Why I Won't Be Getting an AI Home Gym

I've been getting relentless Instagram ads for AI-powered home gyms lately. You've probably seen them, too-sleek wall-mounted screens with impossibly toned instructors, testimonials promising "the future of fitness," and before-and-after transformations that make it all look effortless. The smart home gym equipment market is booming. According to Business Wire , the industry was valued at $3.2 billion in 2024 and is projected to reach $4 billion by 2030. The numbers show plenty of people are investing in fitness technology that offers personalized, convenient, and effective home workouts. Fitness is yet another way to , transforming boring old equipment into highly sophisticated systems capable of delivering real-time feedback, tracking performance, and adjusting workouts to each user's needs. It all sounds impressive-revolutionary, even. But here's the thing about fitness trends: It takes a lot more than the latest technology to make them stick. feed the AI beast After months of watching these ads follow me around the internet, I got curious enough to actually dig into what these things are and whether they're worth the hype, and if the math really adds up for most people. Fitness trends rarely have staying power Whatever your fitness goal is, the way to get it done is going to be time-tested and probably not too glamorous. Look at Tae Bo, Zumba, shake weights, even the world of Crossfit-most fitness fads don't have staying power once the novelty wears off. Sure, exercise science evolves, but not nearly as fast as whatever trendy gadget cycles through the cultural zeitgeist. In this way, we see “fitness” get reduced to a consumer product-something to be purchased, used briefly, and then tossed aside when something shinier comes along. In 2025, spin classes are out, while Pilates and strength training are in, and that Bowflex is probably collecting dust in your mom’s basement. In fact, in 2024 both Bowflex and American Home Fitness, two companies that bet big on the home fitness boom, filed for bankruptcy . In more recent history, Peloton once seemed unstoppable. Now, Peloton's revenue declined 2.8% in 2024 to $2.71 billion, marking its . What was once a cultural phenomenon now struggles to retain members and justify its premium pricing. third consecutive year of declining revenue For something to stick in fitness, three questions matter: Is it affordable? Does it work? Will you personally keep coming back to it? AI home gyms might work, and you might keep coming back, but that first question is where things get complicated. What exactly is an AI home gym? AI home gyms are digital fitness systems that combine hardware with software to create a personalized workout experience at home. The most well-known is probably Tonal, but there's also Tempo, Speediance, Amp, and others. Here's how they typically work: Tonal, for instance, is a wall-mounted unit about the size of a large TV that uses electromagnetic resistance instead of traditional weights. You pull cables attached to adjustable arms, and the system can provide up to 200 pounds of resistance digitally. Built-in...

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