ABC Fitness, the world’s largest fitness tech company, is adding to its arsenal. At IHRSA 2024, the software provider announced a partnership with DXFactor, a leading data science, digital transformation, artificial intelligence (AI) and Generative AI supplier, a move designed to transform the digital experience for operators and their members.

“We are excited to partner with DXFactor for their unparalleled expertise in digital transformation,” said Khal Rai, platform president of ABC Ignite. “This partnership will support new offerings for our mobile platform, creating bespoke member experiences and integrations that set new industry standards for innovation and personalization.”

The partnership will support ABC Fitness in mobile app development, given DXFactor’s extensive knowledge in creating differentiated customer experiences on mobile platforms. 

“Aligning with an industry titan like ABC Fitness significantly amplifies our mission to revolutionize the fitness industry with AI and GenAI,” added Dharmesh Trivedi, co-founder and CEO of DXFactor. “Our combined strengths will ensure our commitment to business outcomes for our clients and accelerate digital transformation within the fitness industry by empowering members and operators with AI and data-driven solutions.” 

The partnership comes as advanced analytics and AI transition from perquisites to requirements for most successful fitness businesses.

“This partnership promises to be a cornerstone for the fitness industry, offering a blend of DXFactor’s transformative digital strategies and ABC Fitness’s technological prowess,” said Al Noshirvani, managing partner at Alta Technologies and board member at DXFactor. “Customers can now anticipate a comprehensive digital transformation tailored to meet fitness enthusiasts’ and enterprises’ modern demands.”

DXFactor is no stranger to innovation in fitness and wellness. The company’s proprietary Outcomes Framework, which combines client data and external datasets, has generated over $2 billion in outcomes for fitness brands including Chelsea Piers, Chuze Fitness, Crunch Fitness, FitnessSF, Lift Brands, Orangetheory Fitness, Wisconsin Athletic Club, XSport Fitness and Xponential Fitness.

ABC Fitness has big plans around AI, including using it to help gyms and studios boost engagement and retention and cater to their members with personalized services including habit and nutrition coaching, At IHRSA 2024, ABC hosted an Innovation Lab, previewing its latest AI investments across all platforms.

The post ABC Fitness, DXFactor Partner Around Generative AI appeared first on Athletech News.

Innovation in gym and studio software management tools has emerged as a key trend at recent fitness industry trade shows including IHRSA, with the market becoming increasingly competitive. 

This year’s IHRSA 2024 will showcase what’s next for some of the biggest software players in the space, with some exciting announcements and unveilings planned. 

Athletech News spoke with Xplor Technologies, Club OS, ABC Fitness, Club Automation and ClubReady to give you a sense of what’s coming at IHRSA 2024, and what the future will hold for fitness brands looking to leverage the best software tools to grow their businesses and connect with their members. 

Xplor Plans Industry’s ‘First True Growth Platform’

Xplor Technologies has already had a big year but is looking towards more announcements. It recently acquired Membr, a top management software platform for gyms and health clubs. The acquisition expanded Xplor’s purview beyond just the boutique studio space, which it serves with its Mariana Tek product, and into gyms and health clubs. 

However, Andy Swansburg, Xplor’s Chief Product Officer for Fitness and Wellbeing, told Athletech News that the company still has a “maniacal” focus on becoming a growth platform for boutique studios and is building a product called Xplor Growth. 

“There are not a lot of people who are making a data model that is flexible and accessible and then empowering the entire stack with it,” Swansburg said of the new launch. 

Fitness brands are trying to grow through the consumer journey, ensuring that at every touchpoint, users have the best chance of becoming brand evangelists. 

“We’ve built the first true growth platform in the industry with a few different layers,” Swansburg explained. “The first layer is the fitness industry’s first consumer data platform. Without a unified view of your consumer, it’s difficult to create a customer journey.” 

Bringing a consumer data platform to the fitness world can unlock new potential by allowing users to rate experiences, so businesses can evaluate their operations more easily. Xplor also added gamification to drive even more engagement. 

“Brands can set up challenges, consumer streaks and milestones,” Swansburg said. “We’re going to be building an analytics platform on top of that. The trend is towards, ‘Every touchpoint matters in this world.’” 

To generate excitement for IHRSA, Xplor is hosting its first Mariana Tek Summit on March 5th in Los Angeles. The event will feature networking opportunities, breakout sessions, and panel discussions. 

“The industry is probably five, if not more, years behind some of the other industries in the world, which is funny because I don’t know another business where someone shows up to a location five days a week,” Swansburg said, noting the high levels of engagement fitness consumers tend to have with brands. “We have so much data. All this innovation is a big step forward to power engagement.” 

Club OS Teases a Major Release

Club OS also has big announcements in the pipeline for IHRSA 2024. 

“This will be the most significant product release announcement in the company’s history, and we’re excited to reveal it for the first time with the fitness community at IHRSA this year,” said Nick Hahn, VP of Product & Development at Club OS.

While the company couldn’t yet provide details about the product launch, Club OS teased how the announcements would tie into the platform’s larger strategic goals and industry trends. 

“There are few solutions to provide a single platform that manages the entire member journey,” Hahn said. “The vision for our team is to provide a comprehensive yet intuitive end-to-end solution that covers as much of the member journey as each customer needs.” 

“Our flexible ecosystem enables our team to take an agile approach to helping our customers overcome key challenges such as member churn, staff turnover, tough competition, and economic uncertainties,” Hahn added.

ABC Fitness Leans Into AI, Personalization

ABC Fitness, the world’s largest fit tech company with a burgeoning portfolio of software platforms catering to clubs, gyms and studios, is planning to showcase exciting advancements in AI and personalization. 

“During IHRSA 2024, we are excited to host an Innovation Lab that will offer a preview into our latest AI investments across our platforms which leverage our leadership in member and club data,” said Cristine Kao, Chief Marketing Officer at ABC. “Our booth will also showcase how automation can drive world-class personalization at scale, from attracting and retaining members to running your club 24/7.” 

ABC will also showcase “some exciting new features” including “tailored habits & nutrition coaching, personalized members goals, and automation to convert more prospects into clients,” Kao shared. 

Kao will be onstage on March 6th at IHRSA, sharing the results of ABC Fitness’ annual consumer research and global membership data as well as discussing the potential of AI in the industry.

“The acceleration of AI is happening at an exciting time in the evolution of fitness technology across an ever-growing digital landscape, such as wearables and tracking devices,” Kao said. “At ABC Fitness, we are carefully evaluating the potential for AI technologies to evolve from supporting simple administrative tasks to far more powerful applications.”

