March 2008

Fitness Goes High-Tech

If you're looking for a way to help your health or fitness club members get connected and take advantage of some technological workout inspiration, there's some good news from Nike and Apple. After revolutionizing the way people run with the Nike + iPod, the companies are now planning to bring the experience to gyms around the world.

Nike and Apple are working with major gym equipment manufacturers—among them, Life Fitness, Precor, Star Trac and Technogym—to make their cardio equipment Nike + iPod compatible. That means your members will be able to use their Nike + iPod to track their workouts on treadmills, ellipticals, stationary bikes and stair climbers, simply by plugging their iPod nano into the equipment before beginning their workout.

People have long been relying on technology to help pump up their workout motivation. The new introduction of Nike + iPod to the health club scene will simply ratchet this motivation up one more notch.

"We're enabling people who go to the gym an opportunity to set goals, track progress and compete in challenges with their friends and with other members of www.nikeplus.com," said Trevor Edwards, Nike's vice president of global brand and category management. "It's a groundbreaking tool for people who want to maximize their workouts."

At participating gyms, including 24 Hour Fitness nationwide and Virgin Active Health Clubs internationally, members will soon be able to use Nike + iPod to track their workouts and log their data. Personal trainers will be able to use coaching tools to help clients chart their progress.

To date, Nike + iPod runners have logged close to 50 million miles, making it the world's larges.t running club.

(Editor's Note: Having used Nike + iPod for a little more than 18 months, I can attest to the motivation that comes from challenging friends and family members to compete with you on logging the most miles or the fastest mile—as well as the sheer joy of seeing that little runner track your latest run. Not to mention the great feeling that comes at the end of a workout as Lance Armstrong or another athlete announces that I've just logged my fastest mile or longest run yet!)

For those who are unfamiliar with this growing tool, the Nike + iPod running experience combines the music on your iPod with personal coaching and fitness networking. Launched in partnership with Apple, Nike+ lets a runner's iPod nano talk to Nike+-enabled running shoes through a wireless connection. The nano then stores data on running time, distance, calories burned and pace, and downloads it to Nikeplus.com, where users can track their own data, as well as challenge others to compete in various contests.