These numbers represent search interest relative to the highest point on the chart for the given region and time.
A value of 100 is the peak popularity for the term. A value of 50 means that the term is half as popular. A score of 0 means there was not enough data for this term.
Graph #1: “Fitness”
We still have not seen a return to normal buyer search behavior year-over-year since 2020.
The highest the market has seen in search volume for the term “fitness” is 75% of what it was pre-2020. And there has been no clear pattern or trend since 2020.
This year has seen the most significant high of search volume and also the lowest month of search volume within 4 months of each other since 2020.
This aligns well with what we can see across the several hundreds of gyms we work with. Big swings in volume.
Prior to 2020, the pattern of people doing fitness-related searches was highly repetitive and predictable year over year since the beginning of the internet.
Graph #2: “Gym near me”
The most directly correlative search for local brick-and-mortar gyms.
Prior to 2020 was climbing year over year and was highly predictable as to when the peaks would be.
Since 2020, one big bounce back in 2021, and since it’s been about 75% of its high, and stagnant.
Currently as of August, near the low since 2021.
Historically, August and September are a strong season, stronger than the beginning of the year.
Which again, lines up well with reality for us in past years. Most gyms we work at have typically seen a strong charge into August and September.
This particular year is seeing a little bit of a delay in that charge but it’s coming. September will be a strong month.
Graph #3: “Fitness Classes”
This one fell off hard in 2020 and hasn’t come anywhere near recovering.
Having bounced back to about 50% of its all-time high by 2020 and since stagnating with a small spike at the beginning of this year.
Graph #4: “CrossFit”
Has been steadily and predictably trending down strongly year over since 2013.
It hit a bottom in 2020 that it was already trending toward.
Since 2020, it has been flat between 15 and 25% of its all time high.
In July of this year, this search was only 15% as relevant to its all-time high, but it’s projecting its biggest spike at 36% this month.
So that’s a good thing.
Search trends for the term “CrossFit Gym” is almost identical in shape, but the bottom isn’t as low as general CrossFit searches and it’s been flat since 2021, which is better than the steep downward trend into 2020.
If you study and know about technological life cycles, this is interesting to watch.
In 2010 group fitness was becoming a mainstream fitness technology.
Many products and variants led this wave. But very few products of a generation can make a second wave of the technological life-cycle.
If they do it’s only due to MAJOR new innovations along with model and brand reinvention.
Much like Apple did by moving from niche desktop computers to being the lead in peripherals and personal devices.
