THE RISE OF BLACK-OWNED FITNESS GEAR BRANDS

THE FITNESS-EQUIPMENT landscape has never been this expansive. Ever since the pandemic sparked an uptick in sales of home gym equipment, gear companies have been in overdrive, pumping out everything from adjustable dumbbells to connected cardio machines to fully wireless recovery boots.

But amid all that innovation, something’s still missing. Scan the companies driving the next generation of workout gear and you’ll see little diversity. Most major fitness brands have overwhelmingly white ownership. While the equipment offerings have grown increasingly diverse, the faces that bring you that equipment have not.

“The disparities and inequality that exist for Black people in general exist in so many ways [in the fitness industry],” says Percell Dugger, founder of Fit for Us, an agency that advocates for and empowers Black fitness professionals and underserved communities. Dugger can name only a handful of Black gear players. “Being in business, the ability to grow, the scaling and marketing, it is vastly disproportionate. We don’t have the opportunities or network