Introduction

The world may have stopped dead in its tracks, but you don’t need to if you’re looking to pursue your education in fitness sciences. The fitness industry has been affected in a different and unique way in comparison to other industries. You may have heard of gym chains being shut down. What you may not have heard about is the sudden spike in the demand for fitness professionals

The Story of Brick and Mortar

The fitness industry is a brick-and-mortar industry. Just like other brick and mortar industries, it was highly impacted. Before we move further, we must understand the unique nature of the fitness industry. It has two aspects to it. One is the commercial gym that is brick and mortar, and the other is the fitness professional. While all brick-and-mortar stores and outlets including restaurants, retail stores, malls, and gyms suffered huge losses and were literally crippled by the lockdowns, the fitness professional (personal trainers and nutritionists) actually prospered.

The gyms suffered in 2 ways: The landlords refused to lower rentals, and the customers, when they came back once the lockdowns were temporarily lifted for a few months, refused to pay for the lost months. Once the gyms opened doors post the lockdowns, the members returned, but only to avail their lost months first.

The Health Connection Leading to Increased Penetration

However, with the pandemic and the resultant drive for better immunity, the connection was made between immunity and a fitness lifestyle. This led many hitherto uninterested people in workouts and nutrition to reach out to experts for guiding them down the path of a fitness lifestyle. Many personal trainers, after becoming jobless due to the gyms shutting down, adapted beautifully to training their clients over videoconferencing. Many reported that their earnings did not suffer at all during the pandemic lockdowns; a few actually reported revenues higher than before the lockdowns. 

This increased penetration of the fitness services has shot up over a year, to the extent of a rise in penetration that would have normally taken 5 years. One can safely say that COVID-19 has dramatically increased the demand for the services of fitness professionals such as personal trainers and nutritionists. 

Ancillary businesses around the fitness industry, such as home gym equipment manufacturers and micronutrient nutraceuticals, are experiencing a sharp increase in sales. Home gym company manufacturers ran out of stock in the middle of the lockdowns and had to ramp up production. Moreover, the sale of vitamins and minerals has never been higher. All of this home gym equipment and vitamin purchasing led to increasing the need for the expert guidance of fitness professionals, such as personal trainers and nutritionists.

Thus, if you have chosen to join the fitness industry and are now a little hesitant, considering the impact that the lockdowns have had on commercial gyms, as written above, the reality actually is quite the opposite. The demand for your dream profession of being a personal trainer or nutritionist has never been higher.

How Was This Increased Demand Serviced During the Lockdowns?

The restrictions during the pandemic spawned a slew of innovations in online training. Personal trainers these days are extremely adept at training their clients via live, interactive videoconferencing (remote personal training). Nutrition consultations are also done using the videoconferencing tool. Many have expanded their practices internationally, as the internet makes the whole world accessible.

K11 Alumni Sharing Their Experiences During 2020

Many of our students got in touch with us to tell us that they faced no drop in income during the lockdowns. We were pleasantly surprised to know that personal trainers had been able to convince their clients to shift seamlessly onto remote personal training via videoconferencing. A few actually reported earning more than they normally were from before the pandemic. This proves to us the increased focus on fitness that the pandemic has brought about. Hence, if you are considering a career in the fitness industry, the time to get educated, qualified, and job ready for the fitness industry is now.

Can I Access K11 Education in Fitness Sciences Despite the Lockdowns?

We have a course on Human Performance Nutrition (HPN) that is available through 2-way, interactive videoconferencing, which is all live and face to face. It’s just like sitting in a classroom. We call this our Attend Class From Home solution. The nutrition course can be done entirely online, including assessments/examinations, without having to move out of the comfort of your home. The entire DPT course’s theory module of 4 months can be done via our Attend Class From Home solution. The DPT course practical module cannot be executed remotely as a fully equipped gym floor (lab) is a mandatory requirement. If you start your courses now, by the time your practicals come up 4 months later, access to our labs for the practical module will surely resume.

E-Learning Vs Learning via Videoconferencing

Do not mistake the education provided by K11 via the online medium of videoconferencing to be in any way a form of e-learning. The one-way online educators that come under the category of e-learning are definitely unaffected through the pandemic. But the real question worth asking is can e-learning really provide worthwhile education? The answer is clear. It cannot compare to the education that is provided through the teacher-student interaction that happens in a brick-and-mortar school/classroom. It is highly fortunate that during these trying times, when brick and mortar schools and colleges have been locked down, the highly precious teacher-student interaction has been maintained because of the technology of live, videoconference-based classrooms. The K11 School of Fitness Sciences has steadfastly kept away from the one-way e-learning solutions and has seamlessly provided students with the option of its Attend Class From Home programs. K11 has ensured through high-end videoconferencing solutions that the Attend Class From Home experience is as good if not better as attending classes from the state-of-the-art, brick-and-mortar K11 School of Fitness Sciences classrooms.

Conclusion

All of you aspiring personal trainers and nutritionists, don’t waste your time during the lockdowns. Start your education now. If you have any questions, book a counseling session with our course counselor. Simply click on the following link: https://www.keleven.com/book-session.