With today’s available technologies, gym members look to operators to provide more than just the average workout facility. This is especially true for those looking to maintain and monitor their health after an illness or in an effort to improve their health. Wellness devices have become an important part of this; however, most devices lack medical credibility and acceptance by the healthcare profession. As the age of gym members increases, the opportunity to offer medical grade health monitoring grows and gym owners are in an excellent position to leverage these new technologies to the benefit of their members.
The Age of Credible Information
Heart, lungs or muscles — any body system can be monitored to provide an assessment of a person’s overall health and fitness. No longer content with just beats per minute and weight, members can now be provided easy-to-use consumer medical devices to monitor bio signs that were previously only possible in a physician’s office. These consumer products enable any layperson to take an electrocardiogram (EKG) and be provided an EKG report, which provides credible insight into their overall health. The report can also point out areas of concern or identify a need for improvement beyond what fitness bands and smart watches can offer.
The Age of Technology
Cost, large sizes and complicated use of medical grade devices has prevented their use by the consumer public. Small, affordable and easy-to-use medically accurate devices connected to smartphones are available today. The size of the cardiac monitoring market segment is large and remains untapped by gyms. Adding technologies that can monitor active people during a workout — to rule in or rule out heart problems when they feel unwell — can be a differentiator for a club.
Imagine providing members access to an EKG recording with fast feedback provided on their heart health from a qualified healthcare professional. These can be offered when they are assessed at the start of a membership, then assessed weekly or monthly during a membership, or even before the end of any of their workouts. Results can even be linked directly to the member’s physician for review. Not only does this help inform on overall health, it can help capture potentially fatal heart arrhythmias that could be worsened through excessive or improper exercise.
It is now possible for owners to provide a more complete and robust package of services for well-being, fitness and the prevention of heart disease. In today’s competitive market, this can offer a significant edge to owners.
