The pandemic has increased the interest of Romanians in sports, and over 50% of them prefer to go to several gyms in a month

ESX, the digital system that provides access to hundreds of partner gyms and sport clubs with a single membership, estimates this year an increase of five times more in the number of subscriptions sold, due to the growing trend of Romanians’ interest in sports activities. In addition, Romanians no longer go to just one gym as it happened in previous years, but choose several locations, depending on proximity, types of sports activities, equipment and facilities.

“More and more Romanians are aware of the importance of sports and a healthy lifestyle, in the context of the global pandemic, especially since gyms are among the only spaces where, in addition to exercise, you can relax and socialise. It is also interesting that more and more Romanians prefer to go to several clubs in a single subscription. If two years ago only 20% of members went to more partner gym clubs using the ESX application, now the percentage is 55%. The ESX application supports this trend as our subscribers have access to 270 gyms across the country, as well as other benefits such as various fitness and nutrition educational programs. We expect that by the end of the year, our members will enter the partner gyms 700,000 times, using the ESX mobile application “, said Andrei Trofin, CEO and Founder of ESX.

Romanians’ interest in going to the gym started to grow significantly after the isolation period in 2020 because the world did not do sports, did not leave the house, they gained weight, their stress level increased, and the movement became increasingly necessary. In addition, they no longer only pursue the activity itself, they also want to recharge with the energy of the people around them, of the groups in the gyms, to change the environment at home. Therefore, Romanians are more motivated to exercise when they go to a gym than if they do sports at home, unlike in previous years.

“I noticed that most Romanians still prefer to go to gyms because they benefit from a greater diversity of equipment, types of activities and training than at home, where space is more limited and also the sports equipment or accessories,” added Andrei Trofin.

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The Romanian fitness market estimated at approx. 500 million euros is still immature, although for over 5 years it has the highest increase in Europe. Bulgaria reaches 650 million euros, Hungary – 750 million euros, Poland – 1.1 billion euros, France, Spain, Italy – almost 3 billion euros, and the market in England and Germany is over 5 billion euros.

The most popular sports activities remain fitness and cardio, in proportion of 70%, followed by aerobics, yoga, dancing, tennis, squash, climbing, kickboxing, cross-fit. Although the ESX application has been available in Bucharest since the end of last year, here it records the most membership sales, followed by Iași and Cluj-Napoca.

The most important factors for Romanians when deciding which fitness club to go to are: proximity to home or work, available activities, quality of services and the price of the membership. The ESX application has managed to reach all people’s decision makers, and thus supports the accelerated growth of the sports industry. ESX makes going to the gym simple, fast and accessible.