The wellness movement is fusing science, technology, medicine and lifestyle modifications to promote a holistic approach to a better quality of life. Club members are eagerly seeking a plethora of practical and integrated approaches to their wellness. These approaches are now customized to individuals’ fitness levels and habits through precise measurements and data collection via high-tech equipment that previously were only available in the doctor’s office or in the imaginations of science fiction authors.
Here are some of the advancements that are helping improve fitness, nutrition, healing and renewal through a variety of technological and preventative care.
Spa Treatments have always provided a sense of relaxation and wellness; however, today’s spas are partnering with physicians and health practitioners to create comprehensive and alternative approaches to health. Some of the types of programs offered include weight management, stress reduction, hormone replacement therapy, enzyme therapy, detoxification and cleansing, along with medical components like intravenous infusions with extensive diagnostic and laboratory testing (state of the art genetic risk factor assessment, blood and salivary testing, telomere length determination, exercise EKG, carotid intimal sonogram, resting metabolic rate, body composition analysis), and one-on-one encounters with age management and integrative wellness practitioners. Additionally, traditional treatments like massage, bathes and sauna are redefined through jade massage tables, float bathes and infrared sauna. Turnberry Isle in Miami has partnered with Optimal Wellness Physicians to create wellness day packages for members and resort guests. The partnership offers members a combination of treatments that will promote health, balanced nutrition, hormones, body, mind and detoxification.
Cardio-machines, treadmills, ellipticals, Stairmasters and other stationary equipment have enduring appeal and are common fixtures at all manner of
fitness centers and exercise rooms. The role of technology is increasingly important in improving the user’s experience with these machines, whether that is with a video monitor, Internet access, a simulated exercise environment (even low gravity options) or a link with your heart monitor. Research and technology’s value-add is getting broader and deeper with each succeeding generation of equipment. For instance, research by fitness equipment manufacturers regularly results in new and better-designed products that are safer and provide more effective workouts. Bonita Bay Club, in equipping its new lifestyle center, is closely considering the design aesthetic of new equipment and how those machines might be configured in “pods” that then lead to better group and social interaction.
Wearables in the form of miniaturized bracelets, monitors, pedometers, glasses and watches represent one of the most intriguing and rapidly morphing categories for health and fitness applications. These wearables—wristbands like Fitbit, Jawbone Up and Nike Fuel—are placing a mirror before us in which we see our “quantified self.” Millions are tracking their steps, their sleep, their heart rate, their glucose levels and their caloric intake. Increasingly, either medical or personal training expertise is interacting with all these data. Rapid feedback, behavioral “nudges” and positive reinforcement are all tools that can motivate the user and improve the likelihood of better outcomes. Not to be missed in all this is the prospect for making fitness more social and community oriented—which plays into a club’s strong suit.
What’s Coming Down the Road
Better technology. In the short run, better technology will be delivered in the form of improved monitors and smartphone applications. These will become smaller, easier to use and will have more intelligence built into them. The big picture that big data provides of your own particular health and wellness profile will look less like a scrapbook and more like a motion picture. The Apple Watch (aka, iWatch) will hit the market this spring. Look for it to provide a major impetus for health and exercise monitoring. The Apple platform (and eventually its Android counterpart) is a powerful stimulus for the further development of useful and inexpensive applications and will increasingly be a major component in the advancement of highly personalized approaches to exercise, fitness and medicine.
Better testing. InnerAge, a fitness-tracking company, analyzes a blood sample and scores it on five biomarkers to determine whether your body is younger or older than your chronological age. Test results suggest specific foods to improve your score. The test costs $99 and the company recommends testing 2-3 times per year to chart progress and customize the optimal diet.
Better integration. At the macro or societal level, we look for the convergence of technology, fitness, diet and health. The medical establishment is undergoing profound changes that challenge traditional health care providers to step into the broader arena of population health management. Their aim in so doing is to enlist the patient-consumer participation in lifestyle modifications and holistic approaches that will reduce or minimize the impact of debilitating chronic diseases or prevent the premature advance of conditions that can chip away at an active lifestyle. Health care systems are looking for partners in these ambitious behavioral programs. One such innovative collaboration in this issue of Club Trends has Bonita Bay Club bringing Lee Memorial Hospital into its new Lifestyle Center. More generally, we see clubs successfully incorporating fitness into myriad interests and pursuits: food, golf, tennis and wellness treatments. Technology is burrowing deeper into modern lifestyles, reinforcing and accelerating their effectiveness while also giving these activities a dimension that is simultaneously more personal and more social.
Better results. For clubs there will be a cascade of benefits flowing from a commitment to fitness, health and wellness. At one level, if members perceive their club as contributing to their own health and the enjoyment of an active life, then the value of that club membership grows. As the club membership becomes more engaged and healthier, then utilization and membership tenure will expand in a way that underscores the club’s own robust financial health. Clubs that place fitness, health and well-being at the center of their agenda are also likely to enhance the appeal of the club to the next generation, which has made exercise and work-out programs an essential element of their lifestyles. Finally, as clubs build a culture of health and wellness, it inevitably impacts its own employment and human resource policies. This, in turn, will have a beneficial influence on club employees: their productivity and loyalty will be strengthened, as will their satisfaction and alignment with the aims of members.
The science of fitness and wellness is building, but we are still in its early stages of development. Now is the time for clubs to set their priorities accordingly and explore the range of opportunities that exist for supporting healthy lifestyles.
Club Trends Spring 2015