According to the annual Worldwide Survey of Fitness Trends for 2015, there are 20 fitness trends predicted to drive the market next year; this list includes the Top 5. The results of this annual survey help experts in the health and fitness industry to make informative investment decisions when utilizing gym software.

Results also help club owners to possibly incorporate and establish new trends into their clubs that may potentially increase club revenues. Remember, tracking new club trends incorporated into your health club is easy with gym software. When considering the results of this survey, it?s important to distinguish the difference between a trend and a fad. A trend is based on present behavior whereas a fad is an interest in something new for a very brief period of time.

Top 5 Predicted Fitness Trends for 2015

1. Body Weight Training: This trend made its first appearance in 2013 and is taking the lead as the top predicted trend for next year. Body weight training is a worldwide growing trend offering gym enthusiasts the option of working out using minimal gym equipment combined with exercises such as pull-ups, push-ups, and more.

2. High-Intensity Interval Training (HIIT): HIIT training was in the top spot last year and has fallen to the number two spot this year. This type of training involves high-intensity workouts combined with brief periods of recovery and rest. The high-intensity portion of this type of workout is generally short and the entire routine takes about 30 minutes or less.

3. Increased Interest in Certification: With an increase in accreditation offers, this is a trend that continues to grow. Due to the increase in industry growth and an overcrowded fitness professional market, more-and-more fitness professionals are seeking accreditation from third-party accrediting agencies.

4. Strength Training: This type of training dropped to the top four spot last year and remains there this year. Strength Training is a workout that exclusively utilizes weight throughout the entire workout. It continues to be a strong trend and favorite amongst gym enthusiasts with many new younger clients.

5. Personal Training: With an increased interest in fitness professionals becoming certified, there continues to be an increased interest in personal training as well. Personal training has made the top 10 list of trends for nine consecutive years. Personal trainers are available through many fitness organizations and in many different settings with many being self-employed.

As fitness trends continue to come and go, ABC Financial gym software is here to stay and will continue to help your business grow and thrive year-after-year!

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Your members have one goal, and that is to get fit. There are countless ways for them to reach that goal and every year there seem to be new ways to get in shape. There were many fitness trends in 2014, but only some of them have the staying power to make it to 2015. Here is what was hot, and might be cooling down, for 2014:

High-Intensity Interval Training

High-intensity interval training, or HIIT, classes involve exercise done in short bursts but at a very high intensity. Short periods of rest follow the bursts of high-intensity activity. CrossFit and P90X fall into this category, and were the number one most popular trend in 2014. There is a high potential for injury from this type of exercise, though, and it is only good for people who are already fit. This could begin to discourage new exercisers from joining these types of classes.

Body Weight Training

Body weight training is for those who want to get strong, but do not want to carry around a great deal of equipment. The exerciser?s own body weight is the resistance, and this is a back-to-basics kind of training. Pushups and lunges are good examples of body weight exercises. This type of class helps build strength, muscle, heart health, and helps burn fat. Body weight classes have been popular for years, and will most likely become more popular in the coming year.

Small Group Personal Training

Most people think of personal training as one-on-one. Many trainers are holding small group classes that allow more individualized attention than large boot camp style classes, but are more affordable than one-on-one personal training. Small group training is usually two to six people, and participants split the cost of the personal trainer?s time. The more people in the small group, the less expensive the training session is, but the less individual attention each person gets. Personal training is expected to grow in popularity for the near future.

Fitness Programs for Older Adults

Baby boomers are aging into retirement, and many of them have more disposable income than younger gym goers. Many gyms are creating fitness programs that are tailored to older adults. Most gyms are slow mid-morning between the early morning exercisers and the lunchtime crowd, and this is an ideal time to encourage older adults to come in and exercise. Not only is this good for the older clientele because they can exercise when the gym is quiet and not crowded, but it brings in additional revenue for the gym during a time of the day that is normally slow.

Running all of these different types of programs can be a balancing act for any gym. The right fitness club software is essential to making sure you are getting the most out of your fitness class revenue. The New Year?s rush is right around the corner and you do not want to turn off new clients with poor scheduling and long lines at the front desk. Check us out today and see what we can do to help make your gym the most popular in town.

