One Simple Tip For Gym’s Seeking To Embrace Technology
MYZONE performance data display panels. Source: Supplied
This month I have loved the myriad of social media posts from both #FIBO and #IHRSA. A common thread throughout the various feeds has been the incredible influence of technology on the fitness industry over the past 12 months! Virtual reality, smart consoles, smart garments, beacons, RFID, QR Code, bluetooth, performance display panels, activity trackers, apps, apps and more apps, are all forging their own paths in fitness and consumers are lapping them up!
Attempting to absorb all of this information is one thing. Working out what tech trends to embrace can be a completely different ball game, because technology is moving so fast! A poor decision can cost you money, time and can not only disengage your customers, but completely piss them off – which is the polar opposite of what you are trying to achieve!
But I think I can help you with just one tip. Let this tip swirl around your brain – back and forth between logical and creative sides and hopefully it will lead you to excitedly investigate the many options available in this genre of new-age fitness:
The Tip:
Identify a service you currently run that would be even better with some form of technology. Or take the opposite approach and look for technology that compliments your current services.
One service that I can easily see enjoying a tech-boost is: Group Fitness
Why is group fitness a good candidate for a tech-injection?
- Group fitness has long been hailed as a key membership retention tool.
- Group Fitness is the one thing technology can’t truly replace, but can enhance.
- Group fitness is where your instructors can profoundly impact the life of your gym members via personal interactions. It’s where personality counts, but can’t necessarily be counted!
Technogym: Group Cycle Connect. Source Supplied
How is technology changing Group Fitness?
In the world of group fitness, a noticeable tech trend is emerging: performance data display panels.
In last month’s article Top 10 Fitness Equipment Finds at Expo’s, I featured the FitMetrix software solution, and said:
“I feel that tools like FitMetrix are a clever way for clubs to revitalise an aging group fitness program!”
A few thoughts on how performance data display panels can enhance group fitness:
- A display not only allows, but encourages an equal playing field across all ages and fitness levels.
- Immediate feedback can offer a tonne of motivation for an individual. This feedback can help them adjust their own effort or allow an instructor to personalise encouragement.
- Performance data can help zone-in participants individual goals within a group setting.
- Peer-judgement and or perception of another’s effort may become a thing of the past, with greater knowledge comes greater understanding and hopefully greater participation.
- Team work and healthy competition really take on a new meaning with instructors able to divide classes into even teams for a portion of a class or a whole class i.e. indoor cycling (depending on the solution you run with).
Tips To Make It Work:
- Gym’s should be clear on their performance data coaching ‘ethos’ and ensure staff are on board before the first class starts using the system.
- Gym users should have a good sense of what to expect and how they will benefit before participating.
- The class instructor should be thought of as the final piece of the puzzle, not the whole puzzle. In other words, the class instructor should be seen as the human face of the system; encouraging, supporting and layering feedback evenly across a class like a ‘dynamic moderator’, and should not be held accountable for the success or failure of the entire program.
MYZONE in action! Source: Supplied
Conclusion
Which ever way you go, ensure you do your home work:
- Identify your needs and wants. i.e. a system for just your cycle studio or across the board.
- Identify the hardware required by gym goers, i.e. apps, heart rate straps etc and also who will bear those costs? How can you avoid this becoming a potential barrier and in essence a program failure.
- Pick the brains of the solution providers for tips and ways to make the new system work for your club.
- Insist on the inclusion of product training by the solution provider for key staff.
- Conduct team meetings to brain dump ideas on ways to maximise engagement and in turn get staff buy-in. Ask staff for ideas on ways to use the performance data to create a unique fitness experience.
- Design your performance data ethos and train your staff on acceptable etiquette and create a culture that nurtures the platform.
- Ensure success by listening to feedback by participants and be directly involved as a club operator.
- Try as many performance data group fitness classes for yourself. What works, what doesn’t work?
There a large number of systems out there to explore including offerings from both MYZONE and Technogym (photos above). Some integrate into multiple areas of your business such as online class bookings, training logs etc, while others are more app based for class participants to retain work out data.
Just remember to start and end with this tip:
Identify a service you currently run that would be even better with some form of technology and then seek technology that compliments that service.
Til Next Time,
Nate
Head Barista
www.fitnessequipmentcafe.com
Guest Blogger: Nate Effeney from Fitness Equipment Cafe. Fitness Equipment Cafe’s mission is to be the: #1 source of independent fitness equipment expertise – globally.