At this year’s IHRSA convention and trade show, TRX released one of its newest products centered around technology: TRX CONNECT.
TRX CONNECT is a digital platform consisting of three integrated parts: the TRX APP, a personalized fitness app for members and consumers; TRX DIGITAL PRO APP, which connects gyms with their members; and TRX MAPS powered by Physmodo, a virtual movement assessment tool.
Here, Ryan Damon, the vice president of global commercial sales for TRX, discusses highlights of the TRX CONNECT digital program.
CS: What should club owners be paying attention to with TRX CONNECT?
RD: I would encourage them to really step back and think about what’s happening in the industry. Who are the the most common customers they’re seeing coming through their doors? Who is signing up for the most memberships? Who is engaging with group fitness the most at their clubs? The research that we’ve done has shown that it’s millennials that are doing these things.
With TRX CONNECT, we want to make sure that a club has the ability to connect with this lucrative group of consumers, and to be able to offer them solutions that are really relevant to their lifestyles. That’s what we think we’ve built with TRX CONNECT — a solution that will connect well with not only the millennial consumer that is super engaged with fitness, but also with the Gen Xers and the Baby Boomers and the people below that, because of the simplicity of what we’ve done [from a user standpoint], and the comprehensiveness of this solution.
CS: What can you tell me about the TRX CONNECT apps?
RD: There are a lot of really cool apps for consumers, there are a lot of apps that show clubs how to track who is coming in, apps that track Group X attendance — but there are very few apps that offer a really cool, dynamic consumer experience that also allows the club to be connected to that experience. That’s what the new TRX Connect platform is all about. It’s delivering a top-notch consumer experience as far as apps go, and combining it with an enterprise tool that allows clubs to then connect to those members inside the club and outside the club. It extends the club walls to be more than just their physical location. That’s the big picture of what we want to do.
CS: What benefits can clubs see through using TRX CONNECT?
RD: Benefits include relevance, better utilization of space and increased engagement with their members. Clubs are going to be able to push workouts directly to their members and truly engage with different groups of members in different ways.
From an enterprise level, it’s about figuring out engagement strategies for the big groups of people in the club that you want to talk to. Then we dive down a level into a micro strategy where we use the app to really enhance the personal training, small group training and even group training experiences that a club offers. We have the ability to allow personal trainers to connect directly with their clients through the app, so the data will show them exactly what their clients did, how long they were working out, their heart rate and more. The personal trainers are then able to design, build and push workouts directly to their clients through the app, which is really a great way to stay engaged with clients outside of the one or two training sessions they typically do per client per week.
We know consumers are figuring out ways to do fitness in a variety of genres and environments, and that includes on their own at home through apps. So we want to make sure clubs are able to give them that option, but also stay connected with them. And we think that’s where the real power of TRX CONNECT is.
CS: What are you most excited about with TRX CONNECT?
RD: What we’re most excited about is building a marketplace of clubs and trainers to be able to spread the TRX Training philosophy. Ultimately this TRX CONNECT platform is an extension of our TRX Training philosophy. The premise is if we can get more people moving better more often, then we think we can get more people reaching their goals faster. We have a whole philosophy that leverages foundational movements, through which all these programs and workouts are built upon.
CS: What can you tell me about the TRX MAPS component?
RD: It’s 3D infrared scanning technology that allows you, in 22 seconds, to get a full body scan of a person and where their inefficiencies lie in movement, activation, posture and symmetry. It sends them daily, corrective exercises to get them moving better.
This is the first time anyone has brought something like this to the market, so we’re really excited about that component of it, because it backs up our training philosophy. We want to educate the general consumer on the fact that if you want to move better you can reach your goals faster, and TRX MAPS is designed to quickly and effectively do that. It’s not designed to replace movement assessments. It’s designed as a feeder system for that and a general way to educate the masses about moving better, which equals getting fitter, faster. That’s the key thing.
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Rachel Zabonick-Chonko is the editor-in-chief of Club Solutions Magazine. She can be reached at rachel@peakemedia.com.
How much is it? does it come with the TRX Core membership?
We would like to buy one for our fitness center. How much is it?