Gym owners must find ways to keep members motivated.
What can you do to stop this cycle? There are many strategies for keeping members engaged, but in this post, the focus will be on how to motivate members via a standard piece of equipment in your gym, the heart rate monitor.
Why Heart Rate Tracking is Good for Members
Heart rate tracking was once used mainly by professional athletes who were intent on achieving specific heart training results. But, as heart rate monitors have become more mainstream, exercisers are reaping significant rewards from heart rate training.
The Fox News story, "Who Should Use a Heart Rate Monitor?" notes,
"Anyone can use a heart rate monitor, from children to seniors, and amateurs to elite athletes. They can provide valuable feedback for those who want to take a walk around the neighborhood or those who are striving to finish or win a professional game or race ... They are intended to help people exercise at the right intensity and listen to their bodies so they can achieve their goals while not over-exerting and potentially harming themselves."Heart Rate Monitors Provide Education and Motivation
Gym members who are instructed in the right way to use heart rate monitors benefit greatly from such education. They learn how their workout intensity impacts their heart rate, thus learning also how to get the most from a workout.
Gym members who take the time to use a heart rate monitor are less likely to "tune out" while working out. Paying attention to their heart rate and trying to keep that rate in the right zone during a workout helps members focus fully on what they are doing and how their workout is progressing. This is one of the best ways of engaging your members during a workout.
Why does simply wearing a heart rate monitor provide extra motivation? It is largely because we are visually-oriented and results-driven. Visual cues are like a wake-up call to the brain, and watching those numbers on the heart rate monitor display go up or down with exercise intensity gives your gym members continual visual cues.
Huffington Post's "10 Things I Learned from My Heart Rate Monitor" lists some other insights gym members can gain from a heart rate monitor. Monitors:
- Help gym members see when their workouts are too easy or too difficult.
- Demonstrate the usefulness of interval training.
- Help gym members become more conscious of body cues during and after a workout.
- Help gym members see consistent progress toward physical fitness goals.
Equipping Your Gym Members with the Tools for Success
The most important tool you can give your gym members is education. Teach your members how to help their own bodies work for them instead of against them by providing instruction about the proper way to use heart rate tracking both in and out of your gym.
The AccuroFit heart rate monitor display provides motivating visual cues to your members.
The AccuroFit system is uniquely designed to increase member motivation through the use of heart rate monitors and visual displays that can be used individually or in a group fitness setting. And the AccuroFit mobile app helps keep your members focused on fitness no matter where they go. To see AccuroFit in action, please schedule a demo today and take a positive step toward keeping your members healthy, happy, and coming back to your gym day after day.
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