The most popular home fitness equipment

If we look at the home fitness equipment retention rate of ordinary households in China, the number one spot is definitely yoga mats—don’t worry, there are more dumbbells than floor mats in your home. Indeed, eight out of ten households around me can find at least one dusty yoga mat. The remaining two households have probably just moved and haven’t had time to buy one. Of course, there are veterans in the fitness circle who do not agree with this conclusion. In their understanding, anything that can be called "fitness equipment" must at least have a counterweight, and a yoga mat can only be regarded as an auxiliary accessory. According to this standard, the number of adjustable dumbbells can indeed be ranked first. This matter is actually a matter of different statistical calibers, and there is no absolute right or wrong.

Let’s talk about objective data first: The annual sales volume of the home fitness category of a leading e-commerce platform in 2023 shows that more than 12 million yoga mats have been sold, which is 2.7 times that of the second-place dumbbell. Even the sales of elastic bands, which have been ranked third all year round, are less than one-third of it. Of course, this data includes a lot of "non-fitness use" orders. During the lockdown last year, my colleague scraped together an order and bought a 9.9 TPE pad with free shipping. He originally planned to follow Liu Genghong in aerobics, but he was tired after three days of dancing. Later, it was used as a temporary pad for unpacking express delivery. Now it is simply used as a cat nest for the puppets at home. ； My aunt is too lazy to even go to square dance. She also keeps a wide yoga mat at home. She says it is just for her granddaughter’s online class to do broadcast gymnastics. With this popularity, other equipment cannot compare.

To put it bluntly, the core reason why yoga mats can sell so much is that the threshold is too low. When you buy dumbbells, you have to consider whether you can lift them. When you buy an elliptical machine, you have to leave half a square meter of open space. Yoga mats are different. The thin 3mm ones can be carried away in your bag, while the thick 15mm aerobics shock absorbers will not make noise downstairs. Even if you don’t exercise at all, you can use them to sit on the floor to watch TV shows or put a laptop for work. Even taking it to the park as a picnic mat in spring is lighter than a special picnic mat. I currently have three piles in my home: the thin non-slip one is used for push-ups and planks, the thick NBR one is reserved for high jump and impact exercises, and there is also a 1.2-meter-wide one that can accommodate two people when friends come to play with fitness rings.

If the statistical scope is narrowed to people with fixed fitness habits, the results will indeed be different. For my friends who often go to the gym, the most common equipment at home is adjustable dumbbells. A complete set can be adjusted from 2.5kg to 25kg. It takes up less space than a cabin suitcase. It can be used for shoulder training, chest training, and back training. It is much more cost-effective than stacking a set of fixed-weight dumbbells. Some people also say that elastic bands are the most popular. After all, they only cost a few dollars each. They are light enough to fit in your pocket and can be taken with you for training on business trips. The resistance ranges from 5 pounds to 50 pounds. They are useful for training the buttocks and upper limbs. This statement is particularly recognized in the circle of bodyweight fitness enthusiasts.

In fact, there is really no point in worrying about who ranks first. When I was cleaning up my house two years ago, I found two brand-new and unopened yoga mats. I bought them with a discount at 618. They are still collecting dust in the locker. There are many friends who have bought several thousand elliptical machines and ended up using them to hang clothes. If you really want to move, you can do squats standing on the tiles without a pad. If you don't want to move, buying a whole set of equipment is just a high-end storage rack. To put it bluntly, the best fitness equipment for your home is the one that you can use frequently.