ClubReady Empowers Brands To Connect With Their Members

ClubReady is focusing on the potential of customization and connection. With customers like Pure Barre, YogaSix, and CycleBar, the software platform helps streamline brands’ operations through lead management, member retention and billing solutions. 

“New integrations continue to increase the power and value of ClubReady for growing entrepreneurs,” said Devin Meister, a Demand Generation Manager for Clubessential Holdings, the parent company of ClubReady. “For example, integrations between ClubReady Connect messaging system and Concierge services enable fitness operators to optimize their staff hours for both presale and post-sale lead conversion in a seamless solution with proven workflows.”

“Our mobile app offerings enable brands to take control of their brand and extend their connections and engagement with push notifications to members anywhere, and extensive reporting for staff,” Meister added.

ClubReady plans to make announcements about reporting features and its mobile app in the near future. 

“ClubReady continues to build and expand our industry-leading solutions and services, enhancing operators’ ability to engage members and prospects, empower staff members, and drive actions for success,” Meister said. 

Club Automation Gets Personal 

Club Automation, an all-in-one club software management system, will provide an innovative, interactive experience at IHRSA. 

“How often has a fitness software company invited you to try what it feels like to become a new member, purchase personal training, schedule sessions, book spaces, and explore a mobile app – as seen from the eyes of your members?” said Tom Antosik, VP at Club Automation. 

Club operators can step into their members’ shoes and try Club Automation’s online registration and mobile experience. The brand is focused on personalized, interactive touchpoints that showcase how its offerings elevate experiences through innovations. 

“From checking in at the club and purchasing packages to scheduling sessions and updating payment information, our team is ready to show off an end-to-end sign-up process that creates that smooth onboarding journey prospective members can expect with Club Automation,” Antosik said.

The post IHRSA 2024 Software Rundown: All About the Member Experience appeared first on Athletech News.

ABC Trainerize, a mobile and software platform for coaches, personal trainers and fitness companies owned by ABC Fitness, recently unveiled the winners of its 2023 Best Trainer Awards. Presented during the TZ Collective online event in December, these awards recognize the exceptional dedication, client success and business acumen of personal trainers and fitness businesses.

Candidates were shortlisted based on a year’s worth of usage data from the ABC Trainerize platform. Specific metrics assessed included the number of active client members, completed workouts and habits tracked, meal plans created and meals logged, and messages exchanged between trainers and clients. 

Sharad Mohan, chief platform growth leader at ABC Fitness and co-founder of Trainerize, told Athletech News that these award recipients “are actively transforming the industry—and the lives of their clients—and we are proud to celebrate their accomplishments with this recognition.” 

The diversity of workout programs offered and client adherence to these plans were critical factors in determining the top performers across all award categories. This data-driven approach enabled ABC Trainerize to identify coaches and studios with outstanding app engagement.

Best Overall Engagement

Steve Shaw of Massive Iron earned the Trainer of the Year award for stellar client engagement, evident in sending 85,000 messages to clients in just one year. Shaw, an online powerbuilding coach and YouTuber who also specializes in body transformations and ultrarunning, topped a competitive field to take the best trainer honor. 

“I’m extremely excited to receive this recognition,” said Shaw, who considers the app his “coaching rock.” 

“The messaging system alone is worth every dollar to me,” he added. “Communication is my training cornerstone and having the ability to message, view videos, and photos/screenshots all in my feed has allowed me to be ultra-efficient. This feature has allowed me to scale.” 

Studio of the Year

Fit For Golf clinched the 2023 Studio of the Year award, showcasing exceptional service and client dedication. With over 30,000 active clients and more than 157,000 workouts completed, owner Mike Carroll demonstrated significant business growth since 2016. His studio has garnered attention from PGA players due to its niche in golf fitness and its associated app. Carroll said his custom-branded app from ABC Trainerize has been key to his studio’s success.

“The app delivers the programs, scheduling, and tracking that our clients need—and streamlines the business operations side, too,” Carroll said.

Excellence in Fitness, Nutrition & Habits

Kris Gethin Coaching was honored with the 2023 Remarkable Results with Fitness award. Gethin’s unique approach to fitness, featuring diverse programming and creative video workouts, has kept more than 10,000 clients engaged and motivated throughout the year, highlighting his ability to make fitness accessible and enjoyable for a broad audience.

In the nutrition category, Hebe Hiom Coaching emerged as the winner of the 2023 Remarkable Results with Nutrition award. This recognition comes in light of Hiom’s support in helping clients make healthier food choices. With over 200,000 daily meals tracked and a plethora of custom foods and meal plans, Hebe Hiom Coaching has played a pivotal role in guiding clients towards better nutritional habits with the tagline, “Changing women’s lives physically and mentally without fad diets or restrictions.”

Body Smart Fitness received the 2023 Remarkable Results with Habits award. Catering to nearly 700 active clients, they helped facilitate the completion of around 350,000 habits in 2023 alone, and added 14,000 custom habits. Their science-backed approach to focusing on small, consistent actions led to significant results for clients.

Co-founder Jaymie Moran said that the company’s focus is on helping busy women over 30 lose weight, build a healthier lifestyle and regain their confidence. 

“Our unique weight loss program guides [clients] through a proven curriculum with 1-1 coaching support, personalized training plans, weekly check-ins, and community support — all enabled through ABC Trainerize,” Moran said. “We are so happy to be recognized.” 

Rising Star

The Rising Star award of 2023 went to Plant Forged Physique, a newcomer to the ABC Trainerize community with a focus on vegan coaching. Their progress in the first year, marked by the highest average monthly growth rate for new clients, exemplifies the potential of new businesses in the fitness industry. Over 9,000 messages sent to clients further highlight their dedication to client engagement and growth.

View the full ABC Trainerize Best Trainer Awards 2023 here.

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IHRSA staged its second Fly-In & Advocacy Summit in Washington, D.C., on Monday as the fitness industry continues its fight for better legislation. 

Held in partnership with The Fitness Technology Summit, the IHRSA event saw over 60 fitness industry leaders descend collectively on Capitol Hill to encourage members of Congress to support the Personal Health Investment Today (PHIT) Act, which would allow Americans to use pre-tax money on healthy living activities like gym memberships, youth sports and fitness equipment. 