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Whether you want to lose or gain weight, sculpt or just trim your body, you have decided that this is the year to seriously hit the gym. Congratulations on choosing to get healthy and for setting this New Year?s resolution. But after your first few visits to your local health club you may start asking yourself: What was I thinking?

You?re not alone, and there are many people who will start 2014 with unrealistic expectations based on insanely lofty goals. If you start off with something as impractical as wanting to pump your way to Arnold Schwarzenegger?s physique, you are more than likely going to come away extremely disappointed at year?s end.

Dr. Martin Binks is the CEO and clinical director of Binks Behavioral Health in North Carolina, specializing in life coaching, weight loss and health programs. He has identified five of the most likely reasons resolutions fail and how you can keep your commitment to visit the gym regularly:

• Unrealistic goals
• Expecting something magical
• Surrounded by temptation
• Too many resolutions
• Going in blind

You must realize it is difficult to lose 30-50 pounds in a few months time, as so many outrageous infomercials suggest. Whether you?re going to the gym to put on weight or take it off, remember both take time. Realistically, a healthy goal to set is either losing or gaining up to 2 pounds per week. If you want or need to lose significant amounts of weight, and you expect instant results, you are going to likely fail. Try something simple like aiming to lose 50 pounds over the course of the entire year. It?s not unrealistic to lose 1-2 pounds each week, and there are activity calculators and calorie-counting charts online to help you on your fitness journey.

For example, a person must burn 3,500 calories to lose 1 pound of body weight. If a 250-pound man or woman just sat around and relaxed 12 hours a day and slept the other 12, that person would burn approximately 2,700 calories over 24 hours. If that same person set their daily calorie intake at 1,700, he or she would burn 1,000 calories a day = 7,000 calories a week. Now, look at that. This person has burned off 2 pounds in seven days just like that.

Now, imagine what you can accomplish if you hit the gym and exercise. Also, you can?t expect to achieve your goal, if you surround yourself with unhealthy and tempting foods like sweets and sugary sodas. A healthy diet will go a long way with your trips to the gym to helping you make your resolution happen.

Finally, set and focus on one goal at a time. If you do that, rather than trying to accomplish multiple goals, you will have a better chance of making your resolution a reality. Do your research, be realistic and even employ the buddy system then you will find making that trip to the gym all the easier to do.

SOURCES:

• abcnews.go.com/blogs/health/2011/12/20/5-reasons-why-your-new-years-resolution-will-fail
• healthstatus.com/calculate/cbc
• caloriecount.about.com

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Are you tired of your old fitness routine and need something to liven it up again? I know mine needs revitalizing. Maybe we need to switch it up and find out what is new and exciting for 2014 in the fitness world.

One way to freshen up our workout is with The American College of Sports Medicine?s (ACSM) top 2014 fitness trend?High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT), sometimes packaged as P90x or Crossfit. This calorie-burning exercise provides maximum benefit for a minimal amount of time, averaging 30-45 mins. per routine (and who of us doesn?t need to save time?). This includes warm-up and stretch down. In HIIT you work hard in short bursts of activity doing a mix of anything from sprinting or jumping jacks to overhead presses or lunges and more, breaking it up with brief recovery intervals. The best part is that you can choose the exercises that interest you. HIIT makes for a time-friendly high-energy cardio workout.

But don?t stop with the cardio blast. You and I both know that we need to round it out with work on strength and endurance. Other top fitness trends reported by ACSM includes body-weight training and strength training, each of which would meet the requirement of the 2008 Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans, promoting at least 2 or more days of muscle-strengthening exercise activities a week. Body-weight training, as its name implies, uses the weight of your own body in exercises such as pull-ups, push-ups, and planks to strengthen your muscles. Strength training is probably not new to you since, if you aren?t using them yourself yet, you have seen plenty of action in your gym with weight machines from others like you intent on a total body experience. The weights are just waiting for you at your gym to get started in this valuable part of your perfect 2014 workout.

