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Activity tracking: Right on track
Many clubs still see activity trackers as a threat rather than an opportunity, but some operators are now embracing this technology. Amanda Calder-McLaren finds out how
CES – also known as the Consumer Electronics Show – is an internationally renowned electronics and technology trade show in Las Vegas, US, attracting tens of thousands of visitors from all over the world every January. The big boys of consumer electronics – Panasonic, Samsung and Apple among them – all line up to flaunt their new gizmos and shiny screens. But this year, the talk of the town was unsurprisingly wearables.
Wearables are nothing new – pedometers and heart rate monitors have been around for nearly 20 years – but the evolving technology is still a huge growth area, with three-quarters of online consumers saying they’re likely to purchase health and fitness technology in the next 12 months (CES research).
Based on 2015 sales data, basic bands – which consist primarily of fitness trackers like the Fitbit – currently lead the way. Sales of these wearable devices exceeded 37 million units during 2015 (Canalys and IDC data), with Fitbit comfortably in the lead with 21 million units.
However, CES/ Consumer Technology Association research suggests that smartwatches will become the purchase of choice going forward; according to Canalys, Apple sold over 12 million Apple Watches during 2015, far exceeding the seven million estimate from November 2015. As the gadgets we already carry on us – watches and phones – become ever more intuitive, additional trackers are likely to become less necessary.
Data and insight are already proving powerful in the hands of today’s consumers, but the question has to be: how are those at the forefront of fitness delivery embracing these innovations? The purchase of the technology – and the influence it subsequently exerts – is generally happening away from gyms and fitness clubs. How can operators best integrate this technology into their everyday operations, finding a way to link with the popular apps and wearables to create something meaningful for the customer and avoid becoming defunct as a business model?
We look at the steps some UK operators are beginning to take…
A complete online solution
Group fitness Development Manager,
Everyone Active
“We’ve partnered with bounts (see also p88) to offer members rewards for being active both in and out of the centre. This works by connecting activity trackers and fitness apps to a member’s personal profile on the Everyone Active website.
Connected apps and devices include Fitbit, Strava, RunKeeper, Misfit, Garmin and more, with rewards including things like in-centre discounts, drinks from local coffee shops and supermarket vouchers.
The online Everyone Active planner allows people to plan and track their activity by linking their wearable device to the equipment in the gym, as well as their movement outside the centre.
We’re also adding a nutritional element to the health and activity hub, so members will be able to see all their data in one place. Personalised meal plans will help members achieve a healthy, balanced diet and enhance goal achievement. They can even generate a shopping list from their meal plan, or have ingredients delivered to their door.
“Staff engagement is vital to ensuring we fully leverage all of this. All our employees have access to the products through their colleague memberships, so they can incorporate them into their own exercise programmes – which means they’re far better equipped to promote them to our members.”
The PT’s perspective
Personal trainer,
Strength Matters
“I have a few key apps that I think all trainers should consider. I would highly recommend The Training Notebook app, for example – it’s one of the more expensive apps on the market, but is very easy to set up and use. Assessment is essential and I’d encourage all trainers and coaches to assess their clients regularly. Someone much smarter than me once said ‘if you’re not assessing, you’re just guessing’. The Training Notebook allows you to add assessments and track clients’ progress through pictures and simple graphs, which is fantastic.
Then there’s Snapchat. It isn’t strictly speaking a fitness app, but it has the potential to be really impactful. The immediacy, and the fact that Snaps only last 24 hours, keeps people coming back for content. Top trainers are sharing workouts, hints, tips and stories and getting people involved in their daily lives. [For more information, turn to our social media influencers feature on p56.]
For customers, I would say that any app or wearable than encourages them to move more and move better is a great thing. Many of our team encourage their clients to use Fitbit, as it tracks all the usual information like steps, calories and heart rate – but the key is community. With the ability to share challenges and leader boards among friends and family, it gets people involved.
Community is the future of apps and wearables. People want to be part of a community, they want to belong to something, and you only have to look at the success of CrossFit to see this in action. Apps that keep people engaged – that keep them coming back and make them feel part of something – will be the most successful.”
“THE ABILITY TO SHARE CHALLENGES AND LEADER BOARDS GETS PEOPLE INVOLVED” - Josh Kennedy
Heart rate tracking for a safer workout
Training manager,
Speedflex
“Speedflex as an exercise concept is all about high intensity interval training, so being able to track users’ heart rates in real time is key. We’ve therefore invested in heart rate monitoring technology MYZONE, to give our customers the most accurate data possible without turning the training room into a scientific laboratory.
MYZONE allows our customers to integrate their training easily with their lifestyle – because they can track their activity outside the studio as well – and also gives them the option to track effort levels and progress over time.
It’s a great coaching tool for our PTs too, not least because it helps us be inclusive: the MEP (MYZONE Effort Points) system means users are rewarded with points based on their personal effort, so it really is all about the individual. Trainers can also work alongside customers to ensure safe levels of intensity are reached, and can match workouts directly to people’s personal capabilities.”
Cloud-based for integrated solutions
Health and fitness project manager,
GLL
“We want to provide a 360-degree solution for our customers, and we achieve this through our link with Technogym and its MyWellness Cloud and Key solution. This allows the customer to log all their activity within the gym, while also linking with third-party apps such as MapMyRun to give a more holistic view of activity levels.
Staff are required to attend ongoing training to interpret the information gathered, and personalise responses and interactions with customers. It provides our staff with more insight into a customer’s overall activity behaviour and not just what happens within the gym or leisure centre. We can then try to influence behaviours outside of the traditional workout environment and encourage customers to be more active more often, based on their individual habits and goals.
We’re also piloting Boditrax at a number of centres, integrating its body composition monitoring solution into our in-centre and online customer journey – both as a free-to-use service and a paid-for service dependent on membership type. A main driver of member gym visits is to lose weight or tone up; using Boditrax, our fitness staff can educate customers in what these terms actually mean, set goals against targets, and get a better understanding of how a change of activity can impact the member’s physical make-up. We’ll then analyse the impact of the product from both a retention and a financial performance viewpoint.
We believe that apps and the growth of the smartphone/watch will diminish the popularity of the current wearable offering. At the same time, we believe our typical customer is becoming more interested not only in activity data but in overall health and wellbeing information – diet, sleep, environmental factors and so on – so we will continue to evolve and collaborate to ensure end users’ needs are met.”