“More than 60 conference attendees and IHRSA members met on Capitol Hill with representatives, senators, and key staff members to deliver a unified message: The health and fitness industry is at the forefront of helping consumers improve physical and mental health, and by passing the PHIT Act, Congress can take a huge step to deliver this benefit to millions of families,” said Liz Clark, IHRSA president & CEO.

PHIT has received some bipartisan support already – the bill has 57 co-sponsors in the House of Representatives and 17 in the Senate, with a roughly equal number of Democrats and Republicans – but a significant amount of work remains to be done to move it into law.

During Monday’s event, which follows a previous IHRSA Fly-In & Advocacy Summit held this past May, fitness industry leaders broke up into smaller groups to meet with a specifically targeted selection of 60 legislators, those who’ve yet to throw their support behind the bill. 

“We did not meet with anybody who currently supports the bill,” Mike Goscinski, vice president of government affairs for IHRSA, a not-for-profit trade association representing the global health and fitness industry, told Athletech News after the event. “Everyone we met with today was to cultivate a relationship and build a new supporter for the legislation.”

The IHRSA Fly-In group consisted primarily of CEOs and other C-suite executives of some of the top health and fitness companies in the U.S., including 24 Hour Fitness CEO Karl Sanft, ABC Fitness CEO Bill Davis, Muv Brands CEO Joel Tallman, Chuze Fitness CEO Cory Brightwell, and Chelsea Piers senior vice president Greta Wagner. Other big-name brands in attendance included Crunch Fitness and Gold’s Gym.

“It’s the industry speaking with one unified voice,” Goscinski said of why the Fly-In is significant beyond just driving support for the PHIT Act. “That is a powerful, powerful tool.”

If passed, the PHIT Act would amend the IRS code to treat physical activity as preventive healthcare covered by allowable FSA/HSA spending, similar to items such as glasses and wellness-related over-the-counter products. It would allow individuals to use up to $1,000 per year and up to $2,000 for families for physical activity-related expenses.

Proponents of PHIT say the bill is an important and long-overdue step in ensuring that fitness becomes more economically accessible for American families. 

“We rarely hear people who disagree with the fact that physical activity should be accessible by all, and allowing Americans to use their hard-earned dollars towards preventative health measures through physical activity is something that continues to get support,” Goscinski said “It’s just a matter of finding the right way to get it across the finish line.”

While there might be reluctance on the part of some lawmakers to pass a bill that would cut down on certain tax revenues, Goscinski notes FSA and HSA funds have long been used for things like over-the-counter drugs. Pre-tax funds are also becoming increasingly accepted as a means of payment for consumer-oriented fitness and wellness products. Hyperice, for example, now accepts HSA and FSA funds for its massage guns and other high-tech recovery products.

“I don’t think at the end of the day if Americans were able to have tax-free access to fitness and health clubs, that they would stop spending money on band-aids or Tylenol and Advil,” Goscinski said. “What I do think, though, is the amount of people who become pre-diabetic and are putting a strain on the healthcare system and a financial strain on the United States government and the taxpayer will (decrease).” 

Al Noshirvani, who founded The Fitness Technology Summit and also owns Fitness Club Management, which operates health clubs across the Northeast, noted that fitness is an effective form of preventative medicine, so PHIT would likely save money on healthcare costs in the long run. 

“One of the data points that we shared with the legislative folks that we met with was that for every dollar of preventive medicine that is spent on things like physical activity, that results in a $3 savings in long-term sick care,” Noshirvani told ATN. “It’s a big number (in total), so this is a very defensible bill from a spending perspective, which is typically the pushback that you get on this bill.”

While PHIT may seem like a common-sense solution in America’s fight against rising obesity rates and healthcare costs, things are rarely that straightforward in Washington. 

Originally introduced in 2018, PHIT was passed by the House of Representatives but Congress adjourned before the Senate could vote on the bill. In March 2023, Representative Mike Kelly (R-Pa.) and Senator John Thune (R-S.D.) reintroduced PHIT in the House and Senate. Representative Jimmy Panetta (D-Calif.) and Senator Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) have supported the bill, giving it a bipartisan base.

While the PHIT Act is just one component of a larger “package” of legislation and policies IHRSA and its members are hoping to push through to make physical activity more affordable and accessible for Americans, Goscinski says the organization’s main focus right now is on getting the bill past the finish line.

“Right now it’s something we see as a huge opportunity to get passed and that we have a great shot at doing this year,” he said.

If you’re interested in joining the fight to pass the PHIT Act, click here to send a message to your elected official

The post IHRSA, Fitness Industry Continue Push for PHIT Act Passage appeared first on Athletech News.

Sharad Mohan and Trevor Chong co-founded ABC Trainerize back in 2012 with a clear goal in mind: help personal trainers become a bigger part of their clients’ lives.

The typical personal trainer only sees each individual client face-to-face once per week, whether in-person or online in the case of remote coaching. That equates to around 26 days a month without any interaction. That’s a lot of missed opportunity —and revenue.

ABC Trainerize, which was acquired by ABC Fitness in 2020, is designed to help personal trainers better engage with their clients so they can become daily companions on the journey to better health. Today, nearly half a million coaches are using the platform. 

“We believe the best way to foster engagement is through the concept of 360-degree health and wellness,” explained Mohan, who currently serves as Platform President of ABC Trainerize. “It’s not just about workout programs, it’s about all the things people need to do every day.”

To that end, on top of its robust Training and Video Coaching features, ABC Trainerize has expanded to include Nutrition Coaching and Habit Coaching. The platform will also soon give personal trainers the ability to create Challenges among groups of clients and monetize further on digital memberships through dedicated e-commerce tools like payments and PT appointment booking features.

The habits, nutrition and challenges feature sets were intentionally selected by the ABC Trainerize team for their abilities to drive engagement by motivating people to use the ABC Trainerize app every day, not just when they have a gym session on the calendar. In other words, they were chosen because they make a real difference in clients’ lives.

“Trainers tell us time and time again, ‘Our clients love using ABC Trainerize,’” Mohan says.

 Habit Coaching To Drive Daily Change

Through Habit Coaching, trainers can encourage their clients to adopt small, daily practices related to health and wellness that over time can add up to big results.

Chong, who is Vice President of Design and Product Strategy at ABC Trainerize, said he and his team realized several years ago that the fitness industry was trending more toward a holistic view of health and wellness, prioritizing things like mental health, recovery, and sleep in addition to just hitting the weights or going for a run.

