features
Testing: Making progress
Getting proven results in the gym is highly motivating. Are health assessment systems the ultimate retention solution asks Steph Eaves
The Seca TRU measures muscle and fat mass precisely and easily, so operators can accurately track changes within the body far beyond just weight, showing exercising has an impact when the scales shows no change.
This enables operators to support members by tracking muscle growth and fat reduction, making it clear what they achieve and motivating them in the long term to keep it up.
The medical validation of the Seca TRU offers the opportunity to provide members with medically-proven results, and guide them to their training goals with regular follow-up measurements.
If someone isn’t gaining muscle mass, for example, the operator can intervene and design new training plans together with them, while educating members or offering specific nutritional advice. This ensures enthusiastic and successful members will maintain a strong bond with the club and create word-of-mouth that inspires friends and colleagues to join up.
You should offer health assessments both as an upsell and as a part of a premium membership, so you can reap all the rewards.
There are members who just want to work out at a gym without extras and would never opt for a premium membership, but if they understand the benefits of analysing their body composition, they’ll take the opportunity and buy a single assessment every four to six weeks to track their progress.
Including free measurement testing can also be a convincing incentive for choosing a premium membership. To meet the needs of both upselling and high-value-memberships, our software allows you to activate a limited number of measurements for specific members or define monthly quotas.
It means results can be understood before the benefits are seen or felt externally, and can be the visual motivation that provides the voice saying “keep going, it’s working”. That can be the simple driver many members need to continue to commit.
Being able to accurately measure body composition and frequently track progress is one of the best ways to see firsthand how the work people are doing in the gym is positively impacting their body. It also allows those with more specific goals to tailor and change their training and choices, as their body composition changes.
Scans are encouraged every four weeks, so the excitement and focus that was felt on joining can be rekindled at every scan. Investing in a body composition solution provides the correct starting point for the members, the motivation for them to keep going and the proof that they’re improving at a healthy level. If implemented correctly, this can be the biggest retention tool an operator can have.
In an internal survey of 80 of our customers, 90 per cent agreed that InBody keeps their members motivated and directly impacts retention. Eighty seven per cent of these customers were also using InBody for their onboarding.
Health assessments can be sensitive and difficult for some people to face. We’d recommend thinking about the location and setting they’re going to use, as well as the education and support members will need. Being clear with members on the type of scan that’s being conducted and how it works in practice is also important.
We advise picking relevant products and services that work together to create a customer journey. They’ll need to deliver something that’s easy to understand for everyone and doesn’t exclude users who get confused by data.
Also, don’t forget to find out what support is available from the team you purchased from.
The InBody 970 is the first to utilise 3MHz frequency and fingerprint recognition and provides an incredibly in-depth analysis with seven different result sheets.
The design has been created to suit and reach many more people, making it suitable for everyone from young children and athletes to the extremely overweight.
With aims to continuously develop the product range, we’ve added two new composition devices to our portfolio. We also have several new devices launching soon – more wearables, medical home products and a new strength testing line
It uses AI to measure circumferences and produce DEXA-correlated body composition metrics, including visceral fat and bone mass – providing precise measurements, which are then easy to benchmark and observe.
he reports produced help customers not only understand their body better, but also identify areas of improvement in a highly accurate, visual way. The system’s analytics and data can be used to outline and set goals for members, whether around weight loss, muscle gain or the tackling of health issues – and then provide solutions through giving exercise and nutritional advice.
A peer-reviewed study has shown that Styku can predict metabolic syndrome with 92 per cent accuracy. By offering something that would otherwise only be accessible through a blood test and a visit with a primary care physician, health clubs can become more than just gyms. They can build awareness and motivate members to make important lifestyle changes.
Health assessments are a great way to provide a framework for a member’s fitness journey, but the assessments need to be both simple to deliver and hassle-free for members.
Complicated processes involving third-party medical professionals or laboratories can quickly become a burden to complete. That’s why 3D body scanners are an ideal starting point for those wanting to deliver health assessment services. The process is simple, non-invasive and only takes seconds – all the member has to do is stand still with their arms slightly raised and the technology does the rest.
We have a customer-facing mobile app in development which should be released later this year, along with an updated and improved posture analysis tool and a brand new symmetry tool. We’re also working on some incredibly exciting updates within the health risk analysis feature.
In that crucial first four week period, we know getting new members on-site and interacting with the facility increases the chance of them forming a habit. Giving an initial Tanita measurement and then booking in a follow-up two weeks later gives members definitive goals for that early period and gives operators meaningful ways to communicate.
They can utilise the technology to encourage all staff to regularly communicate with members. Checking if members have done a measurement recently, highlighting why they should do it and then booking them in and guiding them through the measurements helps engagement. Regular, relevant communication with members also has a very positive impact on retention.
You need to have the tools and the knowledge to do it effectively. Without the right equipment or staff who have enough knowledge, you can’t provide a high quality service. Members need relevant and accurate data which is interpreted for them, along with interventions and goals they can work towards.
Developing a business strategy around health assessments is highly recommended. The more structure you have, the more easily both you and your staff can work towards making them successful and ultimately impactful.
We have new software features and upgrades coming later this year that will allow for a greater level of functionality and personalisation for operators. We’re always looking to work with partners to provide the best range of solutions available, there should never be a one-size-fits-all approach.
The same three benchmarking questions are asked by health club members the world over: ‘Where am I, where should I be and where is everyone else?’ Some people want to track their body – and everyone else’s too. Members scan, review, set goals and repeat.
We have several large operators whose members record more than a million scans a year – and this has been consistent for almost 10 years for our early adopters. We have a licence renewal churn of less than two per cent.
My advice is to start – now! We have clients in their 10th year of gathering data and constantly hear members say if only they had their stats from when they first started going to the gym it would prove how far they’ve come.
We track member change; operators should too. You must know where your members are, what their goals are, how they’re doing and importantly, who may be at risk of leaving.
This year we launched Boditrax B2.0. It’s new software, available in 65 languages, with 70 inclusive gender and race avatars, AI and machine learning, new hosting architecture and a new interface.
Going forward we’ll also be enabling sector-specific features, such as collaborations and challenges, invites and friend features, leaderboards and more social options for those who wish to share.
Our system offers members a view from a completely new perspective and motivates them to take advantage of training programmes offered by the gym. Members get a whole report, including a video of their own 3D-avatar.
At the physiotherapy practice Fit-log, in Germany, Scaneca is an integral part of a client’s first appointment. Thanks to this initial analysis, the fitness programmes are perceived as a therapy prescription.
A comprehensive check-up is the basis for successful training. Make sure your system can always determine reproducible values. Even the smallest success should be measurable.
Our next update will include two new functions: a top-view-analysis and an elevation profile. These are very interesting tools which help to visualise rotational deviations and other imbalances.
They need to view an analyser as an investment in the business, not an additional expense. They then need to plan how they’re going to integrate the service into the customer journey.
The analyser can be a fantastic outreach tool to attract new members and when used at the induction stage, gives the information needed to create a fitness programme tailored to members’ needs.
The Accuniq analyser from Derwent Healthcare has a code-protected internal database that can store up to 100,000 results, so trainers can review client results, reprint copies, review results and track progress.
The Accuniq app also allows clients to track their progress, while information from each measurement is taken to form a user’s journey.
We supply analysers across the whole fitness industry. Most operators provide a free assessment at induction and charge for subsequent analyses, increasing both revenue and retention.
We’ll soon be introducing the all new Accuniq Connect. This will have a new app, will display results more comprehensively and allow managers and trainers to review client results in a variety of different formats.
