One of the hottest trends in fitness these days is nutrition and exercise tracking. This phenomenon, which has become known as “The Quantified Self” began with manual reporting and tracking of diet and exercise on a number of websites that sprung up during the 2000’s.
The movement has gained significant momentum over the past decade with the rise of digital and mobile device integration. There have even been TED talks given on the topic — search for “The Quantified Self” at www.ted.com. Today, if there is information a consumer wishes to track — “there’s an app for that!” Some of the most popular metrics consumers are tracking these days are related to nutrition (calories, nutrients, etc.), exercise (miles, reps, steps, calorie burn, etc.) and daily activity (sleep habits, time usage, mental stimulation, etc.).
At the 2013 Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, the boom in self-tracking was on full display — some of the most interesting gadgets at the show were health and wellness devices.
If you are a health club owner who struggles with technology trends and how to integrate them into your facility experience, there is good news for you — manufacturers are making this a simpler process by putting the heavy lifting of integration on the consumer. Most self-tracking applications and devices now sync via the devices people use every day — phones, watches, pedometers and the like. The hardest choice facility owners and managers need to make is choosing which equipment to purchase.
And therein lies the key — in order to capitalize on this new frontier, club operators need to make sure they offer hardware in their facilities that will interface with these devices. There should be an integrated device option for all the major departments and services you provide — personal training, group exercise, cardio, and strength training! With options available in each of these categories, the strategic route will be for clubs to find solutions that provide valuable data, not only for the end consumer, but for the facility as well. The solutions that fit this bill take individual user data and cross compare against all other users of a facility or member group to produce readable and usable data from a larger pool of users.
The fitness industry is finally catching the tech wave, finding new ways to interact with consumers at a tangible level that support positive fitness results. Don’t miss the ride!
Dave Kraai is the Founder of Fitness On Request. For more information visit www.fitnessonrequest.com, call 612.520.7507 or e-mail dkraai@fitnessonrequest.com.
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Rachel Zabonick-Chonko is the editor-in-chief of Club Solutions Magazine. She can be reached at rachel@peakemedia.com.
