Please share your opinion on how the active lifestyle of people has adapted to the conditions of the quarantine? What solutions have people found for themselves who cannot imagine their life without sports?

I think the quarantine showed us all how important sports and activity are in our lives. People, finding themselves in such harsh conditions, tried their best in order to continue doing sports. And it became obvious to everyone that sports can be practiced not only in a gym with a personal trainer, but also independently. Where there’s a will, there’s a way. We drew attention to gadgets that help to track various health indicators, remembered about training with our own weight, got out bicycles, ran, turned to online training, under the guidance of a trainer. The number of people working out on the street has also increased. And, in general, the number of people who have become more active in sports has increased. If before the quarantine only 3% of the population were active, now this number has reached 7%.

How is your company going through the quarantine period? What changes have occurred during this time, perhaps in the structure of the company or its activities?

If you look globally, during the quarantine, our view of business has completely changed, we have identified several important areas of development for ourselves. And we were greatly helped by the fact that even before the beginning of 2020 we launched an online sales platform called MFitness in Moscow. And during the existence of this platform, sales tripled. These are amazing indicators! We launched this project on time, and this situation only confirmed our confidence that the future is ‘online’.

Recently, it has become very fashionable to equip home gyms in private homes. Does your company receive such requests and how do you feel about private orders versus corporate ones? Are there any differences between home fitness equipment and the equipment that comes with fitness clubs? Could you give some tips for those who have decided to equip a sports corner in their home?

In our company, during the pandemic, not only did the sales numbers not decrease, but even their increase was observed, including sales to individuals. You are right, so many Kazakhstanis have decided to organize small sports rooms in their own homes. And before buying, we definitely advise the client on the choice of equipment. Identifying needs is an important step. The more we studied the client’s training history, the easier it was for us to draw up a commercial proposal. Fortunately, the range of equipment we supply is wide. For example, at the moment in our portfolio there are about a hundred different brands with equipment that can satisfy the needs of both a professional athletes and an everydayer. There are even wooden exercise machines that can perfectly ‘fit’ into any private interior.

Of course, the volume of sales from private orders is small, but this is not at all a reason to refuse them. We ourselves are interested in coming to the aid of people who are conscious of their health.

As for the equipment itself, then, yes, of course, there is a difference. Professional sports equipment is designed for more severe conditions of use, therefore, it is distinguished by increased wear resistance, increased level of safety and quality of performance.

And, if you decide to equip a sports area in your home, first of all, be guided by your own preferences, and not new trends or novelties in the sports industry. Think about what you enjoy doing the most, what you love to do, what you enjoy doing. And only then select fitness equipment. Well, do not forget that all muscle groups should be involved during training.

What is the most popular fitness equipment today? Can you name a few popular trends/tendencies in the fitness industry?

I am sure that online training not only will not go out of fashion, but will become more popular from year to year. Sports gadgets for health, for example, such as smart watches from the brand of Polar, I think will be in demand and will undergo a number of upgrades. And in this area there is something to improve, upgrade, invent, allowing people to treat their health more carefully and better. Bodyweight training I think will become more popular.

With regard to fitness equipment, more emphasis will be placed on equipment for screening the body, and equipment that reveals the physiological characteristics of a person. This is equipment such as the Adaptive Motion Trainer (the ‘AMT’) – a unique invention of PRECOR Company. The AMT intuitively reacts to the trainee’s movements, allowing to drastically changing the way of movement without pressing any buttons. Also, the Functional Movement Screen (the ‘FMS’), which is the functional testing system fitness equipment. The functional testing system of the FMS is designed to find a user’s deficiencies. If one of the motor skills is performed indistinctly, this indicates the presence of asymmetry or limitations in movements, and with the help of this equipment, training methods are formed for people with special medical indications.