"‘I train three times a week but I’m still fat!’ Does this sound familiar? Are your members questioning their results?” asks Matt Pengelly, managing director at Johnson Health Tech UK.

“It’s not enough to commit to a gym membership, get on a treadmill occasionally and press ‘Quick Start’. Most of your members will not see results, will lose motivation and will face what we’re terming ‘Fitness Failure Syndrome’ (FFS),” he continues. “Allow this to happen and wave goodbye to your retention rates.”

The solution
“To tackle this issue, we approached it from the member’s perspective and stepped back to see the bigger picture,” Pengelly continues. “Technology is now an undisputed part of our daily lives and plays an increasingly key role in our fitness and health. But there’s a problem,” he says.

“Not everyone buys a heart rate monitor or counts their calories; a small percentage do and those people are already halfway there – likely to be the fit and focused, low risk members of any facility. But what about the members needing more guidance, who don’t care or understand about tracking or find it too complex? This could be up to 70 per cent of your gym population – a number that can’t be ignored.

“How can your trainers and your staff identify these members and help them towards their goal?” asks Pengelly. “A masterstroke here would have a direct impact on your bottom line.”

“What’s needed is a system that helps you track the activity and performance of each individual member, offering a bespoke member journey for both the ‘fit and focused’ members and the remaining 70 per cent – a system that’s simple enough to engage everyone,” he concludes.

The habit loop
“To solve this, we launched our Connected Solutions to provide an open platform that’s much more than a collection of hardware, software and connectivity options,” says Pengelly. “Designed to combat member struggles and help your entire team support, encourage and interact with them. It identifies changes in behaviour, often before the member has realised change themselves.”

The process that Connected Solutions creates for members links back to the idea of ‘The Habit Loop’, a framework devised by Charles Duhigg.

Duhigg proposed that habits are created by a cue, a routine and a reward – all of which cultivate a craving that drives the loop. In this sense, members face a cue that encourages them to get fit. For example, weight loss, a summer holiday, an Iron Man challenge or a wedding.

On entering a facility that offers Matrix Connected Solutions, their routine and reward are already in place (the reward will differ depending on whether they’re a fit and focused member or in the ‘70 per cent’ group) allowing the habit to strengthen, driving lasting change and goal success.

All Matrix products support Connected Solutions, including elements designed to add value to members’ journeys and ensure results.

Data captured through key touch-points provides you with a level of insight and business intelligence into your membership base that allows you to keep each and every customer on track, thus supporting business objectives.

CONNECTED Solutions elements include:
Workout Tracking App
Implementing this singular tracking solution, branded to your facility, will allow your fit and focused members to capture data from all their fitness apps in one place, create personalised goals, set challenges and applaud others through activity-based social feeds.

Members can also use the ‘Request Training’ functionality, while your sales team can send ‘refer a friend’ incentives to encourage new members.

Your team will also receive ‘at risk’ notifications so you can take action when a ‘70 per cent’ member shows signs of inactivity or disengagement.

Mass targeting options are integrated so your team can use push notifications to promote classes, training or in-club discounts while reward programmes can be linked to deepening engagement and foster community. The network streamlines the management of your facility and the dashboard gives a virtual snapshot of real-time member activity.

Trainer Portal
The Trainer Portal works in addition to the Workout Tracking Network app, allowing you to capture and engage every member and virtually connect with them individually or en masse.

Trainers can view member information, create signature exercise programmes and assign individual and group workouts. They can also set personal and group challenges, send “Workout of the Day” notifications and assess progress virtually through any web-based platform.

Members can provide instant feedback, check their training schedule and share fitness data to help trainers hold them accountable and maximise their results – really important when considering the ‘70 per cent’ group.

Asset Management
If your equipment is healthy, members are happy. Accessed via any web-based platform, this solution offers a 360-degree view of equipment status, automatically notifying you of any performance concerns using a colour-coded system.

The platform monitors usage patterns to maximise product life, making it easy to identify the optimum, most cost-effective product mix for your space. You can even manage offline equipment and data from multiple facilities through a single channel.