Functional Training & Technology

Reprinted: Hotel Executive | By: Bryan Green, Founder-CEO, Fitness Design Group

Today’s best hotel and resort operators know that the lines between the commercial health club offering and the hospitality based fitness center are becoming increasingly blurred. A tremendous opportunity exists today for hotels and resorts to once again raise the bar and incorporate experiences crafted around trends that are presently driving the fitness industry. Hotels have long become sensitized to the fitness requirements of travelers, and more competitive in forming truly viable facilities for guests that crave their accouterments when away from home. Although space allocation and supervised environments remain a common constraint, the diversity in equipment and thoughtfulness required to create an inspiring place to sweat can be effected most anywhere with the right planning. In the world of fitness, two significant trends are driving the landscape by which new facilities are born, and existing spaces re-imagined:

Functional Training

Best defined as movements that involve mainly weight bearing exercises, targeted to stimulate and strengthen the activities of daily life, and without injury. Functional training continues to be one of top trends in the fitness world. Hospitality fitness facilities need to integrate this training methodology into their amenity. Incorporating a dynamic functional training zone is ideal for multiple programming while creating a social fitness community amongst end users.

aktiv-virtual-in-room-hotel-fitnessTechnology

Influencing the trends of nearly any emerging sector, technology is driving down the costs associated with delivering expert level guidance and world class motivation towards the needs of gym members, hotel guests, and within their very homes.

Together, these two factors are powering the emergence of socially driven exercise and virtually guided training sessions that are shaking the landscape of nearly every aspect of the fitness industry. The most notable manifestation of these trends is found in the proliferation of boutique fitness studios. These stand-alone, smaller footprint facilities, largely incorporate these influences to craft energizing fitness experiences that traditional health clubs are now desperately backpedaling to emulate. Hotel operators need pay further attention to these aspects, as they serve to create a more inclusive offering and thus are attracting a wider array of participants than ever before.

Next Week: Part II: All Things ‘Fun’-ctional | Hotel Executive

Learn how to apply the latest trends in fitness to your amenity.