2010

Gym Survey Report -

Bangalore

Vaibhav Sharma

Gym Survey Report - Bangalore 2010 ii

Table of Contents Page No

1. Introduction..........................................................................................................1

2. About the Study....................................................................................................1

3. Aims and Objectives...........................................................................................1

4. Gender wise Distribution in Gyms.................................................................2

5. The Nutritional Supplements..........................................................................8

6. The Gym Trend..................................................................................................13

7. The Fitness Trainers........................................................................................15

7.1 Gym Index..................................................................................................................16

8. Interesting information gathered from the survey...............................19

9. Estimates of Sampling Errors.......................................................................19

10. References........................................................................................................20

Exhibits....................................................................................................................21

Gym Survey Report - Bangalore 2010 iii

Appendix

Appendix 1: Institutes In India Providing Fitness Certifications........................1

Appendix 2: Fitness Equipment Manufacturers in India.....................................10

Appendix 3: Major Fitness Equipments Brands In India (Imported)............14

Appendix 4: Nutritional Supplement Manufacturers in India...........................16

Appendix 5: International Nutritional Supplements Brands in India

(Imported)................................................................................................................................18

Appendix 6: Major Gyms/Fitness Chains in India...................................................20

Appendix 7: Major Gyms in the Cities...........................................................................22

Delhi and NCR.........................................................................................................................22

Bangalore..................................................................................................................................23

Mumbai......................................................................................................................................24

Chennai......................................................................................................................................25

Kolkata.......................................................................................................................................26

Gym Survey Report - Bangalore 2010 iv

PREFACE

A young India, as can be rightly said for the country with around 40% of the population falling

in the age bracket of 10 – 24 years, is on the path of healthy economical growth. But is the health

of young Indian also keeping pace with its economy? While today’s generation is more

urbanised and better educated than the earlier ones, health and lifestyle vulnerabilities have

risen. Health scares, like Obesity, Coronary diseases, diabetes and many more are increasingly

posing a grave problem to the Indians. A consequence of this is an increased awareness towards

fitness and active lifestyle which in turn is fuelling the growth of fitness industry in all its

aspects. While India is showing signs of a promising land, the real questions lies in how the

indigenous/worldwide fitness companies will take advantage of this highly unorganised,

relatively immature yet potentially evolving sector in the coming years.

‘The Gym Survey Report’ describes the findings of the Fitness Industry conducted over a span of

six months in Bangalore. The purpose of this research is to understand how the Fitness Industry

might evolve, to explore various hurdles faced and the possible solutions to mitigate the strains

and maximize the opportunities offered by the Industry. The Survey sheds light on various

aspects of the fitness industry that will prove beneficial to anyone connected to this field

ranging from a common gym goer to the big corporate eyeing for investment in this field.

The finding answers a wide spectrum of questions like the Gender wise distribution of

individuals over the different gym type, analysis of the relation between the age, spending and

use of Nutritional Supplements by the gym goers and how well informed and qualified our

Fitness Trainers are?

I deeply appreciate the guidance and vital inputs from Ryan Fernando of BodyFuelz during the

entire journey of the survey right from the inception of this idea, designing of questionnaire,

deciding on the survey pattern, data analysing and finally writing the report. Also, I would like

to extend my thanks to the BodyFuelz team that helped during the data gathering/survey stage.

Finally, I would like to record my appreciation of the support and co operation of all the

individuals who took part in the survey ranging from the Fitness trainers, Gym Supervisors,

Nutritional Supplements Dealers and most important, all the gym goers.

Dec 2010 Vaibhav Sharma

Gym Survey Report - Bangalore 2010 5

1. Introduction In the twenty first century, India is witnessing an outbreak of various health problems due to

the new sedentary lifestyle embraced by a majority of urbane population. The most prevalent

among these evils are obesity, and the resultant cardio vascular diseases and diabetes.

As a result, there is an increased awareness among the upper and middle class Indians towards

proper diet and the inclusion of fitness/exercise in the everyday routine to reverse the risk

factors associated with the health.

Hence, coupled with the idea to keep the health disorders at bay and also, to enhance one’s

aesthetic appearance, stemmed from the glamour laden visual entertainment media, there has

been an upsurge in the enrolments to the fitness centres.

The gymnasiums are no longer seen as the places reserved only for some sweat drenched freaks

toiling hard with weights to gain precious muscles, but with several new gyms opening up and

the existing ones throwing open their hi-tech zones with add-ons like spinning, sauna and salsa,

there has been a tremendous change in how we view the fitness in today’s world.

2. About the Study

We conducted a survey in the Gyms of Bangalore to gather the people’s perspective towards

fitness, health, workout and the use of Nutritional Supplements.

The study took place from June 2010 to Nov 2010 in Bangalore. In depth interviews were

conducted with the trainers and customers chosen from a wide spectrum of gyms.

The use of a well formatted questionnaire selectively prepared for gym clients and trainers

provided a comprehensive picture of a common man’s perception towards fitness and health.

3. Aims and Objectives

The aim of the study was to provide a better understanding of the behaviour and attitudes of the

gym goers and the fitness trainers of Bangalore by the use of qualitative research methods.

Qualitative methods aim to cover the perspectives from a wide spectrum of individuals related

to this field.

The Objectives were as follows:

1. To determine what factors directly or indirectly influence people’s behaviour and beliefs with

regards to fitness/workout.

