Gym's are the future of consumer facing tech!

Yes - you read that correctly...

Gyms hold the keys to the future of technology.

THAT IS NOT A MISPRINT.

How do you predict the future? The answer is that you can't... all you can do is look at the past, look at the trends, look at the data and predict future results. It's how insurance companies make money, its how traders make money, its how venture capital and private equity make money... Taking all of the data you have and using it to predict and/or hedge future results. 

What does all of this data tell us about the future of consumer facing tech, in the health and wellness industry?

Consumer facing technology thrives when it drives MORE human engagement… not less! That we know.

The biggest wins in consumer facing technology have been assets that save time and/or scale human engagement… Solutions that leverage existing resources to create a better problem solver than the existing problem solver. Yet, when it comes to wearable technology we spend so much time trying to replace human engagement, instead of making it better. So much time trying to create a better mousetrap, rather than making the one we have more effective and efficient.

There has been a lot of buzz since the Consumer Electronics Show talking about how Under Armor has made an even bigger dent in the space that they are already leading. With their launch of Health Box and now more clearly articulated partnerships with IBM-Watson and HTC, they appear to be further securing their strong-hold on the future. Are they though? 

When looking at why any company does anything, we have to look at the players behind these innovations and ask ourselves what their real motivations are…

Under Armour (Kevin Plank) has been quite clear on his objective… beat Nike. Nothing else. Just beat Nike. How does UA’s new connected fitness help do this?

 1- Make better product - UA knows that the average run, in the US, is 3.1 miles (not 1 mile, not 4 miles.) Armed with this information, they can make the best shoe possible for the 3.1 mile a run. A solution that solves the most acute problem for the largest amount of people. 

2- Sell more product - UA can use what they call their “daily Super Bowl sized audience” to push offers that have the highest ability to convert into sales. They can promote running gloves to an avid runner who is going to be in Chicago for 7 days where the forecast is predicting zub-zero temperatures.

As everybody is scrambling for a solution to a society-crippling problem, who really has the asset that everybody else needs and wants? The commercial fitness industry!

No matter what model of behavior change you look at, the most difficult to move drivers are Motivation and Accountability and the data tells us that these are most positively impacted by coaching… between people… actual human beings.

The commercial fitness industry has what everybody else wants, the coaches; they just don’t know what to do with them! People are never going to be accountable to tech alone... it's why existing products are great for people who are already self-accountable, yet don't do a heck of a lot for the people who want to change, but need a little help (the biggest pool of users, by the way.) Not help relative to education, information, or process, but help relative to accountability. We know that, historically speaking, all of the significant trends in the fitness industry have been driven by accountability, so why should expect anything else in the future? 

We now know that we can get a ton of super valuable data, but what can be done with it?

1- Under Armor can use it to try and beat Nike, but that doesn't make anybody any healthier. Aside from maybe Kevin Plank's kid, because he can afford to pay for better coaches. 

2- Most wearable company's are using it as an asset, to get more users (for now) and to sell it (later,) but that's not making anybody any healthier.

3- There are some entities in the commercial fitness industry who are trying to use it by framing it (consolidating it) into a pretty picture so Gyms can sell it to healthcare payers to get membership subsidies... but that certainly isn't making anybody any healthier. 

If you ask me... the best way to actually help people, is to take all of this data and use it to deliver actionable insights through an entity that can actually drive change... coaches. The commercial fitness industry needs to realize that the changing times better position them for the future...

no need to be afraid, just step up and take it!