Welcome To The New Boutique Gym: Your Home

Forget the walk-in closet or marble kitchen island. This year’s hot home trend is a functional workout space. Four women show us how they’ve adapted their workouts and created home gyms of their own.

- Charlene Fang

The Covid effect, where staying at home is the new normal, married with concerns over long-term health, has seen many exercising more regularly for health reasons, and to get a respite from work/ boredom/endless virtual meetings.

Fuelling the trend is the rise of on-demand and connected fitness devices like Peloton’s exercise bikes, intelligent home gyms like Tonal, and Apple Watch’s new Apple Fitness personalised classes. The increased accessibility to professional equipment – be it on a rental or purchase basis – also makes it possible to get a gym-standard workout without leaving the comfort and security of your living room.

“Resistance bands, dumbbells and kettlebells were the most popular equipment purchased during the circuit breaker period,” shared Jeremy Ko of Movement First, which sells fitness equipment online. “We saw a clear trend in purchases of fitness equipment, then massage-related equipment about four weeks later from the same customers.”

With budget and space as important deciding factors, individuals living in small or shared spaces aren’t without options. Premium quality yoga mats were an immediate addition as evidenced by Sugarmat’s increased sales during the circuit breaker period. “Most people invested in fitness equipment that has an all-in-one solution due to space limits,” said founder Heikal Gani. “They would get either a fitness or yoga mat that allows them to do the basic fitness moves, followed by other equipment that gives them resistance and weight.”

In light of the growth in home workouts, we speak to four women to find out how they have carved out space for their fitness needs, and the impact of doing so.