015 Dave Wright: The Current State of Wearables

Fitness + Technology

Dave Wright is the CEO & owner of Creative Fitness Marketing, a global company with offices in the UK, Australia and North America that has served the international fitness community since 1990, specifically helping people be more and stay more physically active.

He is also the CEO and creator of MYZONE® - a cloud based and wearable technology "Physical Activity Heart Rate Monitor & Fitness Tracker," used to monitor and increase exercise adherence. As a health club operator with 10 health clubs, and a board director of the UK’s Fitness Industry Association, an international presenter, Dave is featured regularly in international trade magazines.

Listen To Episode 015 As Dave Uncovers

• What is MYZONE and what problem(s) does it solve in our industry?
• Why Dave believes consumer marketing campaigns are inundating club owners
• The data behind why 50% of people that start their fitness program in January quit the same year
• How MYZONE technology guides the fitness pro (effort levels and MEP's)
• How MYZONE effort points (MEP's) are used in the group fitness setting
• How Midtown Athletic Club is using the MYZONE system to attract new members not on EFT to engage in club activities
• The recent partnership of Club Connect and MYZONE for educating fitness professionals in technology
• How health fitness professionals and coaches can use MYZONE and wearable technology in future settings to maximize profit and efficacy on the club floor
• Understanding machine learning in virtual coaching for automatic messaging systems
• The landscape of wearables: wrist worn, chest, clothing and activity reminders vs. activity trackers
• Incidental activity trackers and concerted activity trackers: accelerometers and phones
• How consumers are in pre-contemplation stages of behavior change using wearables
• Why heart rate recovery is the true measure of fitness for clients across the industry
• Why the chest strap will always be the king in heart rate monitoring because it's not a question of technology, it's a question of physiology
• The one thing Dave believes the club owners should be looking for around wearable technology in 2017

Top 3 Takeaways From The Show

• As the multitudes of technology platforms and wearable devices increase, smart club owners must partition dedicated time to research their best options. What's most important in the age of AI, machine learning, and the internet of things, is that whatever technology solution a club decides to offer to their members, it must work with devices both old and new to deliver a seamless experience that meets the member at their deepest needs.
• The intimidation factor of new technologies for group instructors and club owners of both small and big-box clubs are being alleviated by forward thinking companies like MYZONE and others in partnerships to proactively educate fitness pros on how wearable technology can enhance their relationships with clients.
• Dave believes that education around wearables is the glue that will hold everything together between the consumer, the device, and the trainer being able to get the most out of these new opportunities. The successful clubs of the future will implement foundational and progressive educational programs that both empower and inspire fitness industry professionals as a whole to adopt new wearable technologies as we move forward.

Power Quotes From Dave

"The struggles that club owners have is the intimidation factor of any new form of technology. It's one thing to have someone with wearable device, but it's another to be able to analyze the data. That's both the real key and opportunity. Doing nothing is no longer a solution for operators; they don't want to be another blockbuster or Kodak while sitting back to watch." - Dave Wright on the Fitness + Technology Podcast

"What are the limitations and why is it, as an industry, that for the best part of 50 years that 50% of all the people that join clubs now in January actually leave by November, or even stop exercising for April and May? It fascinates me as a business that it costs seven times more money to get a new member to your club then to keep an existing one, yet so much of the membership campaigns in health clubs around the world are just focused on filling the top end of the bucket, rather than asking how can we stop the flow of members out the back door." - Dave Wright on the Fitness + Technology Podcast

Resources Mentioned From Dave

• MYZONE website
• Press about MYZONE
• Dave in Global Sports Jobs Technology Video
• Stuff Magazine features MYZONE
• At Midtown Athletic Clubs, MYZONE Engages Members
• MYZONE Signs on as ClubConnect Education Partner
• ROCK health digital health funding in Q1 2016
• Fitbit accuracy questioned in May 2016 (lawsuit)
• How wearable tech will be the heartbeat of the modern gym
• Wearable Technology Awards MYZONE 2016

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