Current Developments in Fitness: How Technology is Shaping the Industry
Embrace the tech in the pursuit of your goals !
Digital and Hybrid Fitness Solutions, Holistic Wellness Integration, Wearable Tech & Personalization, Group Fitness and Community, these terms may sound familiar. They are shaping the current trends in the Fitness world in many ways whether you are a professional, a passionate or an amateur. Their approach relies on what individuals need and their adoption as an added value to their practice, routine or simply to their life.
There remains the complexity of finding solutions that fit everyone. The broad consideration of catagorizing people is not anymore sufficient, hence solutions require smart engineering from both ends to feed everyone with what they lack the most : Motivation !
Some will argue that today’s picture of modern Fitness is tech related. Yes, I tend to agree, since it provides phenomenal opportunities. But there is more to it.
Tech integration - Pre-med through gamification ? Are we ready for Digital Twins ?
Collecting data, analysing them is ludic and motivational at first, yet it has to be understood, controlled and monitored to best optimize their use. Too much data can be overwhelming, left alone it might bring minimum benefit. What changes or adaptations do you make when measuring alone your heart rate, steps, distance, calories burned, sleep quality, VO2 Max, blood oxygen levels (SpO2), GPS tracking, pace, speed, cadence, stride length, recovery metrics, body temperature ?
Is the goal to have real-time feedback, to analyse behavioral changes, or to anticipate medicine care to cite just a few examples ? Or do we tend to create digital twins, which I believe is coming sooner than we think !
Many scenarii and purposes can be developed, yet industry experts and professionals understood that to be attractive and increase the demand, the goal is to enhance the user experience, same approach as other sectors such as automotive, multimedia or else.
By providing access to technology, the practice of Fitness can be more engaging, more immersive with AI and VR offering an “endless” route to personalisation.
Fitness tracker market share expected to grow from 16% in 2019 to 26% by 2028
Fitness equipment market maintaining a 7% market share through 2028
Source : Spartansboxing
Personalisation - A sustainable business model ?
This sounds a little individualistic, yet efficient in terms of motivation. In fact, personalisation exists because everybody’s response to physical and mental stress is different, and no one has the same balanced lifestyle. Therefore most Fitness providers (Personal trainers, gyms, tech companies) ensure (additional) services - via memberships most likely - delivered alongside the initial product, to first increase productivity from a commercial standpoint but also to retain users in the longer run by guiding them in the understanding of the measured parameters, with an increasing use of AI and data science to provide tailored workout plans, nutrition advice, and progress tracking. Customized programs aligned with Fitness goals can be effective as they account for a person's physical condition, health levels, and specific needs.
Therefore opting for additional services can help better understand your physical abilities by processing data in an advanced manner. Brand names like Whoop, Oura or Fitbit advocate the growing message that performance is dependent on wellness measurables.
Wellness - Health as the focus !
The importance of one’s health is in many opinions the number one attribute to success. Health in a hollistic perspective, balancing physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual well-being. And success in the form of reaching one’s defined objectives.
For decades now, governments and institutions continue to push and encourage everyone to move more. This can be interpreted as a contradiction with growing trends of wellness tourism, but still emphasis on the risks of being sedentarian. Practicing Fitness, or sports in general, motivation is sustained and grows through making progressLike a reverse snowball effect, progress that can only be made with consistency, and consistency is achieved if a wellness balance is found, and this wellness balance is sustainable if we take time, ensure healthy nutrition and allow moments of failures.
Hybrid Fitness - Does hybrid mean freedom ?
Convenience is king ! In the eyes of many, hybrid options is what answers a lot of areas that were previously almost dead-ends, and the opportunity to address multiple needs. Since the pandemic, there is an increased variety of options when it comes to Fitness : At the gym, at home or even at work, the practice of Fitness finds its way in a more comprehensive approach. through digitalisation (virtual classes, virtual coach, VR), indoor and outdoor equipment, as well as community-focused Fitness. Motivation to start is one thing, but motivation to keep going is more complex, therefore having a change and breaking a routine can feel good, or simply managing time in one's best convenient way, as long as we can break a sweat !
Online/digital fitness projected to grow 33.1% annually, reaching $79.3 billion by 2028
45% of consumers will prefer hybrid fitness models by 2024
Source : Wexer
Like every community that gains momentum, the excitement and discovery trigger pleasures and excite the ascending generations, thus unlocking horizons linked to the pursuit of ideals, encounters, and links with society.