Working with Precor, Aberdeen Sports Village has undergone a £500k overhaul to strengthen the user experience and put digital connectivity at the core of its offering

The newly refurbished Aberdeen Sports Village (ASV) has undergone a £500k refit to enable it to offer a stronger user experience with full digital connectivity.

The site reopened in August 2019 with capacity for 9,500 members and membership has increased by 17 per cent.

Kris McIntosh, health and fitness development manager at ASV, says: “We knew we needed to update to enhance the atmosphere, modernise kit and move with industry trends in terms of connectivity and tracking.” The key priority was to transform ASV with a modern, digitally linked workout area.

It’s for this reason that ASV selected Precor’s Preva – which captures workout data from CV machines and enables members to set and track goals, plus earn virtual motivational badges. “Preva gives us the ability to gather data like never before,” says McIntosh. “We use it to check equipment status daily, monitor footfall at peak times and schedule functional sessions around those to utilise our offering more efficiently.

“From a maintenance perspective we have access to every piece of kit’s status, which allows us to highlight specific trends and instantly report faults, decreasing downtime.”

In March 2019, Precor partnered with Sony to deliver digital tracking on its strength kit as well. Preva stats are automatically downloaded to the Advagym app, giving users an entirely connected gym experience.

McIntosh says: “Members touch their phone to the Sony Advagym sensor ‘puck’ to start tracking sets and reps in real-time, with stats automatically uploaded to the app. I’ve been incredibly impressed. I use the system to monitor utilisation – I know what kit’s being used, how often and when. We had over 1.8 million repetitions across fixed weight machines throughout September. These are astonishing statistics.”

Members requested a better functional training area, so ASV installed the Assault Range and an Open Format Queenax Training Rig. ASV also opted for Precor’s unique mix ‘n’ match on CV offering. “This was a big part of our decision to work with Precor – it allowed us to adapt to exactly what our customers need and also to maintain that premium feel,” he says.

For McIntosh, added value also came from Precor’s ability to pull numerous suppliers together. “Our sales rep Colin has been there right from the start. Always approachable, always helping to liaise with suppliers. He was crucial in getting Advagym up and running and his problem-solving was critical.”