“We’ve seen a lot of people who hop on a meal plan for four weeks and they lose a lot of weight, but then they gain it all back,” Chong says. “We started incorporating habits, and we’ve received a lot of positive feedback from our community saying they really want people to have lasting changes. Coaches want to see their clients healthy; they want to change lives. It’s been a very powerful tool.”

ABC Trainerize features a library of habits that personal trainers can encourage their clients to adopt, ranging from taking a more active route to work to eating protein with each meal to practicing a nighttime routine before bed. For an added layer of personalization, Trainers can also prescribe custom habits to clients.

Interestingly but perhaps not surprisingly, at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, when people were stuck at home, abstaining from alcohol was one of the most prescribed habits on ABC Trainerize.

Currently, habits based on nutrition are popular, Chong notes, mentioning eating enough vegetables and eating mindfully as two examples.

“Reducing screen time before bed is another common one,” he says.

Nutrition Coaching To Make Eating Healthy Fun and Easy

Eating right is an integral part of overall health and wellness, so ABC Trainerize recently rolled out a Nutrition Coaching feature set.

“Our data told us we needed to be there,” Mohan says of nutrition. “We were seeing about 150,000 workouts every single day on the platform, and we had a workout product. We didn’t have a nutrition product yet, but we had 1 million meals tracked a day through our partner MyFitnessPal. We knew we needed to move in this direction.”

With Advanced Nutrition Coaching, trainers can enter a daily caloric range and ABC Trainerize automatically generates a meal plan for clients.

Another important feature is photo food journaling—ABC Trainerize allows users to send pictures of the food they eat directly to their trainer for real-time nutrition feedback.

Photo journaling helps with diet compliance by encouraging clients to be more mindful and transparent about what they’re eating. Sending pictures is also a lot less tedious and time-consuming than manually tracking every calorie on a food-tracker app, making it easier for clients to stick with their plan. 

“I tested it out as a client with my online trainer for six months, and it was some of the best compliance I’ve ever had with food tracking,” Mohan said, noting that his trainer could give him advice on what to eat for dinner based on what he ate for breakfast and lunch that day.

Challenges To Build Community & Attract New Clients

In response to feedback from users, ABC Trainerize is adding Challenges to the platform—a new feature that gives personal trainers the ability to organize competitions or other fun games among groups of clients.

Since not everyone is the competitive type, ABC Trainerize offers two types of Challenges: leaderboard and participation-based. In a leaderboard challenge, a personal trainer’s clients are ranked based on their performance in specific fitness activities, like a race on an exercise bike, for example.

The participation-based Challenges don’t rank players and instead encourage people to commit to certain actions, like healthy eating. For example, a trainer could challenge their clients to eat at least two servings of vegetables a day. Clients would earn points for every day they eat their greens, with the goal being to achieve 90% compliance over a given period.

Challenges build community, but they’re also a potential revenue-generating tool for personal trainers, who can use them to engage with clients who might not yet be ready to purchase a personalized coaching program.

“Challenges can drive the growth of a trainer’s business by converting their social audiences into training audiences and then ultimately into paid training clients,” Mohan says.

Some trainers even opt to make their Challenges pay-to-enter. For personal trainers with large social media followings, that alone can be lucrative.

E-commerce To Help Trainers Run Successful Online Businesses

In addition to its client-facing features, ABC Trainerize has a dedicated e-commerce team that’s constantly building features designed to help trainers build their online businesses.

With ABC Trainerize Payments, personal trainers can sell digital products online, such as a 60-day boot camp or a recurring monthly training program. The process is fully automated, so once a client buys a product, ABC Trainerize delivers the programming or content and takes care of the entire onboarding process, saving a lot of time for the busy personal trainer.

Further amping up its e-commerce and funnel-building capabilities, ABC Trainerize recently introduced a feature called Basic Clients, which allows trainers to offer content and free products to prospects and leads who haven’t yet purchased a coaching program.

“Through automation, trainers can upsell their Basic Clients into personalized programming over time,” Mohan explains. “That’s a powerful feature because as trainers are building online businesses, the concept of freemium will help them get more paid clients over time.”

Book, Buy, Train: The Future of ABC Trainerize 

ABC Trainerize has been part of the ABC Fitness ecosystem for several years now. Mohan and Chong are excited about what the future holds not only for the platform they created, but for ABC as a whole following the acquisition.

ABC Fitness is bringing together tailored solutions and services dedicated to supporting fitness professionals at every stage of their growth. ABC Trainerize’s expertise and mobile platform have become integral to ABC Fitness’ wider delivery. As a result, the ABC Trainerize solution is already integrated and available to clients of ABC Ignite, the company’s platform for high value low price (HVLP) gyms and clubs, as well as ABC Glofox, its lead platform for the boutique fitness and studio space. Together, the company supports over 31,000 businesses globally.

With the seamless integration of the platforms, users will be able to book classes, buy memberships and engage in personal training all on the same mobile app.

The all-in-one solution will mark an important milestone for the industry, according to Mohan.

“Up until now, for the B2B SaaS providers, it’s always been (just) booking and buying,” he notes. “Now we can collectively say, ‘Book, buy, train.’ That’s the combined value proposition we’re selling.”

The integration also presents exciting possibilities for the future of AI, as ABC Trainerize will be able to leverage millions of data points from 38 million members of gyms, clubs and boutique studios.

“We can start being very specific on how AI can complement everything a club operator does with a member in personal training, what a personal trainer does with their client, or even what a class-based studio does with someone coming in for a session,” Mohan says.

“Our new ABC Fitness mission is to turn our clients’ fitness visions into seamless realities,” he adds. “We think AI can be the next way in which we deepen that element of our mission for seamless reality in terms of how clients and coaches engage with each other.”

The post For ABC Trainerize, Engagement Is Everything appeared first on Athletech News.

It’s about to get a lot easier for gyms to provide their members with access to popular group fitness classes.

ABC Fitness Solutions and Les Mills announced a new partnership that makes the group fitness giant’s on-demand video classes available to ABC customers. With the partnership, club operators using ABC platforms can offer Les Mills classes to their members both virtually and in-club, allowing gyms and studios to capitalize on the growing demand for digital fitness offerings as a compliment to traditional brick-and-mortar gym membership.

Clubs using ABC’s Ignite Engagement and Trainerize Enterprise platforms will be able to offer popular Les Mills classes including Bodypump, Bodycombat and Les Mills Grit, among others, to their members.

