Fitness + Technology

This week, on the Fitness + Technology podcast, host Bryan O'Rourke welcomes friend and colleague Sean Maguire, MD and founder of Legend Club Management Systems. As one of the leading technologists in the fitness facility industry, Sean founded Legend in 2002 as a software solution provider for fitness club operators in the UK. Legend now provides leisure management software and outsourced service...

This week, on the Fitness + Technology podcast, host Bryan O'Rourke welcomes longtime friend Rick Mayo, founder and CEO of Alloy Personal Training Center. Initially started in 1992, Rick created Alloy in 2010, a consulting and licensing company as a platform for the Alloy personal training systems, with over 1000 clubs licensed worldwide. Rick shares his thoughts on how to effectively implement te...

This week, on the Fitness + Technology Podcast, Host Bryan O'Rourke welcomes Matt Wright, vice president of personal training and programming at City Fitness in Philadelphia, PA. Matt is a well-known trainer and at the cutting edge of programming, training and technology.  Powerful Quote:   23:03 "I think it's important that every single member we can direct them towards what's going to be most ac...

This week, on the Fitness + Technology podcast, Bryan welcomes Craig Miller, Chief Digital & Information Officer for Planet Fitness , the largest health club chain in the world, with 13 million members across 1800 clubs. Miller came to Planet Fitness via Sonic Drive-In, and he shares with F+T listeners his wealth of experience in the digital sphere and how data can be used to provide a competitive...

On this week's Fitness + Technology podcast, host Bryan O'Rourke welcomes, from beautiful Copenhagen, Denmark, Kenn Gudbergsen, co-founder of TrainAway. TrainAway is a mobile app that provides users, especially travelers, access to gyms directly on their phone. Recently, TrainAway partnered with IHRSA to offer a passport program that provides IHRSA member with a 25% discount and participating club...

On this week's Fitness + Technology podcast, Bryan joins us direct from the 2019 IHRSA Conference for a member roundtable entitled "Club Technology: Trends, Opportunities & Threats."  IHRSA is a global community of health and fitness professionals representing 8,000 member clubs in over 70 countries, whose goal is to grow, protect, and promote the health and fitness industry. This year, IHRSA memb...

This week, on the Fitness + Technology podcast, Host Bryan O'Rourke welcomes Cory Brightwell, co-founder and CEO of Chuze Fitness, a low cost – high value business model that started in California and has expanded into multiple states. Cory has been in the company for over a decade, and he talks with us about hospitality and the challenges of technology adoption.

This week, on the Fitness + Technology podcast, Host Bryan O'Rourke welcomes Dean Giamundo, the national director of sales at Jonas Fitness, Inc., which recently joined the Fitness Industry Technology Council. Dean has a background in the technology industry and at Jonas Fitness he helps teach management and facility owners how to apply technology to the industry.

Host Bryan O'Rourke welcomes the Retention Guru, Dr. Paul Bedford, to the Fitness + Technology Podcast. Dr. Bedford is the leading expert on retention in the world, and they waste no time delving right into Paul's area of expertise. How do gyms and health clubs regard their members, how can they use technology and analytics to customize and enhance member experience, and how can they retain member...

On this week's Fitness + Technology Podcast, host Bryan O'Rourke shares a webinar he presented to the International Council on Active Aging: "What are the future trends and current possibilities in technology." Regular listeners will remember a recent podcast with Colin Milner, founder and CEO of the ICAA. Bryan spends time discussing technological breakthroughs in robotics and artificial intellig...

This week, on the Fitness + Technology Podcast, Host Bryan O'Rourke welcomes David Minton, founder and director of The Leisure Database Company, purveyors of customer profiles, market data and site analysis for the fitness industry . The pair speak to us from the Grand Majestic Hotel in Bologna, Italy, where they have just spoken on a panel at ForumClub entitled "New consumers, new tools, new busi...

On this week's Fitness + Technology Podcast, Bryan discusses the Fitness Industry Technology Council's 2019 Tech Trend Report . Established in 2008 as a nonprofit membership organization, FIT-C's mission is to promote the responsible and effective adoption of technology in order to enhance user experience and improve business models for operators. Their annual trend report is a great way to keep a...

