Virgin Active Health Clubs reveals over half of UK members using wearables to enhance workouts

New data released by Virgin Active Health Clubs in the United Kingdom reveals that of over half of their members are using technology to aid their workouts.

The research reveals that of 2,000 UK members, 54% were “using additional tech or kit to improve their workout”, showing the upward trend of wearables and similar health tracking technologies in the fitness industry.

As reported by Forbes, while over half said they use some kind of technology to improve how they they workout, 40% of members said they use technology to actively track their activity, such as measuring heart rate and calories burnt to help keep note of how their fitness is improving.

Out of all the data taken from members, regularly counting steps was the least popular way of using technology to measure their fitness while the most popular was measuring heartrate at 23%.

The next most popular technologies was keeping track of calories, followed by measuring distance travelled.

Virgin Active has always been a technology innovator, recently becoming the first gym in Europe to introduce Apple GymKit technology via the Apple Watch to cardio equipment. This allows any of its members using Apple Watch to wirelessly synchronise their devices to the gym’s treadmills, ellipticals, indoor bikes and stair steppers so they can accurately record their workout data without having to go to the trouble of setting it up manually.

As part of the release of its report, Virgin Active announced the launched of new classes designed to condition and strengthen the body: HEAT, Run Tribe, Punch and Ro. They are also pushing new Barre classes, combining the grace of classical ballet with yoga’s poise and Pilates’ strength.

Image: Virgin Active's new HEAT program.

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