At the start of any new year, we usually pen down our goals for the year ahead. Most of them come in the form of exercising more by joining a gym. Yet, our busy schedules and the immense task of maintaining a functional work-life balance means that exercise usually slips through the cracks.
During the pandemic, some of South Africa’s biggest gym chains reported record-breaking drops in gym subscriptions. At the same time, South Africans were still getting their fitness fix somewhere. Where were they? Many were smashing their fitness goals by exercising at home. Today, the home gym trend continues to entice fitness enthusiasts everywhere.
Investing in a home gym presents a wealth of benefits like cutting down on unnecessary travel time, exercising whenever it suits you, and not having to wait in lines to use machines. Although it might seem like an immensely expensive endeavour, Mishaan Ratan, Chief Marketing Officer at Africa’s first on-demand subscription platform Rentoza says ‘why buy it when you can subscribe to it?’
Rentoza recently launched its fitness equipment offering to help South Africans step up their home gym game without amassing serious debt.
“South Africans can now subscribe to anything from an exercise bike to weights and weight benches and even wearable fitness devices, giving them all access to gym-level equipment in the comfort of their own home at a fraction of the cost in some cases,” says Ratan, Chief Marketing Officer at Rentoza.
According to Ratan, “Buying gym equipment is very expensive, and most of the time, you can’t return the equipment when you are done with it. With a subscription, you can decide to unsubscribe at any time or swap out that bike for a treadmill or even a complete set of weights.”
Ratan says subscribing to fitness equipment is not only immediately cheaper than buying, but it also allows for the flexibility needed in an unpredictable economic landscape. For example, on the Rentoza App or website, South Africans can get a fully insured spinning exercise bike for as little as R230 a month. Whereas this same spinning bike retails for around R4 000.
He says at conventional gyms, consumers may be subjected to annual fee increases and joining fees. This is not the case with a fitness equipment subscription. Your fitness equipment payment amount will stay the same regardless of economic conditions, and there is no joining fee.
“All in all, taking your health seriously is necessary and will benefit you, but it does not have to cost an arm and a leg. Subscribe to the lifestyle you want without fuss and create a home gym that always suits your fitness and financial needs,” he concludes.
