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Here’s a simple reason why equipment in most Indian gyms is sub-par versus peers elsewhere in Asia and elsewhere. Equipment costs really do creep up quickly. Government taxes (equipment and memberships) and consumers’ unwillingness to pay a reasonable price for their memberships are the primary reasons.
Also, there are not enough brands competing to provide quality equipment at a reasonable price. Here’s a simple example. A decent barbell from Challenge, Bullrock, Sanguine, USI costs between Rs 20,000 and Rs 30,000. This is quite similar to offerings from Rogue, American Barbell etc. While one could bicker over things like finish and knurl quality, the functionality remains unchanged.
Now how much do average gym memberships work out to? The average gym membership in the US is 40$/month. Gyms employing methods such as Starting Strength can run to several hundred dollars a month. As a crude scale, 8 months of a single membership pays for a barbell. Again, I am not factoring for discounts that can lob 20-30 percent off the list price of equipment in the US.
Indian gyms start as low as Rs 250-300 per month. These tend to be quite basic. Gyms with air conditioning and reasonable selection of machines and a squat rack can come for Rs 10,000-Rs 12,000 annually. Some gyms might bump this up to Rs. 18000-20000 but this is the exception.
It takes close to 2 years of a single client’s fee at a reasonably priced urban gym in India to afford a decent barbell. Contrast this with the above number.
Smaller gyms in smaller towns do not stand a chance.
Personal training can work out to Rs 18000-30000 per month. You have group based coaching-centric services such as mine that charged Rs 6,500 a month in 2024. But these are niche offerings. These places might have better equipment. But even they have to contend with commercial real estate rents that rival peers in the west.
Now consider more niche equipment for conditioning or strength such as Airbikes or Squat racks. The average belt-driven commercial grade Airbike costs 1165$ (not counting discounts that are common when you buy as a gym). This is Rs 96,000.
The same Airbike in India costs 40-60 percent more. Between a local dealer margin and government taxes, nice things cost a lot more in India. We don’t make Airbikes locally since they’re fairly complicated creatures and numbers sold domestically don’t justify the capital or energy spent building the supply chain locally. Majority of the airbikes sold are manufactured in Taiwan and China.
For better equipment, consumers need to pay more and demand better.
For more options, consumers need to pay more.
For coaches to introduce clients to different training modalities and training equipment, they need to earn more, educate themselves and introduce the general public to what can be achieved in a gym.