Fitness Apps Don’t Replace Trainers
Research shows users of a fitness app have modest, lasting gains.
In a 24-month study of more than half a million Canadian fitness-app users, researchers found that offering small daily financial rewards—just 4 cents per day—led to about a 40% increase in activity among less active users. The gains were sustained over 2 years. Highly active users showed little additional benefit.
The findings suggest that fitness apps and incentives can nudge behavior, especially among formerly inactive adults. Fitness apps may therefore play an important role in boosting population-level activity, and even in stimulating new fitness industry clients. At the same time, fitness professionals should remain confident that their skills and expertise in building motivation, progression, and results remain essential amid the growing use of digital fitness tools.
The study is reported in The British Journal of Sports Medicine (2025; doi: 10.1136/bjsports-2025-109901).
Shirley Eichenberger-Archer, JD, MA
Shirley Eichenberger-Archer, JD, MA, is an internationally acknowledged integrative health and mindfulness specialist, best-selling author of 16 fitness and wellness books translated into multiple languages and sold worldwide, award-winning health journalist, contributing editor to Fitness Journal, media spokesperson, and IDEA's 2008 Fitness Instructor of the Year. She's a 25-year industry veteran and former health and fitness educator at the Stanford Prevention Research Center, who has served on multiple industry committees and co-authored trade books and manuals for ACE, ACSM and YMCA of the USA. She has appeared on TV worldwide and was a featured trainer on America's Next Top Model.
