcore. You chose the former if you wanted primarily to get swole and the latter if you wanted primarily to lose fat and get toned. The former could be intimidating for many trainers, including women and seniors. But the line between the two categories blurred this century. Now, there may no longer be a line at all. You don’t have to be in some hardcore dungeon to lift heavy. You can max out your deadlift at your local Crunch Fitness, Anytime Fitness, and even Planet Fitness.
A recent Bloomberg article was titled “As More Women Lift Weights, Gyms Might Never Be the Same.” It explained that American gyms are transforming to attract a muscle-obsessed population. Many of those gyms are reducing cardio equipment dramatically in order to add more weightlifting stations, giving the members what they want. This shift towards is driven largely by women and older adults, and it’s also fueled by social media, with fitness influencers promoting a jacked physique as opposed to a skinny body.
The following chart from Bloomberg illustrates how, over the past two decades, Google searches on how to get stronger and healthier have grown (with strength spiking up in recent years) while the desire to get skinny peaked around a decade ago and has been retreating ever since.
Both Crunch Fitness and Planet Fitness say they’re reducing cardio equipment by more than 40% at many locations, all to make room for more weight-training stations. “I think the most significant thing is there’s certainly a reduction in the use of cardio—stationary bikes and treadmills and steppers,” Jim Rowley, chief executive officer of Crunch Fitness told Bloomberg. “We used to have clubs with 100 pieces of cardio that are probably down to 60 at this point because they’re just not being used.”
From Arnold to today’s cinematic superheroes, muscle for both men and women has become increasingly prevalent in films and TV shows. But this has intensified in recent years because of social media and buff fitness influencers. Women, especially, have become more comfortable with muscle because of buff role models, like Senada Greca, Michelle Lewin, and Carrie Underwood. Seniors have become increasingly aware of reports on the importance of strength and muscle mass for general health, mobility, and longevity.
Another factor is the post-Covid changes in how people workout. When gyms closed, many dedicated trainers learned they could easily get in a cardio workout at home or just outside their home: jogging, walking, bicycling, etc. They didn’t need a gym for a treadmill or stationary bike. What they needed a gym for was a squat rack, lat pulldown, and all the other weight-training stations. Yet another factor may be that Ozempic and similar drugs have made cardio machines less necessary but weights more necessary (such drugs decrease muscle).
There clearly are lots of factors for the gym boom in weight-training and the gym bust in cardio training.
