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There was once a time where a person would head to the gym, ready to consume hours of news, reality TV, and other network channels, distracting them from intense bouts of running, cycling and other exercise activities. Those days, for the most part, are gone. Replacing them is an inter-connected network of smart devices, customer-owned interfaces, and high-speed internet. We’re in what some call the ‘Golden Age of Fitness’, with new exciting developments popping up regularly, including the likes of Zwift, Strava, Peloton, live digital classes, and more. To remain relevant in this shifting landscape, transformed by modern technology, gyms have had to adapt.

Changing The Way We Exercise: How Modern Gyms Are Adapting

In order to adapt, modern gyms have had to look at how customers are exercising, what they’re leaning towards, and how they can modernise the gym environment to offer an experience customers will engage with regularly. If you’re a gym-owner, and you’ve not considered the evolutions below, it might be time to make some changes to your establishment, particularly if you’re seeing dwindling attendance figures.

Customer Media > Gym Entertainment

In 2019, 79% of UK adults owned a smartphone, spending around 2 hours and 34 minutes focused on their device (Finder). That means eight in every ten adults in this country is, on average, using their smartphone regularly, and for a significant portion of their day. A portion of that usage will be in your gym; listening to music, audio books, using fitness apps and trackers, and more. They’re not paying attention to the screens found dotted around the cardio and weights areas; they’re paying attention to the screen they brought with them. In order to stay connected with attendees, gyms must find ways to connect user devices with the gym ecosystem. This can be through smart fitness devices such as fitness bikes and treadmills offering Bluetooth connectivity for tracking and interactive purposes. Gyms can also develop an app that tie users into their own brand, offering live updates, class schedules, fitness progress tracking and more, without users having to download multiple apps to receive the same functionality.

Modern Screens Require Modern Connectivity

With gym-goers spending so much time on their screens while exercising, it’s important gyms provide a sufficient level of connectivity. For your customers, few things are more annoying than a dead spot while they’re preparing to cycle, run, or row for the next 45 minutes. It’s vital that gyms set up wireless mesh networks to offer maximum network speeds, wherever the user is inside the establishment. A mesh network is made up of a handful of radio transmitters, offering cross-coverage in every corner of the gym, rather than the traditional singular router configuration many gyms opt for. In an era where 5G speeds are beginning to become the norm, and internet service providers inch closer to offering gigabit speeds to consumers, gyms can’t afford to be left behind when it comes to speeds and coverage.  

The ASUS AiMesh AX6100 WiFI System is the world’s first WiFI 6 (802.11ax) Mesh System, offering unparalleled stability and performance.

  The ASUS router app offers gyms granular network management, allowing you to monitor network performance, see how many devices are connected, control who can access the network, and more. Importantly for gyms, the ASUS Router App enables the creation of a guest network, allowing you to keep internal staff and customer data usage separate and secure. Find out more about the ASUS Router App here.

Secure Customer Data, Flexible Gym Management

It’s time to throw out that beige box you have hidden in the back office. While it’s served your gym for years, it represents the weak link in a modern gym; a lack of performance and security equals risk to your business. A modern server installation takes up little more room than your current desktop configuration, but offers unparalleled freedom and performance:

• Regular data backups mean your internal data and customer data are both secure in the event of device failure.
• Modern gyms are providing staff with touch devices such as tablets to enable membership changes, timetable updates and more, from anywhere in the gym. With a server setup and the aforementioned wireless mesh network, this removes devices-access bottlenecks.

Digital Advertising and Signage

If your business is still printing out flyers and banners to post around the gym, it’s missing the incredible potential that digital signage affords you. Move away from analogue advertising, and step into digital displays that enable your gym to rapidly update and evolve your signage to match new membership promotions, timetable changes, and more. Your current solution involves lengthy printing times (both internal and externally, if you’re using a 3^rd party company for banners/signage), which are exacerbated if something is changed – for example, a timetable or promotion is incorrect – and incurs additional cost to your business. Installing digital signage into your reception area and within the gym itself affords you the following:

• Swift updates to promotions and events.
• Timetable changes now take seconds, removing the costs of printing new schedules and the employee time-investment to replace signage around the establishment.
• The ability to communicate more regularly and effectively with customers, posting bulletins and updates quickly, without lengthy external involvement.

Membership Cards No Longer Required

Modern smartphones offer Near-Field Communication (NFC) support, that allows consumers to use their phone to perform contactless payments in a variety of shops across the UK and the world. Additionally, many commercial businesses are offering digital memberships (look to supermarkets implements self-scanning through the use of digital barcodes and QR codes as a recent example). Such implementation makes sense for gyms, which immediately see the benefits of reduced waiting times for consumers to enter the gym, less risk of lost, stolen, or misappropriate membership usage, and so on. Consider installing a modern sign-in system for your members, and enjoy the benefits a digital installation brings to your gym and its customers.  

Look no further than the ASUS Mini PC series for anything related to installing modern digital signage or other installations for your business.

Consumer behaviour is changing. Modern fitness establishments need to keep up if they want to remain relevant in an era of digital fitness apps, online classes, and smart software like Strava and Peloton. Modern consumers expect strong, swift internet access, smart interactivity, and more. Make sure your gym is ready for the modern gym-goer today. Use ASUS technologies to transform your gym environment into a modern, connected exercise centre: ASUS Business