PROMOTION
Why we need to reimagine what live fitness really means
On the heels of the international fitness industry finally coming back together face-to-face in October at IHRSA 2021, and as an important new live-streaming platform evolution from FitnessOnDemand launches, FitnessOnDemand’s divisional vice president Uday Anumalachetty discusses what live fitness really means for clubs and their members today.
The end of the hybrid club experience?
How many times did you hear “hybrid club model” in 2020? A lot, right? Everyone used it. But while it explains the changes clubs made to operations, it doesn’t come close to capturing how differently club members now think about fitness 18 months later.
By definition, hybrid means the coming together of two different things – live in-studio classes together with on-demand or other forms of digital fitness beyond the four walls of the club. But arguably that term is already outdated.
Today’s club member is looking for a premium 360-degree fitness experience that ultimately means in-studio classes with instructors they know, the ability to stream those classes to their homes or wherever they want to work out, and a comprehensive library of on-demand content, classes and speciality workouts they can access to augment both.
It’s no longer the hybrid experience, it’s just how members see clubs now. An ecosystem of workout opportunities, specialist knowledge, experts and tools that follow them from studio to app to streamed screen and whatever device they have at their disposal on the go.
Bringing everything into one platform under your club’s brand
Every time your member is away from the club is an hour, a day or more they’re away from your brand and at risk of not coming back.
We all provide a lot of reasons for member loyalty of course, but if you’re not locking your members into your club brand beyond the physical footprint of the gym, you’re at risk of losing them to any number of distractions that they might google or scroll their way into: Instagram instructors offering classes, YouTube sessions, Facebook Live and more.
Chances are they’ll find their way back to their local club, but in the meantime, you’re missing an opportunity to put your club, your instructors, your content and your brand in front of them.
2020 was a myriad of sometimes-streamed, often-missed live classes and inconsistent access to on-demand content that clubs cobbled together quickly out of necessity. But that approach doesn’t create the premium fitness experience members demand in 2021 or provide a solid foundation to scale classes, membership and club growth for 2022 and beyond.
That’s why at FitnessOnDemand we brought everything together for club operators into one, unified club-branded platform.
The latest evolution of our platform now puts more than 1,000 speciality classes and workouts from the world’s leading fitness gurus in the same easily-accessed place as live-streamed, highly scalable classes from your club’s instructors that members already love.
How it works for members
Live streaming from FitnessOnDemand includes an Instructor Broadcast mode which enables any instructor using the new platform to connect with a diverse audience of remote users for live, virtual fitness classes.
Broadcast events can be pre-scheduled and shared through club websites and social channels, allowing participants to RSVP and book attendance instantaneously with an automated addition to their device calendars.
Once instructors go live, class participants can click on a class listing to instantly join and stream the class, or join another starting soon. Classes are available on iOS and Android apps, as well as online, and performance is automatically logged in participants’ personal workout histories with an ability for members to rate every session.
An additional instructor one-on-one mode also lets personal trainers and class instructors connect with individual members and provide live, highly personalised sessions tailored to member needs, interests and fitness levels.
Three benefits of live streaming club classes
Integrating live streaming functionality into your club’s on-demand platform, has three major benefits for operators and members:
1. Universal premium fitness experience for all
Whenever members attend every class, every day or every week, or they’re stuck in traffic and juggling schedules or other obstacles, live streaming ensures every member has equal access to the same consistent and premium brand experience members experience on-site at your club.
Live, instructor-led classes should deliver the same high-energy, expert instruction and motivation whether you’re in the studio or streaming in the family room and whatever your level of mobility to and from the club.
2. Scaled-up classes for more members
The physical space constraints of club studios, especially for smaller locations and boutique clubs, means it can be a scheduling challenge to provide class access to every member who wants in.
Waiting lists and rapidly booked class slots can be frustrating for many members too. But live streaming exponentially increases class size virtually, levels the playing field for every member regardless of their schedule and helps clubs bring members into engaging, new classes they may not have been able to get into previously.
3. Special events
Marathon season. All club fitness challenges. Cycling classes around the Tour de France. All present excellent opportunities for creating large-scale, live-streamed special events that might be difficult or costly to execute in person but work well virtually and build community across the membership.
Planning for the future – whatever that is
As a whole, the club industry is resilient and innovative. We pull together, adapt and reconfigure for whatever conditions affect our businesses. Whatever the future brings in terms of unexpected club closures or evolving member expectations – and they will evolve – having the technology in place to create exceptional live fitness experiences in the club or on the go will be essential.