On this week's Fitness + Technology Podcast, Bryan welcomes veteran Australian fit-tech entrepreneur Deborah Goldberg to the podcast. Deborah came into the fitness industry ten years ago, with a focus of bringing Zumba to Australia, a nation with one of the world's worst obesity levels. Today, she works with AirFitness, designing tech products specifically for the fitness industry. She also launch...

This week, Bryan welcomes Australian fitness leader, Justin "JT" Tamsett , Managing Director of Active Management.  Bryan first interviewed JT seven and a half years ago, at the FILEX 2011 Fitness Convention in Sydney, Australia.  Despite the time that has elapsed, the pair find that many of the subjects they discussed then are still relevant today, from exploring ways to modernize the fitness ind...

This week, Bryan welcomes to the podcast Sharad Mohan, co-founder and CEO of fitness company Trainerize. Founded in 2008 as a consumer fitness app, Trainerize has pivoted to become an industry leader in fitness technology, allowing trainers to more easily find clients and provide them with custom meal plans, exercise routines, and much more. With three-hundred thousand active users and more than s...

This week, Bryan serves as a panelist at CanFitPro's World Fitness Expo. He is joined by CEOs and other industry leaders to discuss the future of fitness technology. Discussion topics include how technology can be used to improve peoples' lives and how it can be used to entice people to exercise and embrace wellness. The experts share their insights from decades of work in the field and what they...

This week, on the Fitness + Technology podcast we welcome Rasmus Ingerslev , chatting to us from Stockholm, Sweden. He is the Chairman of REPEAT in addition to IHRSA and Executive Vice Chairman of Wexer. Co-founder of the Danish Fitness & Health Organization, Rasmas has been noted as one of Denmark's top CEOs and has a formidable reputation in the global fitness + tech innovation space. Building o...

This week, on the Fitness + Technology podcast, Bryan O'Rourke welcomes Colin Milner , CEO of the International Council on Active Aging .  A leading expert on the health and well-being of older adults, Colin debunks myths surrounding the 50 and over crowd, particularly when it comes to tech savvy and their economic potential: Not only do adults over 50 make up half the number of all total adults,...

In episode 69 we invite President and CEO of Athlete Intelligence, Jesse Harper to join the podcast and discuss his unique perspective on how IOT has impacted sports today. Jesse has had numerous roles with Polar and within the fitness space. Now since 2012 he has been with Athlete Intelligence, the leading sports technology and data analytics company. In this episode we will discuss trends within...

For episode 68 we are grateful to talk with the former Netpulse President and now CEO of eGym North America, John Ford .   We pick the brain of John and discuss what's happening in the industry, what does technology really mean, where are we going and what are the pain points and opportunities.   Most of the focus in our industry has been focused on the people that are already part of our faciliti...

On episode 67 we visit with the SVP of Partner Relations at ABC Financial and FIT-C Board Member, Kelly Card . What is the gap or opportunity of terms like data? Kelly shares her views on data and how data is coming into the fitness industry. It has operators frozen in fear so what can we do to work together to utilize these tools and create tangible business results? Operators are getting an incr...

On episode 66 we invite both Jessie Ehren and Al Marez to join the podcast as we recap one of the worlds largest fitness convention, EuropeActive and FIBO 2018. Human Capital (the skills, knowledge, and experience possessed by an individual or population, viewed in terms of their value or cost to an organization) was the topic of this year's EuropeActive event and the perfect relation to Jessie's...

For episode 65 we invite Dave Tillman to join the podcast and discuss service automation and how Service Channel's new partnership with Ecofit can explore a whole new level of customer support. What's going to separate the guru genius brands from others, execution engines. Collection of data, enterprise platforms, automation (AI) and human capital will be key differentiators.  Listen in as David s...

For episode 64 we recap IHRSA 2018 and listen in to the Round Table discussion on Artificial Intelligence - The Future is Here. The round table panel consisted of Jeff VanDixhorn , Bryan K. O'Rourke and Victor Belfor while moderated by Delphine Carter and sponsored by Daxko .  Listen as the panel shares their thoughts on AI. Where has Artificial Intelligence come from, how does it relate to today'...

For episode 63 we sit down with CEO of Motosumo, Kresten Juel Jensen. Technology in the Group Fitness space has recently been a big trend. How do we address the challenges in this space and address the changes?   Group Fitness has the potential to create a community where members stay with a facility for years. There is a whole new level to this community and engagement that fitness technology can...