“ABC Fitness has a 40-year track record in bringing best-in-class technology solutions to market, and now as the need for cutting-edge content grows with the insatiable desire of members to workout anywhere, we are excited to work with Les Mills,” Bill Davis, CEO of ABC Fitness, said in a statement. “Its quality, variety and delivery of fitness content cannot be matched, and being able to offer this to our customers is a game changer for ABC, our customers and the members they serve.”

ABC, whose apps and other tech solutions power some of the biggest fitness clubs in the world, is making content a priority. Sharad Mohan, president of the ABC Trainerize platform, told Athletech News that the fit tech company is looking to partner with fitness content providers so club operators can satisfy their members’ increasing demand for digital content.

“One of the reasons we partnered with Les Mills is because a customer told us they have members streaming Les Mills content,” Mohan said.

“It really boils down to what our clubs’ members want and meeting them where they’re at,” he added. “We know a lot of people stream Les Mills classes at home, so it made sense to bring the club into the mix and make the club be the hub of that content.”

While people have returned to physical gyms in large numbers post-pandemic, the demand for virtual content remains high. That means hybrid options are increasingly important for clubs.

ABC says that according to recent industry reports, 80% of gym members want digital offerings as a part of their workout plan post-pandemic. Clubs with a digital model have seen a 22% increase in membership sales, the fit tech company added.

ABC notes that clubs can use the Les Mills content to create additional revenue streams through digital subscriptions, virtual personal training options and streaming memberships.

Les Mills, whose highly popular group fitness classes are available in over 21,000 clubs across 110 countries, continues to make its digital content available to brick-and-mortar gyms. In November, the group fitness company struck a deal with Fitness International to have its Les Mills+ streaming platform available to LA Fitness, Esporta Fitness and City Sports Club members.

According to Les Mills, as a result of the pandemic, most exercisers now prefer a 60-40 split between the gym and at-home fitness.

Les Mills also recently partnered with Gympass, making over 1,5000 of its on-demand workouts and virtual training sessions available through the corporate wellness platform.

The post ABC Fitness, Les Mills Team Up To Offer Group Fitness Content To Gyms appeared first on Athletech News.

ABC Fitness Solutions announced the integration of its Glofox and Trainerize platforms, a combination that makes it easier for boutique studios and gyms to offer one-on-one coaching services to their members.

The integration is part of ABC’s new corporate identity and strategic plan, unveiled during IHRSA 2023 in San Diego. 

ABC acquired Glofox in 2022. Glofox offers an all-in-one software program for boutique gyms and studios that provides advanced booking, management, sales and marketing tools.

Trainerize, which ABC acquired in 2020, provides software that allows personal trainers and fitness businesses to engage with members. Trainerize allows trainers to connect with clients through fitness, nutrition and habit coaching features as well as in-app messaging and progress tracking. 

With the integration, boutique studios and gyms using Glofox will now be able to offer Trainzerize tools like digital coaching, nutrition advice and personal training workouts to their members. They’ll also be able to create additional revenue streams by offering their members premium-tier memberships, digital-only memberships and virtual, one-on-one coaching options.

Conor O’Loughlin, President of ABC Glofox, told Athletech News the integration makes strategic sense since studios and gyms are looking to offer more coaching and lifestyle options to their members.

“Glofox is strong on the operator side and the business processes side, while Trainerize offers the one-to-one element, so it’s complimentary,” O’Loughlin said.

Operators using Glofox will have their client data synced in real-time to Trainerize, meaning they no longer need to maintain data in both systems. 

“At ABC, our vision is to turn fitness visions into seamless realities,” O’Loughlin said. “The seamlessness is important for us, since you’re able to offer operators and their members a single pane of glass.”

The Glofox-Trainerize integration shows ABC is making tangible progress on its new strategic plan to offer tailored services to all segments of the fitness industry.

“The Glofox-Trainerize integration is the first example of us fulfilling that promise, so it’s an important milestone.” Michelle Slade, ABC Fitness chief brand officer, told ATN.

So far, the integration has been appreciated by fitness operators.

“Since the initial launch, we’ve gotten an incredible market reaction from customers,” O’Loughlin said. 

The post ABC Fitness Takes Important Step With Glofox-Trainerize Integration appeared first on Athletech News.

With more competition than ever in the world of fitness, gyms and studios would do well to leverage the power of technology to better acquire, engage and retain members. 

That’s easier said than done, so Athletech News spoke with executives from some of the top fit tech brands in the industry to get their thoughts on how fitness operators can and should use software, data and AI to get members in the door and keep them around for the long-term.

Tech companies servicing the fitness industry see a few main ways they can help gyms and studios with acquisition, engagement and retention. Strategies include embracing virtual content, using data and AI to better understand customers and making a mobile app that stands out from the crowd. 

More than just a workout: Use apps to reach your members 24/7

The fitness consumer is increasingly spoiled for choice when it comes to working out. The proliferation of at-home fitness offerings and online content makes it tougher and tougher for brick-and-mortar gyms and studios to attract new members and keep their current ones from jumping ship for lower-cost options. At least that’s the traditional view. 

ABC Fitness sees things differently. The fit tech giant, whose technology powers the apps used by some of the biggest clubs in the industry, is on a mission to help gyms keep their place as the go-to fitness brand for their members. 

Sharad Mohan, president of ABC’s Trainerize and GymSales platforms, believes clubs are uniquely positioned to become the center of their members’ health and wellness lives. Mohan says that while consumers have tons of choices for fitness content, they’re looking for one centralized place where they can manage all those choices. Enter the traditional gym. 

“It’s getting confusing for our members,” Mohan says of all the fitness content options consumers have today. “So the question is, who is best positioned to make sense of all those moving parts? The club. Because the consumer still looks to the club as their relationship partner for fitness.”

Mohan says clubs should leverage tech providers like ABC, who can create apps that go beyond traditional features like managing bookings and scheduling appointments. 

“I think what makes our mobile app different is that it not only does a lot of the in-club stuff that you need, which I sincerely believe is table stakes today, but it really compliments in-club stuff with the general lifestyle expectations a person today has when it comes to digital fitness,” Mohan explains.

Gyms should be leveraging technology to create “personalized programming” for their members, Mohan says. That includes not just fitness programming, but nutrition, mental health and lifestyle options. Ideally, members should be using their club’s app all the time, not just on workout days.

“The person might not even be motivated to workout more than once every week or once every two weeks,” Mohan says.”That should not mean that the gym has nothing to do with their fitness and lifestyle seven days a week.”