Maybe you just don?t know where to begin with a new routine or you need a little extra motivation. Go with a variation of a long standing top fitness trend. Sign yourself up for a personal trainer. The variation is a big plus for us. Professionals surveyed by ACSM were sensitive to the economy and more particularly to our budgets, encouraging personal training groups instead. A personal trainer can optimize your cardio and strengthening fitness routine in a way that perks your interests and meets your time constraints. And doing it in a small group of old or new friends is a motivation in itself for your gym time.

Taking advantage of these top 2014 fitness trends will fire you up for a new and exciting workout catered to meet your time and budgetary constraints and unique interests. Are you fired up for your workout yet? I am.

Works Cited
Thompson, Walter. ?Now Trending: Worldwide Survey of Fitness Trends for 2014.? ACSM?s Health & Fitness Journal 17.6 (2013): 10-20. Web. 13 Feb. 2014.

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Did you know that 80% of health club members today carry a smart phone and that 62% of all internet access now happens on a mobile device? Another growing trend is the use of mobile apps. The average US smartphone user has 41 apps on their phone. Now more than ever it is time to consider a mobile app for your club! Your mobile app can encompass your entire club experience making connectivity to your members and prospects never more than a tap away on their phone.

What can a mobile app do for your club?

A mobile app customized to your club can provide members with optional features like club card check in, class viewing, sharing, and registration, updating account information and bill pay, making club purchases with their card on file, booking personal training sessions, logging workouts, getting up-to-date club news with push alert notifications, referring friends, having portals of contact into each club department and one click access to all club social media.

A mobile app is also incredibly valuable to prospects as well. From your app, prospects have immediate access to information and photo content about all of the facility amenities and programs. Prospects can also enroll for a trial pass right from your app or even join the club. There is no better tool for prospects to have on their phones to guide them into the best membership experience at your club. Your app is your entire club experience in the palm of their hand.

How can my custom club app drive revenue?

Your app can impact revenue in several ways. One of the primary tools that drive revenue for clubs is maximizing the app as a communication tool with informational and promotional content. Each time someone downloads the club?s app they are essentially subscribing to you. This means they will receive instant communication from you via push alert notification. Push alerts pop up on your phone like a text message for maximum member and prospect connectivity. Great examples of push alerts are, ?Tomorrow only bring a friend to free to Boot Camp!? One club that sent this push alert on a Friday got 23 new prospects on a Saturday. How about, ?Click here to refer 3 friends and get a free t-shirt on your next visit.? One club that ran this promotion received over 75 referrals all from one push alert.

Another great way clubs are using their app to increase revenue is by incorporating a member perx program where members save their way to a free membership by getting discounts in the local community. Clubs charge businesses a monthly fee for a listing in their mobile app and website and in return businesses gain controlled access to a more affluent population of your community ? your members. Everyone wins! On average clubs add $2,000-$5,000 for charging merchants to participate in their perx program

How do I get started on a mobile app for my club?

Club Apps offers custom mobile apps that provide your members and prospects with access to your entire club experience at the palm of their hands. By incorporating the club personality with key functionality Club Apps guides you through a step by step process of selecting the features and a design best for your club.  It is not too late to have a mobile app for the New Year! For more information please visit Club Apps at www.clubapps.com.

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Find out what else Kris has to say about ABC Financial and how we have made running his business easier.

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Club Apps offers custom mobile app solutions for health clubs that encompass the entire member and prospect experience. Combine this with a completely custom design that captures your club personality and brand experience and you need look no further for your mobile app solution!

Some of our industry leading features we offer are:

• Check-In with Your Phone Instead of a Keytag
• One-Time Registration to Validate Membership Status
• Join the Club Directly From the Mobile App
• Send Push Alerts to Members
• Make Payments
• Update Personal Information
• View Schedule & Check-Ins
• Purchase Sessions, Services and Classes with Card On File
• Schedule Personal Training Sessions

Testimonial – “Our mobile app is our maximum member engagement tool! Members use it to engage every aspect of our clubs but especially for club check-in, class info and booking, getting great discounts around our community and so much more. Having a mobile app also gives us an amazing ability to reach our members with breaking club news, promotions and club information through push alert notifications. Our app has been a revolutionary addition to our clubs!?
– Kim Kenyon, Gold?s Gym Duchess County, NY

For more information about Club Apps and how we can contribute to your club?s growth, click here or give us a call at 855.367.7379.

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