Technology
“What smartphone app or computer program could you not live without in your business?”
I could not live without the Tabata Pro™ Timer and MyFitnessPal apps. Tabata Pro Timer is essential to my private and small-group training sessions and our group running program. I can set three different timers to meet all my interval needs.
MyFitnessPal enables my clients to track exercise as well as food and water intake, and to share these publicly or just with me. The app provides accountability for my clients’ fitness and nutrition goals.
Is Advertising on Social Media Worth the Cost?
Remember social media 5 or 6 years ago? A lot of people thought of Facebook and Twitter as “free advertising” hubs for companies and entrepreneurs, because it was easier back then to gain attention with your posts (Snapchat and Instagram were just getting started at that time). If you were committed to posting decent content, you could expect ample clicks, likes, replies, etc. Now, however, times have changed.
Is There a Best Place to Wear a Heart Rate Monitor?
With heart rate monitors, where you place them may determine how accurate they are, according to data published in the Journal of the College of Cardiology (2017; 69 [11], 336).
Pokémon Go Gets People Moving in a Big Way
Pokémon Go, a virtual-reality app that requires players to navigate their surroundings in search of animated creatures, got people to log lots of extra steps last summer, according to researchers from Duke University in North Carolina.
What’s Hot in Equipment: Fitness Pro Favorites
Fitness professionals like their equipment—from "tried-and-true" to "oh, so new." And equipment companies like to fill convention halls with fresh gear to help trainers and clients hit their goals. Of course, fitness pros also enjoy new gadgets for the pure thrill of them—and will sometimes go for equipment that targets a fun goal over a hypertrophy goal, for example.
Fitness Technology That Shakes Things Up
For me, the annual Consumer Electronics Show combines the joy of Christmas morning with the wonder of Willy Wonka's chocolate factory. The massive Las Vegas trade show surrounds me with the bells and whistles of the latest and greatest technologies from around the world, with booth after booth full of people showing me why their products will be the next game changer in the health-and-fitness industry.
Do You Need a Better Technology Policy?
If you've spent any time at all inside a gym, you've likely experienced this scenario: You're humming along on your treadmill when Joe Talksalot hops onto the machine next to you and proceeds to speak loudly into his smartphone. To distract yourself from Talksalot's not–so–private conversation, you scan the gym floor—and over in the corner you see a woman doing backbends while contorting her neck to maintain a visual on her tablet.
On-Demand and App-Based Training: Getting Clients via Smartphone
The on–demand economy—featuring Uber–style personal fitness training—is here. While app platforms vary in structure and locale, they share a common thread: on–demand connection with fitness experts.
On–demand mobile commerce attracts more than 22.4 million consumers and $57.6 billion in spending annually, with $8.1 billion going to health and beauty services that include fitness training, Harvard Business Review reported in April 2016.
Fit-Tech Trends to Watch in 2017
Fitness technology is part of the fitness industry's "new normal," but it's changing rapidly. Many of the fitness technologies we saw at the beginning of last year have already morphed into new and improved devices and features. We should expect more exciting updates this year as fit-tech companies, app developers and tech-savvy fitness brands continue to iterate.
Become a Fit-Tech Guinea Pig
You don’t learn how to ride a bike by reading a book about it. You have to get on and start pedaling. The same is true of fitness technology: To learn it, you have to use it.
That’s why I recommend you become a fit-tech guinea pig—experimenting on yourself to see what works. Fitness technology offers motivational tools that can do the following:
A No-Tech Sunday
Cellphones, computers, tablets. All of these are important tools that help you to run a successful fitness business. But technology can seep into every moment of your life and take over. Do you need to step away from email or give your smartphone a rest from time to time? Discover why you’ll be a better entrepreneur if you explore options for setting limits around technology and just say no to it some of the time.
Some fitness entrepreneurs are finding that saying no to digital devices every Sunday helps them find work-life balance.
Adding Apps,Wearables and Tracking Devices to Your Fitness Services
Fitness pros and brands expect the industry to shift toward using a lot more technology than we’ve seen so far. While it’s easy to agree that fitness tech is more than a passing fad, getting on board with the nascent tech trend does take some effort (unless you’re engrossed in it already). Read on for practical tips from the experts about weaving apps, wearables and/or activity trackers—and all their ensuing data—into your fitness services.
Look Who’s Put a Block Party on the Plate
Zumba® instructors can now extend their celebration of fitness beyond the dance studio and help fuel all-around fitness with Plate by Zumba™, a healthy eating program and e-learning course.
Strategic Self-Promotion for Fitness Pros
Promoting yourself has never been easier. Free social media, affordable Web design and easily accessible graphic design provide ample opportunity to draw awareness to what you have to offer. But without a blueprint, you are wasting your time. Read on to uncover core self-promotion methods that can increase your business in less time than you think.
Top Tips for Personal Branding
More and more, knowledgeable individuals are developing themselves as brands. For exam- ple, well-known fitness professionals like Chalene Johnson and Cassey Ho have become the product they sell. Public relations expert Marsha Friedman believes that everyone should follow in these experts’ footsteps. “By branding yourself—making sure the world knows who you are and what expertise you have to offer—you not only set yourself apart from your competitors but you also open the door to new opportunities,” she explains.
Here are her top tips for developing your own brand:
Leverage Video to Grow Your Online Training Business
Online training programs can be made more effective when they include video. Here’s how to use video to attract more customers.
Is Fitness Technology a Motivator or a Distractor?
If you don’t already have one strapped around your wrist, you probably know someone who does. Smartwatches and wearable activity trackers are stepping up in popularity, and so are fitness-related mobile apps.
Four Easy-to-Use Email Tools to Launch Your Email Newsletter
Learn the pros and cons of four popular tools.
Self-Reported Energy Balance Data Cannot Be Trusted
Imagine your clients having to record their food consumption and energy expenditure as part of an important research study. The details might get a little sketchy from day to day, right?
Four Web-Based Tools for Your Fitness Business
You can keep your fitness business afloat with low-tech basics—email, a clipboard, a pen—but in 2015, you probably don’t want to if you hope to grow and remain relevant in most corners of the fitness industry. Taking advantage of Web-based tools designed specifically for fitness professionals can help you stay ahead of the competition, save precious time and rev up revenue, all while helping your clients or members get more out of their health and fitness programs.
Here are four Web-based tools for making that happen:
GroupEx PRO