Following is a Q&A with Brian O’Leary of Jonas Fitness on the effects that technology has had on the fitness industry, the perils for the industry and which technologies to watch for in the coming years.
Q: Which technologies have affected the fitness industry the most in the past two years, and how have they affected the industry?
Brian O’Leary: The technologies that I feel have become the most influential are the ones that connect the member, through their digital devices, to health club services and communities and to the member’s own personal digital health profile. These technologies range from relatively simple mobile apps that can be customized to mirror the club’s brand and services, to equipment-based technologies that recognize and track member workouts, to very sophisticated population health and digital coaching platforms that are focused on the very difficult but necessary components of behavior modification. The net of these technologies has been to help grow the industry by making the information that was traditionally only available in a health club more accessible and personal. The impact of the digital coaching technologies has been to bring closer the eventual merger of the hospital and medical-based fitness communities with those of main stream fitness—thus expanding the market.
