A runner participates in the online Shijiazhuang Marathon at the Hebei Stadium on April 12, 2020, with the help of a route-tracking app (XINHUA)

Without having to physically join the running, Huang Lixing finished the Xiamen marathon last October. The 45-year-old sport enthusiast from Zhangzhou, Fujian Province in southeast China, participated in the famous marathon through a route-tracking app for online races, instantly receiving his electronic certificate. Huang, who had been participating in the race physically in the past, has become a follower of online races.

Statistics show that 52 million people took part in 368 online races organized by the Chinese Athletics Association in 2020, with 500 million views. The craze for the e-marathon reflects a shift in the world of sport. Today, thanks to the new technologies, the sport is proving to be more flexible, smart, personalized and interactive whether for specific sports events or for fitness in general.

Anytime, anywhere

Lu Xiangyu is an employee of an Internet company. Being busy at work, she has no choice but to do her exercises late in the evening when her son is sleeping. To her delight, many fitness apps are now available for her to do a wide range of physical exercises such as cardio, muscle strengthening and stretching. The advantage of these apps is that users can exercise anywhere and at any time - a real boon for busy people like Lu.

"Compared to traditional gyms, apps minimize geographical and time constraints, keeping pace with the changes in the way of life of this technology generation," said He Wenyi, Deputy Director of the Peking University Sports Industry Research Center.

The pandemic has also given a boost to the apps, with more and more people turning to e-fitness. According to a report published by the China Sporting Goods Federation, 37 percent of Chinese consumers chose to exercise at home in 2020. Keep, one of the popular apps, had 200 million users last year.

The live broadcasts offered by some gyms are attentively followed by e-fitness enthusiasts (CNSPHOTO)

A personal coach

Huang Meiling, who works in finance, used to be a frequent gym goer. The closure of some of the gyms or the monotony of their programs made Huang switch to e-fitness.

Faced with hundreds of workout activities available on the apps, Huang didn't know what to do at first. "Without a physical coach, how can I find the right exercises?" she wondered, a concern shared by many users before they discover the flexibility.

She soon found that users could seek guidance from videos and receive advice from trainers or athletes. The regular live broadcasts offered by some famous sportspersons further broadened their scope of action. "The exercises taught in gyms are easy to replicate at home," she said.

In addition, the smart sports equipment is customized for the exercises she does. She recently bought a state-of-the-art Keep treadmill, which is linked to her app via a sensor. A virtual trainer guides her from the app. The virtual coach first sets her an exercise session based on the health data collected, and then monitors her running, while giving advice on postures and methods for optimizing the landing technique. Huang can keep track of the distance covered, her progress, and the amount of calories burned. At the end of the session, an assessment is made in the app to evaluate the effect of the exercise. "It's just like having a personal coach," she said.

Virtual sports communities

For Li Pengfei, a resident of Hebei Province in north China, fitness was the last thing on his mind. But his poor health resulting from obesity pushed him to rediscover a healthy lifestyle. Like many of his friends, he joined the e-fitness trend. But his family didn't believe in it at first, even betting that he would give up in the end.

Against all odds, Li stuck with it and even invited his relatives to follow him. What gave him the motivation? Virtual sports communities made up of users of the same app. In these groups, people share photos and performances to motivate each other. That way, he has found a way to rack up the miles while having fun. "Exercise was like a real chore for me in the beginning. But the encouragement of other participants stimulates my inner strength. It has become a pleasure to train with others who share the same enthusiasm," he said.

According to the Global Consumer Trends 2021 report by market research consultant Mintel, 80 percent of Chinese consumers said that a sense of belonging was important to them. The key to success is not the product itself, but the "community" culture it develops. This is also the case for e-fitness. Thanks to connected data, users record their exercise results while sharing their experience. This helps to maintain a good atmosphere in terms of communication and motivation.

The health benefits of physical exercise are now well established. Currently, a growing number of Chinese are aware of the importance of fitness, which is ideal for improving cardiovascular performance, but also for sculpting the figure and overall physical condition. According to a survey by the China Sporting Goods Federation, 96 percent of respondents said they had engaged in some form of sports in 2020, spending an average of 4,000 yuan ($610.8). The Action Plan for a Healthy China (2019-30) aims to ensure that 40 percent of its citizens participate in physical exercises or sports regularly by 2030. To this end, all stakeholders in the sports sector are expected to make greater efforts to meet this growing demand from different segments of the population.

As for e-fitness, there is still a long way to get to perfection. But Lu is highly optimistic about its future development. "Human-computer interaction is the way forward," she said. This will, among other things, bring sports enthusiasts closer to trainers, and facilitate monitoring and evaluation. Furthermore, with the help of artificial intelligence and deep learning, the smart sports equipment is expected to offer more accurate information, making training more effective.

(Print Edition Title:  Staying Fit Without a Gym) 

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