Springtime brings a new energy to your club, your members, and your staff.
Ideally you have an enthusiastic group of new members that have made it past the three-month mark and are settling in to their new healthy habits. Now that the dust is starting to settle from the Resolution Rush and the 12-week Transformation Challenges have come to an end – it’s time to start thinking about what’s next for your facility.
As much as you might like to slow down and enjoy some of the success of your first quarter, there is no time to slow the momentum. Just as you want your members to keep setting new goals and conquering new challenges, your facility should be striving to reach peak performance with new business goals and strategies.
Each year the words “fitness” and “technology” become more and more synonymous with each another, especially among the average athlete training in your gym. Wearable technology emerged as the #1 Global Fitness Trend in 2016 and has remained in the top 3 ever since. But we aren’t just talking heart rate monitors and Fitbits anymore – the integration of fit tech in health clubs and studios is the “new normal” and is becoming an expectation for new and existing clientele.
Where should your club begin? Great question. There are more fit tech companies, apps, and wearables than ever before and the options are overwhelming. Here are a few examples of how to get your facility in peak performance mode by providing additional digital fitness platforms and resources to connect members to your club, your staff, and ultimately to a comprehensive healthy lifestyle.
Virtual Exercise
Believe it or not, it is a benefit to offer a member a digital workout plan when they can’t make it to the gym. Trust me, if they aren’t getting it from you, they are getting it from somewhere else. Fitness giants Golds Gym International and Crunch, have both jumped on the virtual fitness tech train and are now offering digital personal training (Gold’s AMP) and group fitness class (Crunch-Live) apps for a small monthly fee to both members and non-members.
Gold’s Gym Chief Information Officer, Adam Zeitsiff came to the realization that people “are looking for the utmost flexibility in their workout routine.” If you expand the boundaries of your fitness programs and resources beyond the four walls of your facility, you will not only help more members, you will help more people, period.
Don’t fret if your facility isn’t equipped to launch a private labeled training or group fitness app, there are many other options such as FitCloud Connect, Fitness On Demand, Wellbeats, and Wexer.
Group Fitness
If there is one common thread between your group x regulars, it is that they want to be informed. Class updates, schedule changes, substitute teachers, they want to know it all. There are several fitness software applications that can help you manage your group fitness programming both internally and externally. These provide back office support and communication lines for your staff, but also allow members to check in for classes ahead of time gain access to real time class and schedule updates. Check out GroupEx Pro and MindBody to see which fits the needs of your facility, staff, and members.
Nutrition
The “other variable” to fitness that arguably contributes to the most success when it comes to weight loss, gain, or maintenance is nutrition. Not to mention the fact nutrition questions make up the majority of questions asked to your staff and personal trainers. MyFitnessPal emerged as a popular recommendation for free mobile nutrition tracking, but now there are more comprehensive nutrition solutions available to offer your member base for a small ancillary fee.
.dotfit is a comprehensive online platform that facilities can use to equip their members and training staff with nutrition tracking and meal & supplementation plans designed by licensed nutritionists. This platform also allows a personal trainer to design a detailed and comprehensive workout for their clients to access between sessions or when the client can’t make it into the gym.
According to Bryan O’Rourke, president of the Fitness Industry Technology Council, “the clubs that are going to be the most successful are the ones that integrate thoughtful digital strategies with the brick and mortar”.
Tracking membership metrics through CRM software might have your facility at peak performance internally; however, if you aren’t providing forward facing technology platforms to your members, you’d better start soon. Chances are your members have already started with a fitness app on their own or are looking for a place with more comprehensive fitness tech support. Spring your club into peak performance by deciding what kind of digital support you want to offer your members, then do your research, and get started!
