‘Gym pods’ in the middle of the street are the future of fitness

Booze and gourmet food delivery services are all well and good - but what Londoners have always needed is an on-demand way to burn of all of those excess takeaway calories.

Luckily for us, gyms of the future could be easier to access than ever, as one Chinese company has developed a scheme that aims to put mini ‘pod gyms‘ onto urban street corners.

The gym pods look like large phone boxes, and house a treadmill, a screen, air-con, an air purifier and some portable fitness accessories.

The boutique pay-as-you-go gyms have been developed by a start-up company called Misspao and the idea has already taken off in China, with 1,000 of the pods due to be installed on the streets by the end of the year.

Using the Misspao app, gym-users can find and book a local workout pod over their smartphone.

When they get to the pod, they’ll simply need to scan a QR code to unlock the booth.

You can pay for your time in the gym via your smartphone and the booth will cost the equivalent of 2p per minute in China.

Misspao has already secured two rounds of undisclosed funding, reports Yicai, and is reportedly already worth $15 million.

There is no news yet as to whether Misspao is planning to bring its idea over to the UK, but given the massive growth in the fitness and wellness industries over the past few years, it may only be a matter of time until a pod gym pops up outside of your window.

So if you’re the type of person that regularly skips the gym because you complain it isn’t convenient enough to your house, your days of excusing yourself may be numbered.