Learn how Oskar Ragvald, Global Director of Sales at Eleiko, views future training trends.
The fitness industry is developing at record speed and is driven by people's desire to improve their health, perform better and live a healthier life. A lot of money is invested in development in digital services, genetic engineering, sleep, recovery and good training equipment to name a few areas. It is these people and companies, who are trying to find the keys to a longer and healthier life, who will drive development in the fitness industry. We live in a fantastic time where digitalization will make it easier for us in the fitness industry to deliver solutions to our customers that will be able to change their health positively.
Increased training flexibility
Today, the training individual has greater insight into their health and training and control over what he or she wants. This together with the large range of services in exercise and health makes it possible for the individual to create their own exercise ecosystem. To get perspective, it should be remembered that almost 100 million people use an Apple watch, the training service Strava has over 95 million users and the gym giant Planet Fitness has just over 15 million members. The opportunities for the trainee to create their own training offer have become much greater. Maybe you have a gym membership at your local gym, log your running rounds in Strava, have a digital PT, attend nutrition courses and collect data from your lifestyle via some form of wearable. This becomes a training ecosystem that is based on the individual's conditions and goals. Higher demands will be placed on suppliers in all parts of the ecosystem to understand their role and the value they deliver to the trainer.
Improved quality of life
Many people today have a more holistic approach to their health and exercise. They see a clearer connection between how they feel and how they perform in their lives. Exercise becomes an important part here together with diet, stress management, sleep and good advice from specialists. These become components of people's striving to live longer, perform better in work, training and in life. Many large companies therefore invest a lot of money in areas linked to health with the goal of making us live longer and healthier. Digitization acts here as a catalyst but also as an enabler where the individual can relatively quickly take part in the latest research and expertise to create approaches based on their unique conditions and goals.
The link between healthcare and exercise
Many companies have tried to create a link between health care, occupational health and exercise. It seems that there are now conditions for success with this. This is partly because there are now many more people who put their training and health at the center and therefore demand more professional and proactive help. It is also the case that digitalization creates completely new opportunities for collecting and making available data about the individual's health. An example of this is Wearables, which is now entering a new phase where the focus is on measuring vital parameters rather than training. As an example of this, Crossfit's parent organization is currently launching a pilot with its own health care for its members. This means specialized health care where you get access to, among other things, genetic tests, blood tests and life expectancy analyzes. These tests can then be used by competent specialists to give the individual recommendations in diet, exercise and lifestyle. Trends like these are usually implemented somewhere on the periphery, it is passionate individuals who go to the forefront and drive and then spread it to more "ordinary" people. Over time, more and more people will have access to proactive and individualized health care, which will help them live longer, healthier and with higher quality of life.
Digital trends
Even in the gym, digitalization seems to be an enabler. Already now, some gyms have based their membership system on "face recognition" which controls, among other things, the access system to the gym. Linked to a credit card, members can also buy a smoothie in the gym or check in for group training.
Today, there are endless opportunities for performing and streaming digital training at home. The big challenge that all these players and gyms share is that you have to get the trainer to create a training habit so that they will feel that they get value from the service. I think some of the keys to succeeding in this is to interact with the trainer and to get the feeling of being part of a context.
Empowering coach - PT
As a consequence of more people wanting competent guidance with their training, in combination with the opportunities that new technology provides, I believe in a big boost for PTs. For many, PT has been a tough profession where it has been difficult to build a long-term career in the profession. This is about to change. The demand for competent PTs is great and many PTs now choose to start their own operations either based on a physical facility or via a digital platform. In London, the new training chain Until opens in January, an activity that is based on creating a physical environment and infrastructure for PTs and therapists that is optimal for them to work in. Untils members are PTs and therapists who work with their clients in this environment. I believe that PTs and coaches will have significantly greater opportunities to build a long and successful career.
What is the most important lesson from the past pandemic year that you will take with you into 2022?
On an overall level, the lesson is that the conditions can change very quickly and in order to have time to adapt, one must constantly analyze the current situation and act quickly. More specifically for the training industry, the pandemic has accelerated the development of where and how people train and in order to act proactively, it is more important than ever to understand the end user of our products. With the introduction of several new and large players in the training industry, it becomes even more important to understand their role and what value you deliver to the trainer.