From custom workout options to adjustments for an individual’s specific needs through a touch of a button, users of cardio equipment have benefited from technology that tells them precisely how they are exercising. The new digital and customizable capabilities in cardio equipment are just as beneficial for a facility’s staff.
The digitally enhanced consoles on today’s cardio equipment allow for more personalized workouts that your staff can be a part of. Photo courtesy of Life Fitness.
Sponsored Content – Life Fitness
New technologies and customization capabilities in cardio equipment have changed the way people exercise. From custom workout options to adjustments for an individual’s specific needs through a touch of a button, users of cardio equipment have benefited from technology that tells them precisely how they are exercising. The digital advancements in cardio equipment should not just be for the exerciser, however.
The new digital and customizable capabilities in cardio equipment are just as beneficial for a facility’s staff. More importantly, your staff’s ability to take advantage of advancements in cardio equipment can lead to a larger bottom line. Here is why: If staff members regularly create and upload shareable workouts for use on your facility’s cardio equipment, they not only set themselves up as leaders in your company, but they also improve their chances of gaining new personal training clients.
The more familiar a customer is with a staff member, the better chance that trainer has to land that member as a personal training client. More personal training sessions help clubs better serve members’ needs, which will keep your company growing and thriving since relationship building through personal or group training can be the key to increasing member retention.
The public’s interest in digitally advanced cardio equipment began several years ago when gyms started carrying smarter machines. More than 50 million people used treadmills in 2009, and 26 million used elliptical trainers. Those numbers have continued to grow. Moreover, a recent survey found that 72 percent of exercisers use technology to support their workouts.
The popularity of cardio equipment is not a fluke. The digitally enhanced consoles and other advanced features give exercisers an ultimate personalized experience. They can download personal workout plans from home and transport them to the gym. They can adjust resistance and incline to mimic various terrains, and they can customize their runs or bike rides to unique programs designed for specific training zones.
When the options are varied, personal and dense, research shows people are more inclined to exercise. By uploading staff workouts to your cardio equipment, your staff members become motivators for healthier lifestyles. Make sure that the workouts uploaded are for a variety of fitness levels, as you must reach out to more than the already-fit member. Perhaps your most important target is the new exerciser who needs more guidance.
Recent statistics from the American Heart Association (AHA) show that only 21 percent of adults meet the federal guidelines of exercising with moderate intensity for at least two and a half hours per week. About 33 percent of adults in the United States do not engage in any type of leisurely physical activity at all, even if it is only for 10 minutes. A 2012 report from the AHA showed less than one percent of American adults have an “ideal healthy diet,” which includes a daily balance of fruit, vegetables and whole grains with a focus on limiting intake of sodium and added sugars.
The country’s adult population—without even including the growing health issues of children—is getting heavier and less active. Make sure your facility’s staff encourages cardio equipment use not only because it is helpful for your business, but because it also helps a larger cause.
Since exercisers are demanding their facilities come equipped with digitally advanced cardio equipment, staff members have to position themselves as experts of the equipment. Make sure your staff is equipped to go over each piece of equipment in detail. Not everyone is use to a piece of cardio equipment that lets you log onto Facebook, stream a movie and upload a personal workout all at once.
When taking a facility user through the equipment, the staff should carefully go over each programmed workout option, explain how the user can create a personal program and finally walk the user through the staff’s specific programs. The latter will help build rapport between the staff and client base.
By acting as leaders with the cardio equipment, your staff will build a trust with your facility’s users that benefit not only them but your business as well.
Deborah McConnell, a global master trainer at the Life Fitness Academy, has more than 16 years of experience. She has developed digital education modules as well as hands-on training programs for Life Fitness clients and employees across the globe. McConnell often shares her fitness knowledge on the Life Fitness blog. Her current fitness initiative is enhancing both athletic and day-to-day performance through corrective exercise techniques and instruction.
