ARE YOU ACCOUNTING FOR SOCIAL ACCOUNTABILITY ?
Managed properly , the accountability enabled by technology can help you create a culture of connectedness , self-improvement and friendly competition in your club .
WORDS : MICHAEL JORDAN
F itness doesn ’ t exist in a vacuum :
it is affected by changes in society , changes in technology and , of course , by the people who take part in it . Our members are not robots , they are human beings with flaws , desires and emotions – and fitness professionals know that all of this has to be taken into consideration when designing and implementing fitness services that will engage and motivate .
The world in which the fitness industry exists is changing . One of the biggest developments of recent years has , unquestionably , been the growth of wearable technology . Monitoring activity has been embraced by most fitness consumers – almost everyone owns some type of device , be it a pedometer , a basic activity tracker or something more sophisticated . We also live in a world where sharing via social media is the norm – everything from our social activities to food consumption and , of course , our fitness habits .
The good news is that the opportunities that the changing world presents for clients and for business are huge . A higher level of interconnectedness and , consequently , a stronger sense of community , can be created within facilities . This enables fitness professionals to motivate clients like never before .
Recently , an independent review ( by PhD student Anthony D Pizzo ) of worldwide user data from wearables gave an interesting insight into what makes people tick in the modern fitness space . The review of a sample of 3,346 of the 300,000 plus MYZONE users worldwide found that friends do come with benefits – they can help you get fitter . Those connected and sharing workout information with friends via the MYZONE app were found to achieve 5.5 times the energy and activity output over the year than those with no friend connections . This is a powerful reminder of the influence that social accountability can have on a client ’ s outcomes , and how technology and community are combining to change the fitness space .
Accountability needs more than just monitoring
As wearable technology develops , so do the expectations of consumers and our understanding and creativity around how we can use the information that can be obtained . Most clubs now have some level of monitoring and compatability with wearables , but there ’ s more to successful monitoring than just ensuring a member ’ s watch can sync with a treadmill or recording a client ’ s heart rate during a session . The power of monitoring lies in its ability to motivate and connect people , and to achieve this two key elements are required .
The first is education for client empowerment . The results of monitoring will mean something to a client only if they understand the numbers they are seeing on the screen and how it affects their training . It ’ s the role of trainers to simplify the data and help educate clients on key measurements so that monitoring becomes a way for the individual to learn more about his or her body and how they can control it and improve it .
The second element is how a club uses the results to connect people . If managed well , it can have a powerful effect on the membership base . It ’ s important that no members are excluded and that an equal playing field is provided that allows young and old , fit and unfit to compare results . In
The 30-second article
• Technology presents an opportunity to foster a higher level of interconnectedness and a stronger sense of community in your club
• Research found that exercisers who used wearable tech to share workout information with friends trained 5 x harder than those with no friend connections
• Fitness professionals should empower clients by educating them about what the data displayed by wearables means and showing them how it can enhance their training
• The data and accountability enabled by technology is a way of building a culture of connectedness , selfimprovement and friendly competition into the fabric of a club .
NETWORK SPRING 2016 | 27