Lifting The Game: The Female Fitness Landscape is Shifting

After years of being sidelined, women’s fitness is finally getting the spotlight it deserves. The sector is growing fast and brands are jumping on the opportunity to connect to this increasing consumer base. However it’s a fine line between empowering women and exploiting their insecurities. Here are the key areas reshaping the space:

It’s not just the stats

Women tend to be more invested in the lifestyles surrounding athletes, yet historically, female-focused sports coverage has been few and far between. Savvy brands are changing the sports media landscape by investing in female centred magazines, newsletters and video. 

Canadian platform, The Gist, is leading the charge. As a female founded company they promote equal gender coverage, as well as creating tailored content to support women, with articles such as ‘how elite athletes perform during pregnancy’. Cosmopolitan is also breaking ground, showcasing athletes like superstar basketball player A’ja Wilson discussing the everyday and the athlete life.

Similarly, a number of female athletes have set up their own sports media platforms such as TOGETHXR, founded by names such as Chloe Kim which mixes sports, culture and activism. Just Women’s Sports followed a similar path and has now become one of the biggest media platforms for women’s sports resulting in partnerships from major brands like Nike and Dicks, founded by former US soccer player Haley Rosen, JWS is a full media hub, featuring youtube series, podcasts and more.

Fitness isn’t just what happens in the gym – it’s a whole lifestyle

Alo Yoga sets itself apart through selling an aspirational and luxurious lifestyle, working with influencers like Kendall Jenner and Sydney Sweeny and catering to low intensity sports like yoga and pilates, Alo shows that elegance doesn’t always have to be sacrificed in order to workout.

Elsewhere, coffee culture is riding the wellness wave as brands like Blank Street have hopped onto the matcha boom, catering to a crowd of post gym goers in matching sets through fitness orientated campaigns.

Gail’s saw running taking over social media and fully incorporated it into their brand, having collaborated with many running clubs, including putting on a female only run club event with HPC and Celina Stepenson, they have firmly cemented themselves as a post run ritual, catering to tendencies and habits.

Look good, play good

US rugby player Ilona Maher has modelled for brands such as Maybelline and Sports Illustrated. With campaigns such as ‘war paint’, where she wore lipstick every match, she’s showing that women don’t have to drop femininity for sport.

In this year’s Miami swim week, Sports Illustrated included a wide range of women of differing careers, sports and bodyshapes, including women such as Remi Bader and Ali Tuwit. Changing narratives around ‘feminine’ or ‘fit’ body shapes.

Scottish brand DFYNE are preaching a similar message, landing themselves as the Sunday Times fastest growing company in Britain their success is a clear reflection of their values. Creating fashion focused gymwear in a range of non-traditional gymwear colours, they allow women to feel feminine whilst pushing their limits. This is all supported with a team of sponsored athletes that represent different body shapes and ability levels, creating role models for all.

Even beauty brands like Rhode are playing with this crossover, their recent lip liner campaign featured gymwear and equipment, as well as starring dancer and musician Tate McRae. The crossover of sport and beauty is expanding as beauty brands begin to cater to the confidence many women get from working out in makeup.

Creating community

In a social media orientated world it’s easy for people to be seen. However fostering a positive community and creating role models that foster confidence is vital in engaging women in sport.

Gymshark realised the vitality of this and created their Gymshark Athletes, promoting a variety of women including a number of influencers such as Anna Archer and Sydney Cassidy who both work to shift the gym-influencer community away from toxic narratives.

Similarly, running app Runna has sponsored a number of influencers such as Martha Walsh, a positive lifestyle creator who began running at uni, showcasing their brand vales that everyone can run. Similarly, 2024 saw the tour of influencer Anna Archer with ‘Anna on the run’, Runna chose to sponsor the event and held a 5k race for women of all abilities, a similar 10k event has also been promoted by the brand, creating opportunities for involvement as well as building a community.

This isn’t a trend, it’s a necessity

Women’s fitness is booming and lots of progress has been made however here’s what were expecting more on in the future:

The holistic fitness space is a key area for female involvement with women more likely to spend on beauty and wellness, brands looking at more than just fitness could see success.

Creating space for women is a necessity, with spaces like The Girls Spot, a female only gym and period-aware training being discussed by Fitbit, women need their own area to thrive.

Femininity and sport need to be further connected, with fashion forward advancements from Gymshark and DFYNE this can only be taken further.

Finally, representation is the key to success, the female sports media sector needs to be expanded and role models need to be made more accessible.

Brands that approach women’s fitness as its own challenge, giving it the space and the thought it needs are pushing a new narrative, making it clear that when approached with authenticity the opportunity is massive.