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example, NFL football players and NBA
stars who have found that yoga can help
their games.
According to the Yoga in America
Study from Sports Marketing Surveys
USA, in 2012 an estimated 20.4 million
Americans practiced yoga, compared to
15.8 million from the previous 2008 study,
for an increase of 29 percent. In addition,
as of the 2012 study, yoga practitioners
were spending an estimated $10.3 billion a
year on yoga classes and products, includ-
ing equipment, clothing, vacations and
media. This is nearly
double the estimate
from the 2008 study of
$5.7 billion. The study
also indicated that
there were an ad-
ditional 87.5 million
“aspirational yogis”
in the U.S., and
nearly half, or about
40 million, were men.
In the three years
that have followed,
the yoga market has
continued to grow
almost exponentially.
Look at any commu-
nity and where there
once was one yoga stu-
dio, there are now 10.
Meanwhile, the type
of yoga being offered
at many new studios
has begun to change
and morph from the
traditional model. In-
creasingly, power yoga
studios are opening, as
well as studios that com-
bine athletic training with yoga.
The end result is a fast-moving market
growing rapidly in multiple directions.
All of this is impacting the products be-
ing offered on the market, yoga attire and
women’s apparel in general.
Move Over, Ladies
Arrichion, a North Carolina yoga
chain, is a prime example of the new
athletic yoga studio. Just five years old,
it offers a combination of circuit training
and hot yoga and is growing so rapidly
the founders have started looking
into franchising. The focus here
is on a very athletic form of hot
yoga, combined with wrestling
and circuit training. Yoga and
wrestling classes aren’t offered
in the same class, but wrestling
students are encouraged to take
the hot yoga classes as a supple-
ment to wrestling and strength
training.
The classes are
taught by instruc-
tors who are
trained to think
like coaches, and
it’s common to see
players from the
NFL’s Carolina Pan-
thers taking yoga in
the chain’s Charlotte
studio. In its Raleigh
classes, former NBA stars including Ju-
lius Hodge are regulars. Studios like Ar-
richion are also becoming popular with
weekend athletes training for triathlons.
As other hybrid studios pop up in
cities across the country, major yoga
companies such as Gaiam are introduc-
ing products just for men, or introducing
product lines that support an athletic
yoga practice.
Kent Katich, a well known Los
Angeles-based yogi who has developed
his own system for combing yoga with
athletic training, recently signed a con-
tract with Gaiam to develop a series of
men’s athletic yoga workout CDs. That
line was introduced by Gaiam at the
Winter Outdoor Retailer Show in 2015.
The CDs, as well as Gaiam yoga mats
and other yoga accessories sized large
for men, hit markets in March.
“The benefits of yoga to an athlete are
so endless I don’t know where to start,”
said Katich. “But it does build confi-
dence,” he said, “as well as flexibility.”
Both can give weekend and professional
athletes a competitive edge. Katich would
know. For several years he has worked as
a coach to collegiate and professional ath-
letes, helping them incorporate yoga into
their overall training programs. “There
are a lot of (young men) who want to do
this. They just need an inroad,” he said.
Althleisure
With more and more people tak-
ing yoga or adding yoga to their gym
workouts, yoga attire is being worn on
an increasing basis outside the studios.
L.L. Bean’s Powerflow
are an example of
what have become
ubiquitous, where
everywhere yoga tights
The Warrior (left) and For the People shorts are part of
Lululemon’s expanding collection of yoga apparel for men
Brands such as Prana have seen significant boosts in men’s yoga lines
Inside
Outdoor
|
Summer
2015
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