Too many gyms in Dhaka, but hardly any profit

The way gym culture has been spreading in the last decade, it seems like there is a gym in every other alley of Dhaka city. Usually styled with a modern touch, they are spacious and well-lit with a luxurious ambience. But most importantly, the training area is full of all kinds of fitness training equipment, ranging from dumbbells, barbells, rowing machines, and jump ropes to advanced cardio machines like high-tech treadmills, ellipticals and stationary bikes. 

However, these spaces aren't as bustling as you would expect. While there are indeed some enthusiastic individuals clad in stylish workout attire sweating it out to reach their fitness goals, the majority of the gyms are empty, making you wonder the reason why these places occupy such a voluminous space in the first place. 

But that's the gloomy reality of gym culture in the city. There are approximately more than five hundred gyms in the city but most of them remain deserted, except during morning and evening sessions. That begs the question: are the existing gyms in the city faring well enough to warrant opening new businesses? 

The Business Standard reached out to industry insiders to find the answer, and as it stands, the gym business hasn't really been a profitable venture for most owners since the Covid-19 pandemic. And due to the prevalence of new gyms that haven't managed to find much success, the market is on the verge of a disaster. 

'Gym business to suffer the same fate as martial arts'

In Dhaka, it takes at least Tk60-70 lakh to launch a gym in marginalised areas, while in moderate areas the minimum investment is around Tk1 crore. Posh areas like Gulshan or Banani require at least several crores to establish a gym. Monthly maintenance, space rent and staff salary also take another Tk1-5 lakh.

Most of the modern equipment in this sector is imported from China, Taiwan or South Korea, and the high customs duty on imports makes them extremely expensive. Generally, a gym needs equipment worth Tk50 lakh to Tk3 crore. 

On the other hand, the price of a regular gym membership can start from as low as Tk1,000 per month, with some extra discounts for students, women or elderly people. However, in posh areas like Gulshan or Banani, or in five-star hotels, the monthly price can be as high as Tk25,000. There are also packages of either three, six months or one year. For those packages, the price sees a significant decline.

From children as young as eight years to senior citizens of 70 years, people of all ages go to the gym although the common demographic is youth aged 20-35. 

Dildar Hasan, former general secretary of the Bangladesh Wushu Association (now Federation), founded Diamond Multi Gym in Mohammadpur back in 1993. At the time, there wasn't any other gym in the area. But now, there are several gyms in every vicinity, not only in Mohammadpur.

In the past, he could make a minimum profit of Tk1 lakh from his gym every month. But since the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic, his business was dealt a big blow and now he can't even reach the break-even point. 

"It's not possible to make profits in a business where there is more supply than demand. It looks like everyone is launching a gym nowadays, but our city doesn't need so many of them," said Hasan. 

He also claimed that the newly-established gyms are affecting the reputation this sector once carried by selling illegal or unauthorised supplements and medicines. 

"I don't see a bright future for the gym business. There was a time when martial arts were regarded highly. But then they were marred by many controversies. The same could happen with the gym business," he said. 

Mohammad Altaf Ronnie Hossen, the owner of A&M Fitness in Rampura and founder president of Dhaka Gym Owners Welfare Foundation (DGOWF), also echoed the same sentiment. 

According to him, the gym business has been experiencing a huge growth since 2016-17. However, it took a hit during the pandemic and has been in bad shape since. From January of this year, the situation has taken a turn from bad to worse.

"Due to price hikes, everyone is in trouble. So, spending on physical fitness is a luxury for many. I have many young students who had to give up, as their family no longer wanted to give them money," said Hossen, who won the Mr Bangladesh award a record 11 times from 1999 to 2009. 

The tendency to take shortcuts

While it is good news that the young generation is becoming interested in investing their time, money and energy into fitness, their prime motivation is something to be evaluated carefully, believes former MP and State Minister of Home Affairs, Tanjim Sohel Taj.

