It’s evident that this momentum is here to stay. In fact, the leading trend for this year is online training, which swiftly jumped from the 26th spot in 2020 to number one for 2021. It has now displaced wearable technology, which had claimed the top spot in 2018, 2019, and 2020. Along the same lines, virtual training leaped to number six and mobile exercise apps came in at number 12.
Raising the Bar Beyond the Physical Club
As virtual experiences grow in popularity—especially as tools to help keep members engaged, motivated, and committed to their regimens—it has become incumbent on clubs to enhance the way they deliver community and connection, no matter where members are located.
Leading this paradigm shift, ABC Fitness Solutions recently introduced what it calls the Total Fitness Experience, a holistic new concept that’s centered on the member, delivering a hyper-personalized experience curated for their unique needs. By shifting the focus to the member, clubs can deliver a Total Fitness Experience that captures untapped value, encouraging motivation and accountability and, therefore, creating “stickier,” more engaged members.
Defining the Total Fitness Experience
As ABC positions it, the Total Fitness Experience is a 360-degree approach to health and wellness, where fitness is not simply about that one workout you do once or twice a week, but instead is an investment into three facets: exercise, nutrition, and habits. This includes being part of a vibrant community that’s associated with the club brand and reinforced whenever members visit the club, take a class, complete a virtual workout or habit, and interact with other members and club staff through technology. A strong community creates both motivation and affinity for the brand, building on and amplifying the individual interactions the member has with the club.
“From the platform side of things, it boils down to a club being able to deliver personalized programs for members and personal training clients,” says Sharad Mohan, managing director of Trainerize powered by ABC. “In this case, when a member wakes up, their smartphone or wearable starts their day with instruction based on living a better life daily and inspires them to action. That could be as simple as having my club-branded Apple Watch app say, ‘Hey Sharad, don’t forget to have that first glass of water before you do anything today.’ The ‘why’ behind it is to speed up my metabolism, but the app just telling me to act will get me to do it out of habit, regardless of my understanding of the ‘why.’