Cristine Kao, ABC’s chief marketing officer, says offering diverse in-app programming can help clubs stay top-of-mind for their members. 

“There’s a lot of data points that show that programming, especially around nutrition and habit, really makes the member engagement ‘sticky,’” Kao said. “That means you’re getting your clients’ mindshare. Imagine waking up first thing in the morning and all you see, on your watch or on your phone, is, ‘Hey, don’t forget to drink water.’”

Content is king. But which content is best? 

One way gyms can use their app to engage members is by providing best-in-class content.

Gyms shouldn’t shy away from virtual content providers. Mohan says. Instead, they should partner with on-demand fitness platforms to deliver quality content to their members.

To that end, Mohan says ABC is striking partnerships with some of the top content providers in the game and bringing that content to clubs and studios, who in turn can deliver that content to their members as a way to drive acquisition and engagement.

“Content is something we believe will be the differentiator, along with technology,” Mohan said. “So not only are we partnering with the best out there, we’re looking at how we can invest in content as well.”

Wexer, a fit tech company focused on helping gyms improve their digital fitness offerings, also believes in the power of virtual content for brick-and-mortar clubs.

The company describes its mission as helping gyms “bridge the gap” between the digital and physical worlds. 

“We strongly believe that virtual fitness will be the new treadmill,” said Robert Louw, chief growth officer at Wexer. “It took around 22 years for the treadmill to become accepted. When the treadmill came, everybody said, ‘Why do you need a treadmill to run indoors? I can just go outside and run.’ Nowadays it’s weird to walk into a gym without a treadmill.  We think the same about consuming content in-club. But we also understand that it’s going to be needed outside the four walls of the gym.”

Wexer allows its clients to choose from its own aggregated fitness content library, but the company believes clubs should also be creating some of their own content. Wexer partners with clubs along that journey, Louw says, providing gyms with the data and expertise they need to create top-quality content. 

“A great example is, we’ve seen huge growth not just in wellness content, but breathing content and sleeping content,” Louw said. “The uptake is enormous.“

Louw says gym owners and executives often think they intuitively understand what types of content their clients want, but the data sometimes tells a different story. 

“A lot of times me and my team talk with CEOs, and they’re like, ‘We’re a hardcore gym, we swing kettlebells.’ And then we look at the stats, and it shows that yoga and Pilates are actually their most popular content.” 

“Data doesn’t lie,” Louw says. 

Leverage tech and AI to create more effective marketing campaigns

Technology, including AI, can be a powerful acquisition tool in a fitness operator’s marketing toolbox. 

Walla, a platform that provides management software for studios, is set to release a marketing suite that allows its clients to personalize their outreach to customers. Walla’s marketing suite includes an email template its clients can use to create member-specific emails using custom GIFs, videos and photos. 

“It’s backed by AI,” says Natalie Efstathiou, director of product at Walla. “So you can search for a specific image, a dolphin laying on the beach drinking a margarita, for example, and it will show up.”

Walla also has a feature that lets studios determine the different “personality types” of their members.

Members are prompted to take a test, which returns one of four different personality types. Efstathiou says knowing a customer’s personality type allows studios to more effectively market to their individual members, since different people respond better to different forms of communication. 

“One of the personality types is the Thinker, and a Thinker doesn’t really care much about the cheerleader, ongoing types of messages, they just care about the facts,” Efstathiou said. “They don’t need constant reinforcement.”

Members take the personality test after they sign-up at a studio that uses Walla’s software. Existing members whose studios transition to Walla would receive an intro email prompting them to create a new account and take the test.

“It’s optional, but a lot of people enjoy learning about themselves, so it tends to get filled out quite often,” Efstathiou says of the test.

Use technology to automate acquisitions

Humans are poor multi-taskers and most of us have unreliable memories, so automation technology can play a key role in helping clubs ensure they’re reaching out to each and every customer.

Enter Xplor Technologies and its Marketing Automation platform, found within Xplor’s Mariana Tek boutique fitness product.  

Emily Montgomery, the head of professional services at Xplor, says the platform’s tools help studio owners automate marketing tasks like sending emails and texts to members and potential members. 

Montgomery says that for studios, the most important part of the acquisition process happens before a potential client even creates an account. But most studio owners don’t nurture leads soon enough, she says. 

“Before you have created an account, when somebody is shopping and looking to see what studio they might want to take a class at, that’s where we want to start that engagement process,” Montgomery said. “And the most effective way to do that is in an automated fashion.”

Xplor helps its clients start the customer acquisition process as soon as a potential client browses a studio’s website and looks for class information. 

“Right away, we set up an email and SMS drip campaign to then bring that individual into the brand,” Montgomery said. 

For the fitness industry as whole, the act of acquiring is becoming more and more digital. 

Kao of ABC Fitness says the fit tech company has noticed an interesting trend when it comes to how gyms and clubs are acquiring new members. 

“We’re seeing now that around 40% of new members coming in are actually choosing to join online immediately” rather than visit in-person, she said. 

People between the ages of 18-34, Gen Z and Millennial groups, are most likely to obtain a gym membership online, Kao says, likely due to their digital upbringing. 

“You almost don’t even apply, from a historical perspective, an acquisition anymore,” Kao says. “It’s not really about communication, it’s about removing friction.”

Automation can also play a key role in engagement and retention. 

Montgomery of Xplor says studios too often fail to engage their new members immediately after they first sign-up, which is when they’re in the “honeymoon stage” and are most likely to be receptive to marketing reach-outs. 

“I go to many different studios, and most often, 30 days later, after I came in and had a single class, I maybe received one phone call, I didn’t get anything else,” she said. “After the 30 day mark, I get a, ‘We miss you’ and another offer to come back. But there was no connection that happened in between.”

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ABC Fitness Solutions unveiled a new look and shared details of its strategic plan to deliver tailored services to all segments of the fitness market during a three-day whirlwind at IHRSA 2023.

At the recent trade show and convention in San Diego, Athletech News spoke with Bill Davis, CEO of ABC Fitness Solutions, a fit tech company that offers gym management software solutions and services to fitness operators. Davis shared his thoughts on the latest innovations in the industry and what fitness operators should consider as it relates to their members.

Read on to discover what’s in store for ABC Fitness and how its solutions are enhancing fitness experiences for businesses and clients. 

A bold mission

ABC Fitness’s approach includes assisting customers in bringing their vision of fitness to their members by removing obstacles — which commonly arise from running a fitness business — in the best ways that suit them.

