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- Chains like Flywheel, Gold’s Gym, 24 Hour Fitness, and YogaWorks have all filed for bankruptcy amid the pandemic.
- Despite the meltdown, some digital fitness brands and websites like Peloton and Fringesport are seeing growth.
- SimilarWeb, which provides global digital traffic insights about websites and apps, shared an exclusive report of the 15 fastest-growing online fitness brands during the pandemic.
- The data specifically ranks the 15 highest-performing brands by year-over-year average monthly traffic growth from March 1 to July 31.
- Visit Business Insider’s homepage for more stories.
Fitness chains are struggling amid the pandemic.
Last week, Town Sports International, the parent company of New York Sports Clubs, Boston Sports Clubs, and other gym chains, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The next day, Flywheel filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy and said it will permanently close all 42 of its studios.
These chains join a growing list of fitness chains including Gold’s Gym, 24 Hour Fitness, and YogaWorks, all of which have filed for bankruptcy amid the pandemic.
But some digital fitness brands and websites, like Peloton and Fringesport, are seeing growth as consumers switch from in-person to online classes.
SimilarWeb, which provides global digital traffic insights about websites and apps, shared an exclusive report of the 15 fastest-growing fitness brands during the pandemic with Business Insider. The data specifically ranks the 15 highest performing fitness brands by year-over-year average monthly traffic growth from March 1 through the end of July.
Brands on the list represent a mix of popular and lesser-known direct-to-consumer brands as well as larger companies within the fitness industry, like Peloton. Altogether, the top 15 fitness sites increased 196.4% in terms of traffic compared to the same period last year.
All brands represented on the list have seen at least 28,000 monthly visits to their sites.
“Workout equipment brands have seen tremendous growth since stay-at-home orders began in March. These brands are making waves across industries with an average growth rate of 196% across the top 15 sites,” said Jamie Drayton, SimilarWeb lead financial services and eCommerce consultant. “As these fitness sites continue to grow, I expect to see new partnerships and additional acquisitions pop up.”
From Mirror to PowerBlock, here are the 15 fastest-growing fitness brands defying the fitness meltdown, according to SimilarWeb data.
Courtesy of Mirror
Average monthly visits to site: 551,000
Year over year growth: 148.9%
Founder: Brynn Putnam
Mirror allows users to participate in interactive workout classes from via a digital, full-sized screen that resembles a mirror. Lululemon recently acquired the company for $500 million.
14. Rogue Fitness
roguefitness.com
Average monthly visits to site: 4.2 million
Year over year growth: 152.2%
Founder: Bill Henniger
Rogue Fitness is a manufacturer of strength and conditioning equipment, including gear used for CrossFit, as well as barbells, plates, and racks. Rogue Fitness specifically markets products for building out home gyms, which have become popular during the pandemic.
NordicTrack
NordicTrack Facebook
Average monthly visits to site: 1.5 million
Year over year growth: 176.5%
Founder: Edward Pauls
NordicTrack is a manufacturer of home exercise equipment including treadmills, ellipticals, exercise bikes, rowers, and its hallmark Nordic ski machine. The company also makes a program of interactive at-home personal training videos called iFit, which is currently free for one year with the purchase of a NordicTrack product.
FringeSport
fringesport.com
Average monthly visits to site: 199,000
Year over year growth: 191.6%
Founder: Peter Keller
FringeSport is a supplier of weightlifting, strength, and conditioning equipment for building at at-home gyms, including a range of products from squat racks and barbells to rowers and CrossFit gear.
Peloton
Peloton
Average monthly visits to site: 3.1 million
Year over year growth: 202.6%
Founder: John Foley
Peloton is an exercise equipment company that specializes in high-end indoor cycling bikes and treadmills, and creates accompanying media that enables users to tune into live classes.
XTERRA Fitness
xterrafitness.com
Average monthly visits to site: 28,000
Year over year growth: 213%
Founder: Tom Kiely
XTERRA Fitness is a home exercise equipment manufacturer that specializes in cardio equipment including treadmills, rowers, bikes, ellipticals, and seated steppers.
Bowflex
Amazon
Average monthly visits to site: 1 million
Year over year growth: 213.5%
Founder: Dosho Shifferaw
Bowflex is a home fitness brand that is best known for its resistance exercise machine that can enable users to do more than 100 different exercises. The company also makes various cardio machines and weights.
Horizon Fitness
horizonfitness.com
Average monthly visits to site: 135,000
Year over year growth: 219.9%
Founder: Peter Lo
Horizon Fitness manufactures treadmills, stationary bikes, and ellipticals. The brand’s Studio Series can connect with top fitness streaming apps and trackers like Peloton or Zwift through its bluetooth speakers and heart rate receiver, so users have the flexibility to use their favorite programs with the machines.
Nautilus
www.nautilus.com
Average monthly visits to site: 89,000
Year over year growth: 229.6%
Founder: Arthur Jones
Nautilus is a home fitness equipment maker that owns Bowflex, Schwinn Fitness, and other fitness brands, as well as makes its own line of cardio equipment. The original Nautilus machine was developed by founder Arthur Jones in the 1960s.
Sole Fitness
Amazon
Average monthly visits to site: 520,000
Year over year growth: 356.5%
Founder: Trevor Larsen
Sole Fitness makes cardio equipment including treadmills, bikes, rowers, and ellipticals. The company initially only sold its products to hotels, but now offers products to general consumers and markets itself as a fair-priced option for home fitness.
Echelon
Echelon
Average monthly visits to site: 218,000
Year over year growth: 406.2%
Founder: Lou Lentine
Echelon makes connected bikes as well as mirrors that offer fitness classes of all disciplines, from cycling and meditation to boxing, cardio, and strength. The company is a competitor to Peloton that offers bikes at a lower price point.
Hydrow
Average monthly visits to site: 137,000
Year over year growth: 452.6%
Founder: Bruce Smith
Hydrow is an indoor rowing machine with a touchscreen display that lets users view on-demand and live video workouts from a set of instructors that includes Olympians and world-class rowers. Leaderboard components create community and competition within the app.
Schwinn
schwinnfitness.com
Average monthly visits to site: 248,000
Year over year growth: 472.5%
Founder: Ignaz Schwinn and Adolph Fredrick William Arnold
Schwinn is best known for its indoor cycling bikes, but also makes ellipticals, treadmills, and rowers. Schwinn was founded in 1895 as a bicycle company called Arnold, Schwinn & Company, and began creating indoor bicycles in the 1960s.
Tonal
Courtesy of Tonal
Average monthly visits to site: 383,000
Year over year growth: 604%
Founder: Aly Orady
Tonal is an at-home strength training machine that uses magnets and electricity to change resistance, so users can use up to 200 lbs. of resistance in a device the company says is “smaller than a flat-screen TV.” The machine also has a screen with video workouts.
PowerBlock
Powerblock
Average monthly visits to site: 211,000
Year over year growth: 648.1%
Founder: Carl Towley
PowerBlock makes adjustable dumbbells. Users can adjust the PowerBlock weight using pins, so they can have a full set of dumbbells without taking up lots of space.
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