Tech Savvy workouts: the future or a cash grab

Remember that time as a kid when you would spend your lazy Saturdays on your consoles and tablets, scrolling through an endless list of games and apps, only for your mother to tell you off for spending too much time on them instead of going out and doing some physical activities. Well, mom, what if we told you that now, even during physical activities, people are still hooked on their gadgets thanks to the spike in technology-oriented sports facilities and fitness studios.

Here in Qatar, and frankly all around the world, gyms and fitness studios are opening at exponential rates. CrossFit studios, high-intensity interval training (HIIT) gyms, Pilates classes, etc. are spreading like wildfire across the relatively small country. Of course, the national attention and emphasis given to sports cannot be removed from the context of Qatar’s 2030 Vision, as well as the fact that in less than three years, Qatar will be hosting one of the grandest sporting events in the world; the 2022 FIFA World Cup.

For most of those new gyms, however, the issue is not to simply celebrate a fancy grand opening and then have all your customers bail on you after their free trails end, but rather it’s to stand out enough that you offer an experience that transcends mere physical exercise. No longer is going to the gym and just working out satisfactory for customers, instead, they expect to be entertained and engaged as if they were signed up to an amusement park and not a gym, and that’s when technology kicks in.

Many of the newly opened gyms in Qatar, such as Ox Fitness Lab, Encore, and Australian fitness brand, F45, have attracted attention to themselves by presenting themselves as the alternative and modernized way of working out. Such gyms are mobile-app based, and not only for the purposes of confirming bookings, completing payments, browsing for merchandise, etc., but even also for providing entire fitness and diet programs for the sake of the consumers’ convenience.

Also, these studios engage their customers in competitions and prizes that are based on their physical performance measured by gadgets like Fitbits and Apple Watches. For instance, each customer’s gadget would measure the number of calories they burned during the workout, and then the studio would record these numbers and give away prizes, such as meal plans and bonus classes, to those with the highest number at the end of the competition’s cycle

“It’s a mentality of connectiveness,” said Renato Marcus, senior trainer at F45’s Education City branch, “The apps and the other technologies help people book classes together, compete together. It’s like our own inclusive sports family.”

In fact, the case of Education City’s F45 studio is particularly interesting because within Education City, there are numerous sports facilities provided for students that are free of charge, yet many students are switching allegiances to F45, despite its pricy rates. It is true that the studio provides significant discounts for students, but the discounted prices are still hundreds and thousands of riyals more expensive than what is literally free.

But to assume that technology on its own is a sufficient driving force to get people to opt for more expensive gyms rather than traditional gyms that are free of charge – I repeat: FREE OF CHARGE – is somewhat of a stretch.

“It’s like the best of both worlds,” said Ali Al-Thani, an Education City student who switched from the free gyms to F45, “you get the physical exercise needed but also you feel excited when you work out.”

What the integration of technology in sports facilities does is that it amps up the engagement level of those exercising and makes them always alert and active during their workouts, which ultimately has health benefits. If customers knew that there was a pot of gold made of bonus classes and merchandise at the end of the rainbow that is exercising, they would most likely step up their game in order to claim those prizes, and that undoubtedly is a health benefit regardless of winning the prizes or not. And adding to the health benefits technology contributes to, the screens in these gyms that display the proper form of a specific exercises help prevent those exercising from sustaining injuries caused improper exercise form.

The integration of technology in sports was an eventual step in the current digital age. We are so reliant on technology in our everyday lives, whether for texting friends, ordering groceries, figuring out whether your boyfriend is great or just a racoon (actual BuzzFeed quiz…). And so, to see technology takeover its antithesis, which is physical exercise, is almost ironic, but it was pretty much inevitable.

“The digitalization of sports is almost a reflection of our media consumption,” said Róisín O’Shea, head of business development at StubHub’s UK office, “Sports facilities are trying to attract you through keeping you in your comfort zone.”

Not only that, but considering the significant global spike in health awareness, it has become ‘trendy’ to be active, which means eating healthier, exercising on regular basis, making sure to tell all your friends who aren’t exercising that they’re lifestyles are fundamentally wrong, etc. and gyms and fitness studios or quick to pick up on that trend and practically milk the cow of innovation and marketing to stand out to consumers.