Emily Trinh

FITNESS TECHNOLOGY: WILL IT REPLACE PERSONAL TRAINERS? I n the past, fitness meant heading out to the park and going for a jog, or going into your local gym to lift a few weights. It was simple and easy. Nowadays, fitness is increasingly becoming commercialised. With the emergence of an array of fitness gadgets, it is hard to keep up with the latest technology and the newest tech item that supposedly improves our performance and helps achieve our results faster. This begs the question: “Are fitness gadgets really a worthwhile investment or are they just a novelty 8 gimmick that it worthless to our health and fitness?” Who uses fitness technology in Australia and what type of tech do they prefer? First, let’s take a look at the current Australian landscape regarding fitness devices, According to Ezypay’s Australian Fitness Industry Survey 2014, only 36 per cent of Australian survey respondents prefer to work out without using any tech equipment. The other 64 per cent are aboard the tech wagon, using an array of tech equipment. The more popular ones being an iPod or similar music device, GPS watch/heart rate monitor and Fitbit Flex or Jawbone Up devices. With the exception of music devices, these items are similar in the sense that they help track your progress, record your movements and some even monitor your sleep progress. The most popular ‘dream fitness gadgets’, were sporty headphones By Emily Trinh (11.4%), a fitness tracker app (11%), a digital body composition analyser (10.5%), and a wrist or arm band with motion sensor (87%). The remaining 16.1% would use all the aforementioned items. But are these high tech wristbands really worth the hype? Trung Vien, co-owner of Plus Fitness 24/7 Cabramatta believes so. He states that “Anything you can measure, you can maximise and make it perform. A device such as a heart rate monitor would enable you to know whether you’re performing at your optimum fat burning level.” As seen in the Fitness Industry Survey results, tech items are on the rise and are on the way to becoming a regular accessory in fitness training. If owners such as Vien believe they work and support a member’s fitness and health goals then we should continue to see the popularity of these devices rise. WHAT’S NEW IN FITNESS - AUTUMN 2015 Fitness technology: more than just a pedometer Owners such as Vien strongly believe that despite the high tech programming of these devices, personal trainers still hold an unthreatened position in the industry. One of the best things about the fitness industry is the fast pace of change that prevents it from become boring and static. New exercises, and of course technology, are constantly being introduced to reinvigorate all things fitness and health related. Fitness technology is evolving and changing too. Here is a look at some of the new fitness technologies available: 1 • SmartMat looks like a yoga mat and generally acts like a normal yoga mat, but it isn’t just a normal mat. It is responsive. That is, once it “learns” your body (through calibration), it gives you verbal, realtime feedback on your alignment, and posture. In fact, it does everything that a yoga instructor would do. 1 2 •2 Fit3D ProScanner “captures a full 360 model of a human body, then automatically extracts hundreds of circumference, height, volume and length measurements” 3 3 • Sensoria Fitness Socks are “a smarter way to run”. Soon you won’t even need a personal trainer to let you know how your running is regarding your pace, form, landing and speed. It will let you know what you are doing wrong and how to rectify it. 4 • Push is the first fitness monitor that produces performance metrics on strength training and transfers it straight to your smartphone. It then provides feedback to help improve your training. 4 5 5 • Tao Chair is an exercise chair that you push, pull and move to fit in a workout. It also comes with built-in sensors that tracks your movements and the calories that you have burned per session. Will fitness technology replace personal trainers? Fitness technologies are becoming bigger and better, and it seems as though these devices are taking on the role of a trainer and instructor. By monitoring one’s movements, it can provide real feedback and as this is the case, then why would you need a (human) personal trainer or instructor? Owners such as Vien strongly believe that despite the high tech programming of these devices, personal trainers still hold an unthreatened position in the industry. He comments that “they would never replace personal trainers because personal trainers provide motivation and a tailored strategy to meet the goals of the individual. It’s more psychologically based because our PTs would have WHAT’S NEW IN FITNESS - AUTUMN 2015 an in-depth understanding of not only their client’s goals (such as weight loss or muscle gain), but also the reasoning behind wanting these goals. From there, they can design a specific solution for them and this is something that will not be available from any tech device.” We suspect Vien is right. There will always be a market for personalised care and attention given between one human to another but, this said, only time will tell. 9