2. To examine attitudinal difference between the trainers and common gym goers.

Gym Survey Report - Bangalore 2010 6

The gyms covered in this survey are classified under three categories based on the annual

enrolment fees as:

A Class Gym: Annual Fees >Rs 12, 000

B Class Gym: Rs 12,000 >Annual Fees > Rs 7,000

C Class Gym: Annual Fees < Rs 7,000

4. Gender wise Distribution in Gyms

Similar to the other fields which require physical endeavours, the fitness sector also witness a

higher presence of males, both in terms of customers and fitness trainers.

Exhibit 1

A look at the Exhibit 1 gives a clear picture of the distribution of individuals based on gender

among the three gym categories. The female preference is mostly towards the A and B Class

gyms as compared to C, with majority female participants in the B Class gyms. This can be

derived from the fact that B Class gyms provide a better environment to the lady folks both in

7065

95

3035

5

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

A B C

Females

Males

Gender wise Enrolment in Gyms

Gym Survey Report - Bangalore 2010 7

terms of safety and guidance when compared to Cs, and are also not as heavy on the pockets as

the As. Also, as large portion of females get enrolled in group activities (like Aerobics or dance,

the facilities not available in Cs), so coupled with the above factors, B Class gyms come out as

the winners among the fairer sex.

Focusing towards the profession of the gym goers (Exhibit 2), we can see the distributions of

males categorised under Working and Students for the three gyms. While As are dominated by

the professionals, Cs are the preferred choice among the students. A possible explanation of this

trend needs us to focus our attention on the enrolment fee parameter of the gyms. While the Cs,

with their low fees are within an easily access of the low income group comprising of students

but with an obvious compromise on the equipments and guidance, the As are still seen as the

places of workout for well to do individuals.

Hence, B gives a middle path options to the individuals who cannot strain enough financially

to get an A Class Gym enrolment, but are also not very satisfied by the C.

Exhibit 2.1

90

7060

10

3040

A B C

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

Student(Males)

Working(Males)

Profession of the Gym Goers(Males)

Gym Survey Report - Bangalore 2010 8

To get a similar analytical view of the female gym goers, we need to expand out categories of

survey. In order to have a complete picture of the female enrolment pattern to the gyms, we

need to add a new section of non working females, which is the House wives (Exhibit 3).

The presence of females in the C class gyms is very negligible, which can be attributed to the

factors of behaviour and safety. While the Bs have the highest concentration of the Housewives,

As are the favourite choices among the Working women. All the observations residing on the

fact that “More the spending capacity, the better the facilities you will go for”.

Exhibit 2.2

As the above study shows, most of the urbane fitness conscious population is with the B class

gyms, though the enrolments tread line for the As is also going up, slowly but steadily.

So for the big players to increase their market penetration they need to tap this immensely

potential middle and lower middle class sections with a huge population base of individuals

with increasing private incomes, growing awareness and changing saving behaviours.

1020

75 50

15

30

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

A B

Housewife(females)

Working(females)

Student(females)

Profession of Gym Goers (Females)

Gym Survey Report - Bangalore 2010 9

A possible way for the big franchises to conquer the blossoming opportunities could be the

introduction of relatively cheaper versions of their existing chains, like aping the successful

business model implemented in the case of low cost airlines. With such a growth on the horizon,

it will be early to say which category of gym will be a clear winner.

Moving ahead and looking on the age wise composition of the gym goers (obtained by a union

of gym goers from As and Bs), we find certain similarities among both the genders. The age that

is holding the maximum chunk of the pie is between 20 – 30 years (Exhibit 4 & Exhibit 5).For

the males, after peaking to 50% (Exhibit 6), the graph falls sharply thereafter, indicating the

presence of fewer individuals comparatively in other age groups, but in case of females the fall

is more gradual, suggesting a substantial number of females in those age segments also.

Exhibit 3.1

20%

50%

20%

10%

Age group of the Gym Goers (Males)

below 20 years

20 – 30 years

30- 35 years

above 35 years

Gym Survey Report - Bangalore 2010 10

Exhibit 3.2

Exhibit 4

5%

40%

35%

20%

Age group of the Gym Goers (Females)

below 20 years

20 – 30 years

30- 35 years

above 35 years

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

below 20 years 20 – 30 years 30- 35 years above 35 years

Females

Males

Comparative Age wise distribution (Males & females)

Gym Survey Report - Bangalore 2010 11

5. The Nutritional Supplements

With a massively expanding middle class along with its increasing awareness towards

preventive therapies, rising discretionary income and favourable growth environment, the

Nutraceutical* sector is propelled on a high growth path with the figures at 21% annually, and

the entire nutritional supplement market in India is set to double its current worth by 2013.

In the study, we can see the distribution (Exhibit 7) of the use of supplements by the individuals

over the three gyms. The study only comprises of male respondents as females using nutritional

supplements for recreational purposes are still very low. Though the figures stand nearly the

same for Bs and Cs in the use of supplements, there is a significant difference between the

brands preferred in both the segments.

Though individuals in Bs and As mostly go for American Brands, predominantly Whey Proteins

from Optimum Nutrition, Ultimate Nutrition and GNC, those in Cs prefer more of Indigenous

brands, like the Couch’s Formula and Venky’s.

Exhibit 5

20

35

30

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

40%

A B C

Percentage of individuals using supplements (Males)

% of individuals using supplements (Males)

Gym Survey Report - Bangalore 2010 12

To download the full Report please visit the below link:

http://www.fitnesswiki.in/Fitness_Wiki_Charts.html

Thanks.