According to Taj, who owns Inspire Fitness in Satmasjid Road, many young people nowadays want to go to the gym because they are influenced by social media and wish to have an attractive appearance. 

"Many youngsters don't have the genuine goal of becoming healthy. They just want to look good and seek results in the quickest possible time. So, many of them resort to illegal drugs, steroids or other performance enhancement supplements," said Taj. 

But such consumption does more harm than good and can cause kidney, liver and cardiovascular diseases. 

Pranab Sarkar Apu, chief fitness trainer of Muscle Tiller Gym in Hatirpool, informed that many newcomers demand supplements from them soon after joining the gym, which is a very bad practice and shouldn't be encouraged in any capacity. 

"Maybe after four or five months, someone can be given a natural supplement. But that too after examining their medical conditions," said Apu. 

But not everyone sticks around for that long. There are many who hit the gym for just one or two months with the aim of losing weight. But after a while, they lose their motivation and drop out. 

"Around 40-50% of our students are like this," said Panna Raz, fitness trainer at Silver Gym in Rampura. 

Women's participation is still very low

There may be too many gyms in the city right now, but the participation of women isn't that high yet. 

For example, at the Muscle and Fitness Center in Moghbazar, which has been around for more than five years, there are only two female participants as opposed to nearly a thousand registered male participants. 

According to the gym's manager Akhtar Hossain, women are still not that interested in coming to the gym for physical fitness, even though gym authorities are open to welcoming them. But women do not want to join a gym if it doesn't have a separate section for them.  

Nibras Panni, executive director of Aamra Active in Gulshan-2, believes that the overall environment is an important factor for female participants. Many women hit the gym in areas like Gulshan because gyms here are safe and women-friendly, which is not the case for most gyms elsewhere in the city. 

"In Aamra Active, we have a separate floor exclusively for women, and we have invested heavily to make the environment safe for them. If a gym cannot provide this, naturally women won't be attracted," said Panni. 

And there are some obvious reasons for that. In a country like Bangladesh, gyms are not seen as a "good place for girls", and families only permit them provided the environment is good enough, she noted. 

But she also agreed that middle-class women may not be able to afford the high-end gyms in posh areas, so there should be women-friendly gyms all over the city. 

"Otherwise, women's participation won't increase much." 

Another reason, as per Taj, is that there is a common misperception that hitting the gym may make a woman lose her femininity and look like a man. 

"That's a gross lie. Physical fitness is equally important for men, women, boys and girls. It helps everyone remain in good health, and also makes them look beautiful in its truest sense," Taj said. 

More of a passion than a business

Nibras Panni of Aamra Active informed that even though they were going through a lean patch during the pandemic, they have retained their business recently, thanks to their brand value and heavy social media campaigns on physical fitness. 

However, not all gym owners are so lucky. Most of them are still suffering big losses and don't see the chance of a turnaround anytime soon. As a result, nearly a hundred gyms and fitness training centres were shut down since the pandemic, revealed industry insiders. 

But what about the others? Why are they still keeping their gyms open if they are suffering heavy losses? Well, for some, it's the passion and love for the business. 

"I have always been involved with this business, and it once helped me earn a lot of money. It's true that now I am not making any profit, but that doesn't mean I will abandon it all of a sudden," said Dildar Hasan of Diamond Multi Gym. 

Former Mr Bangladesh, Mohammad Altaf Ronnie Hossen, also said: "I do this business out of passion, so I will continue. But maybe things won't improve in the next four or five years." 

Meanwhile, even though Taj's Inspire Fitness is quite popular and doing well, he believes the gym industry shouldn't be totally business-oriented, rather passion should be the first priority instead. 

"It's more than a business for me. I spend nearly eight hours daily in my training centre and help people. Every gym owner should have such passion. As responsible citizens, we should all try to contribute to society. For that, we have to be healthy, strong and self-dependent first," he concluded.