Kara Blaisdell, the director of communications and public relations for Radianse, shares the benefits of investing in wearable IoT.
From Apple watches to Garmin’s and even the rise of the screenless wristband Whoop, wearable IoT devices are helping people connect with their bodies and communities. With RFID, integrated GPS, pedometers and even heart rate monitors, IoT has allowed fitness to become even more social with these devices tracking the who, what, when, where and how of people’s exercise routines, with the options to share it with friends through apps like Strava. Not only has this given endurance athletes the ability to optimize their training and share their routes with fellow elites, but it’s also invited a larger market of people to connect with their bodies through health and wellness insights, along with the drive to get up and work out.
Like the pedometers before them, these bands have given people an innate incentive to work out — competition. By sharing mileage, speed, calories burned, power output and steps taken, people have been driven outside and to the gym to try and meet or exceed their friends’ and their own goals on virtual leaderboards and through PR badges. From a logistical standpoint, the GPS capabilities of these watches have brought functionality to this social nature, allowing people to share their cycling and running routes, along with potential hazards, detours and even sprint sections for which people can compete. This has even created virtual clubs, nationwide competitions and a stronger-knit community of athletes where safety can be prioritized through user-generated input.
As mentioned, these capabilities were initially targeted toward endurance athletes, but as this hardware and software continues to advance, it gives more and more people the ability to understand their bodies and reach goals beyond physical appearance. With live heart rate readings to sleep quality, pulse oxygen levels and heart rate variability, these watches generate health and wellness insights that create personal goals for any athlete through benchmark scores like V02 maxes, resting heart rates and even recovery scores that track how well their body bounces back after their most demanding workouts — pushing them to push themselves, rest and recover so they get more out of the work they put in.
So, how do gyms tap into this market of athletes tracking their gains through IoT? By focusing on investing in equipment that connects to these watches for integrated stats, setting up in-house competitions, or even putting up friendly reminders for patrons to “start activities” when exercising, gyms position themselves as a means to these end goals guests have while supporting them tracking and sharing their journey with friends.
