TOWEL TRACKER
The Towel Tracker is designed to help fitness clubs reduce the costs incurred by towel loss or theft. The system monitors towels using radio frequency technology and a paper clip-sized washable tag that is activated when members swipe their membership cards to access a clean towel from the automated Towel Tracker unit. When leaving the club, members are responsible for depositing their used towels into a separate compartment in the unit, which also creates a tidier and more sanitary facility.

EXERCISE BIKE
Life Fitness has launched a limited edition LifeCycle to benefit Augie’s Quest, the Muscular Dystrophy Association’s ALS research initiative, which was inspired by Life Fitness founder Augie Nieto. Known as the first computerized stationary bike, the LifeCycle has been redesigned in black, silver and red (the campaign’s colors) and features the Augie’s Quest logo and a quote from Nieto along the bike’s base that reads, “From Success to Significance.” A portion of the profits from the Augie’s Quest Special Edition LifeCycle will go to ALS research.

ACTIVITY TRACKER
Technogym’s mywellnesskey is a portable monitoring device that tracks the amount of physical activity its wearer does in a day. The USB-supported device works in conjunction with Technogym equipment, allowing club members to use machines based on their personal programs and save their results to track online at home through mywellness.com. The key also assigns daily activity targets based on the user’s lifestyle and preset goals, and monitors the intensity and length of all physical movements both inside and outside the club, using a thermometer-style display to encourage users to reach their targets.

INDUSTRY BOOK
The book “Legends of Fitness,” written by Stephen Tharrett, Frank O’Rourke and James A. Peterson, provides a comprehensive historical overview of the fitness industry. The book traces the forces, individuals, equipment, innovations and facilities that helped shape the industry of today, starting nearly 4,000 years ago with the introduction of organized exercise by the Egyptians and ending with a chapter recognizing the accomplishments of one of the industry’s modern pioneers, Augie Nieto, to whom the book is dedicated. A portion of the proceeds from the sale of this book go to Augie’s Quest, which aims to find treatments and a cure for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS, or Lou Gehrig’s disease).

FITNESS HOOP
The foam-padded Altus Fitness Hoop is larger and heavier than standard hoops to enable easier movements and longer hooping cycles. Available in two sizes to fit adults from 100 to 220 pounds, the hoops can be assembled and disassembled with the press of a button, so they can easily fit into studio storage spaces.

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