It’s a solution-oriented approach that ABC Fitness clients can tailor to their specific requirements. And, thanks to the fit tech company’s many integrated and complementary platforms, such as ABC Ignite, ABC Glofox, ABC EVO and ABC Trainerize, ABC Fitness can serve every region and niche in the fitness industry.

The brand has long maintained a growth plan, with Davis once sharing that ABC Fitness has had a ‘Build, Buy, Partner’ approach at the heart of its growth strategy, all designed to build a comprehensive suite of products that can empower fitness providers. As part of the company’s 2021 strategic planning process, ABC Fitness identified international expansion and a boutique/studio club management solution as a strategic priority.

Now, just two years later, that strategy has enabled the company to equip all players in the fitness industry with solution-based methods.

Common challenges require a tailored solution

The fitness industry as a whole, from independent trainers and coaches to small studios and even national chains, can share common challenges, says ABC Fitness. While obstacles are inevitable for any business, the methods used to overcome them vary. It’s a point that ABC Fitness underscores: one size does not fit all. 

Through its various platforms, ABC can quickly deliver insights and remove the manual effort typically associated with managing an operation – regardless of size. ABC Fitness currently serves tens of thousands of operators and millions of members thanks to the flexibility provided by its multiple platforms, each of which focuses on a different fit tech segment or geographic region.

“By harnessing the best talent, technology, and data insights at a macro level and delivering solutions through our one brand in tailored, bespoke and creative ways, we benefit from the combined resources of a global leader with the nimbleness of an individual and invested business partner,” said Davis.

“We can solve common industry problems in a myriad of ways, ensuring the best fit for each specific customer,” he continued. “This ability is unrivaled in the industry, and I look forward to working with the ABC team to help our customers focus on delivering their fitness vision to their members while we help optimize running their business.”

Davis sees new opportunities with technology, AI

Davis noted that the excitement at IHRSA was palpable in terms of the new brand and energy about bringing the ABC Fitness platforms together.

“We’re really, really excited by the level of interest,” Davis said.

He also touched on the enthusiasm of the industry as a whole at the convention.

“You cannot help but feel that there’s a level of excitement around fitness and wellness holistically that has been missing for a number of years,” he said. “That is, in my mind, contagious and really exciting.”

Davis also discussed fitness technology and touched on how it relates to what the industry has discovered in the wake of the pandemic. It has given fitness operators an opportunity to gain a fresh, tech-based perspective. 

“Technology has an opportunity to be a significant key influencer in how fitness embraces the new norm which we firmly believe is a complement of traditional clubs and boutiques in the physical space to those experiences that are outside the club,” he said. “And we have been talking about that now for a couple years, and we really believe that this show is reinforcing that operators need to think differently. And we think, again, technology has an opportunity to help positively connect that.”

While Davis agrees that there is an element of under-utilization of current tech capabilities, he says many companies, including ABC Fitness, are still in their infancy in terms of capability – and should be delivering for the betterment of their customers and their customers’ members. 

“That’s what excites me most about the journey that we’re on,” Davis said. “We are committed to innovation for the long term. It’s not going away. But I think that by making the technology more intuitive and user friendly, the utilization and the optimization of that utilization is naturally going to come. I think we share responsibility in ensuring that that happens.”

Davis is enamored with the prospects of machine learning and AI, but believes there is an opportunity to get some of the “foundational blocks” further advanced. Davis sees technology as an enabler designed to enrich human experiences, not replace them.

“It’s there to free them up to do the things that are most important, like help people get healthier, fitter, hopefully, and better.”

Solutions that reach far and wide 

It’s no easy task to build a club management offering that can be leveraged across all market segments, but doing so is made easier with a clear integration strategy that identifies capabilities or workflows.

It’s a feat that ABC Fitness has in many ways mastered – and goes back to the company’s own initial strategies as it’s built its brand and continues to expand.

“By virtue of our Glofox acquisition, giving us the geographic reach, where we now can actually operate in 90-plus countries around the world, (it) gives us that much more reach and accessibility, if you will,” said Davis. “But it’s finding those areas where you can drive synergy, but recognize the uniqueness of the discrete markets that you’re also committed to serving, and bringing the complement of the two together.”

Davis shared that Planet Fitness is one client that’s benefiting from ABC Fitness’s synergies. 

The fitness franchisor announced a new four-year agreement, extending its partnership through 2027. The new agreement follows a comprehensive and year-long independent review by Planet Fitness based on its current and future technology needs, and the fitness franchisor will upgrade to ABC’s IGNITE club management solution across its U.S. and Canada club locations to streamline its tech operations. 

The ABC IGNITE solution is optimized for traditional, large gyms and multi-location franchises, scalable to suit the needs of club operations in North America and has a flexible modular approach covering all aspects of club management.

“We’re very proud of that extension of our working relationship for the next four years,” Davis said of the agreement with Planet Fitness.

ABC Fitness also has boutique fitness clients, such as Xponential Brands, F45 and UFC gyms. But as Davis points out, the company serves thousands of single club operators around the globe that are equally important to ABC Fitness.

The company offers ABC GLOFOX, a fully integrated club management solution primarily focused on boutique and studio fitness, which is suitable for startups and international franchises alike. The platform offers a suite of tools spanning sales, membership, engagement, operations, commerce and insights.

The company is also rolling out new capabilities to a bulk of its legacy customers.

“We are introducing our Trainerize capabilities, the foundation of our mobile solution, to over 50% of our legacy ABC customer base,” Davis said. “We are also just now introducing the Trainerize capabilities into the Glofox customer base. And we’re seeing early signs of real positive indications of interest there.”

Trainerize, which is a member engagement mobile app and software platform, enables coaches and fitness businesses to expand their reach, connect with members, and digitize the training experience. The platform allows fitness coaches to dig deep into behavioral changes and healthier lifestyle decisions of their clients by combining fitness, nutrition and habits alongside online coaching.

“So still a little early, but we’re excited by its prospects,” Davis said. “We’re also introducing our modernized reporting capabilities across all of our customers as well, whether they’re personal trainers or in the boutique space.”

On global growth 

Davis shared that in addition to North America, ABC Fitness has witnessed phenomenal success in the last six to nine months in Latin America. 

“It’s a little-known secret about ABC that we had a very strong presence for years in Brazil specifically. About a year or so ago, we made the strategic decision to start to take those capabilities and move more extensively across Latin America,” Davis shared.

