Back in the mid-2000s home fitness programs were all the rage.
At the time, it was revolutionary because people no longer had to take classes at the gym. Instead of paying a membership fee and forking out more for classes or a personal trainer, they could gear up and switch on their TV.
But the party didn’t last long. Changes in technology and business models led us to a place in which one-time purchases were abandoned in favor of monthly subscriptions. As a result, the world of fitness programs isn’t making the same impact on the culture it once did.
Streaming models may give people a ton of content, but they also require commitment. And with all the monthly services out there, at a certain point, consumers look for a way out of monthly subscriptions.
Let’s look at how we got here, shall we?
The Rise and Fall of Fitness Programs
Tae Bo burst onto the scene in the 90s. And when DVDs were dominant, founder Billy Blanks kept pumping out new video programs. It set the stage for something big.
P90X was the fitness program that changed everything. As social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter exploded in popularity, people started posting before and after photos. Countless posts like this went viral. This catapulted P90X into the spotlight as one of the most successful fitness programs of all time.
Home fitness programs declined in step with the decline of DVDs. When video streaming apps like Netflix, Amazon Prime, and to a lesser extent Blu-ray took over, the fitness world moved in a different direction.
Moving with the Times
Fast-forwarding to the present, fitness streaming apps are fragmented. There’s Peloton, Daily Burn, and Studio Sweat on Demand, just to name a few.
Beachbody is one of the few fitness brands that successfully transitioned from the world of home video to apps and streaming services. Its app, BODi, includes all the classic fitness programs Beachbody has released over the years such as P90X, Insanity, and PiYo.
From Cutting the Cord to Dropping Subscriptions
Programs like P90X flourished because everybody was talking about it on social media and it was an affordable one-time purchase.
Now, brands are pushing their apps with monthly subscriptions. Their standalone video fitness programs have been reduced to a footnote if they can be obtained this way at all.
Beachbody is one of the big players that allows you to pick up just the fitness programs you want. However, somehow the magic is gone. People just aren’t talking about video fitness programs like they used to. They aren’t showing off their results like they used to either.
At the end of the day, subscription models may have done more to extinguish the hype of programs like P90X than boost their company profits. People are certainly adopting fitness apps, but they aren’t enthusiastic enough about it to tell their friends about how great it is.
What Next for Fitness Programs?
Brands like Beachbody and Peloton will need to innovate in a big way to bring back the excitement of the golden age of P90X.
Live fitness classes with interactivity could be the next revolution. Although there are apps like this as well as fitness coaches offering classes via Zoom, it hasn’t yet reached its potential.
One thing is sure. For the next wave of fitness programs to blow up in popularity the programs need to be affordable and accessible.
When P90X came out pretty much everyone had a DVD player. They were immersed in the online world as well. The content was delivered in an accessible, affordable way, and the hype was able to snowball via the internet as well as how easy it was to share your results with friends and followers.
Conclusion
Home fitness programs aren’t what they used to be. Apps and streaming are here but it’s fragmented between so many different offerings.
When one program or app gets huge like P90X did we may see the next revolution. Until then, fitness programs that came out in the days of DVDs are still as worthwhile as ever.