ABC Fitness offers EVO, an integrated club management solution focused on Latin America and optimized for country-specific payment processing. It also delivers content in native languages and provides tailored services. 

Davis said ABC Fitness is excited and proud of the success it’s experiencing in markets such as Mexico, Colombia, Chile and Argentina.

“Asia-Pacific, Australia and New Zealand, in particular, are markets doing really well for us,” he added. “EMEA (Europe, Middle East, Africa) has been a little bit slower than some of the other markets, but we’re seeing some promising indications that that’s starting to move in a positive direction.

Looking ahead, ABC Fitness will be sharing additional news relating to its brand and individual platform delivery.

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ABC Fitness Solutions has unveiled an advanced update to its cache of club management solutions. The update, dubbed ABC IGNITE, will be the biggest in ten years, and it will assist club operators in managing and growing their business platforms successfully. 

The update, revealed at the IHRSA 2021 conference Wednesday, reveals a fresh and modern look with an intuitive user experience. In addition to existing organizational features like member management, billing, and reporting, ABC IGNITE has new technology-driven strategies for club operators. 

CEO of ABC Fitness Solutions, Bill Davis, says that the primary goal of ABC IGNITE is to utilize technology while amplifying business in an uncomplicated way.

“We are on a journey to help redefine how fitness operators and members interact with technology to reach their respective goals and to simplify the business of fitness. The release of ABC IGNITE is just the beginning of the innovations we are bringing to help clubs thrive. I am really proud of the team and excited for gym operators to experience the new technology,” Davis shared.

ABC Fitness points out that the typical club operator uses a variety of software apps to run their clubs and leads to inefficiency. The company believes that the key to success is member engagement, actionable insights, and flexibility and says that ABC IGNITE will meet these targets with one cohesive system. 

Within ABC IGNITE are business-focused components that work to improve club management, including a cloud-based billing program, a system to upsell current members with e-mail and text marketing, personal training booking, and data-driven insights about the health of the business. 

The system allows club operators to select what specific solutions they need and add new features as they grow. Chief Operating Officer of CHUZE Fitness, Nick Barshick, recently tested out the new ABC IGNITE software and noted the benefits.

“The Club Home experience is going to put many of the initial functions our staff does on one screen,” said Barshick. “Persistent check-in functionality is a game-changer, and the new look and feel is a nice upgrade. I expect this will improve productivity and efficiency at the front desk, give us more time to spend with members, and save time spent on training and onboarding new staff. We are excited to go live.”

ABC Fitness, founded in 1981, serves approximately 16,000 clubs and facilities in 116 countries.

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American consumers who consider themselves active have multifaceted motivations for spending time and money on fitness, including mental health and feeling good, and they are increasingly using digital and at-home exercise options, according to The Next Fitness Consumer, a new survey report from ABC Fitness Solutions and the IHRSA Foundation, a consulting firm and the charity arm of a fitness industry group, respectively.

However, there is a silver lining for fitness location owners, battered by the COVID-19 pandemic: In-person gym and studio usage is down only by single digits compared to pre-pandemic levels (8 and 5 percent, respectively). Most people who are not now gym members were not even before the pandemic. Also, among those who quit gyms, 49 percent say they want to return, probably because gyms have workout methods that consumers desire. 

Overall, fitness-minded consumers have become more flexible in how they work out, in a way that doesn’t exclude gyms from their purview — as some feared when memberships were canceled and Pelotons orders stacked up into a backlog — but there is a new paradigm to navigate.

“Going forward, working out from home is matter of optionality rather than exclusivity,” Cristine Kao, chief marketing officer of ABC Fitness, told Athletech News.

The study was based on surveys, conducted in June, from 2,113 consumers, 18 and older, who considered themselves “active.” The term encompasses a wide variety of habits, behaviors and commitments. Among this group, 66 percent said they currently work out and 25 expressed a desire to. Nine percent were not doing anything for physical health, and did not have an active desire to, but for some reason considered themselves active. The study authors lumped them all together as the “new active consumer” regardless. Their self-identification of being “active” is a reason to think the fitness industry can reach them.

“Being active” ranked as the most common goal for these consumers, with 46 percent of respondents saying it was important to them. Mental health ranked second, with 35 percent, surpassing weight loss (32 percent). Other motivators included improving mental acuity, feeling good, a sense of accomplishment, and improved physical appearance. This shows a mixed, “holistic” approach to working out, said Kao, that goes beyond out clichés about wanting beach bodies and six-pack abs.

Relative to the time before COVID-19, active consumers increased usage of free online workouts by 15 percent, at-home fitness equipment by 13 percent, and other digital exercise programs by eight percent and use of at-home workout options exceeded that of health clubs and fitness studios. Outdoor exercise also increased by seven percent. Women were slightly more likely to use digital options and men more likely to continue to go to in-door facilities for a workout, according to the survey.

About a third (34 percent) of “active” consumers are members of gyms. Fifty-five have never been members. Among past members, 40 percent quit within the last year and 44 percent say fear the pandemic is not under control is their reason for not rejoining.

The survey asked what exercise modalities active consumers preferred. The top five were cardio equipment training, flexibility/stretching, free-weight training, equipment-based exercise classes and health/wellness coaching. Four of these options are available at gyms and difficult, though not impossible, to do at home, a sign that gyms still offer what consumers want, said Kao.

“Gyms can still be the hubs for exercise,” she said. However, the increased use of at-home options means they should consider a “hybrid model” (which may have implemented since the pandemic) in which accesses to digital fitness classes and programs are part of a membership package.

“People are expecting increasingly personalized options for their fitness routines,” said Kao.

The survey that shows mental health has surpassed weight loss as reason for working out also came across some interest age demographics. Fifty-nine percent of members of Generation Z (aged 18 to 24) surveyed consider themselves “active.” About two third (63 and 64, respectively) of millennials and Generation X consider themselves active.  Combined, they make up the age range of 25 to 55. The age group most likely to tag themselves as active are Baby Boomers, people 56 and older, at 71 percent. This counters the notion that gyms and fitness spaces are young people’s domains.

Also, wealth seems tied to one’s likeliness to be active; Americans from household incomes of at least $150,000 a year are more likely to be active than those from households with an income of less than $50,000 (78 percent vs. 59 percent). Full-time employees and retirees have higher rates of physical activity at 71 and 76 percent, respectively. Unemployed and disabled workers have the lowest rates at 53 and 44 percent.

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