Technology innovations are increasingly shaping the direction of the fitness and leisure industry, with the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) having recently named wearable technology as the number one fitness trend for 2016 in its annual foresight report.

Gym operators and fitness professionals need to incorporate new technology, and also be able to communicate to their members how it will benefit them. Luckily now more than ever, users are willing, if not eager, to invest time into educating themselves about their own health and wellbeing.

Recognising this, Wattbike – creators of the world’s most advanced indoor bike – has launched the updated Wattbike Hub, an app that provides everything a fitness consumer now demands: tests, workouts and plans, as well as feedback and workout analysis. The Wattbike Hub acts as a portable personal trainer that users can take with them wherever they go, regardless of whether they’re training on a Wattbike at home, in their gym or abroad.

The Tests
Initial tests through the app – such as the Wattbike three-minute or 20-minute tests – calculate users’ Maximum Minute Power (MMP) and Functional Threshold Power (FTP) scores, as well as their personal training zones. From this data, the Wattbike app makes each workout and training plan personalised to the rider, while also charting their progression over time.

The Workouts
The new workouts are standalone sessions which the user can select and ride against. They are based on the results from the tests performed on the Wattbike and use motivational ‘traffic light’ colour-coded dials to show whether the user is hitting their targets, or to indicate if they need to be pushing themselves harder.

The Plans
From the tests and workouts, the plans are created. Multi-week training programmes provide long-term training goals for the user – ideal for those who have specific goals or planned categories relating to sport-specific training, set durations such as winter training or pre-season programmes, for instance.

With such a strong standing in professional sport, Wattbike is also able to present training plans created by elite athletes – perfect for those with a competitive nature, whether they want to follow workouts from Joanna Rowsell-Shand’s 10-mile time trial workout, match the phenomenal power output that world class rugby players can generate, or take tips from some of the world’s leading coaches.

Commenting on the new product launches, Richard Baker, commercial director at Wattbike, says: “There has been a rapid shift in the industry as the value of technology has been recognised. Users are increasingly using technology to monitor performance and goals. Consumers are now savvier than ever before about what they want from their fitness equipment and trackable data.

“Our updated app provides a service that the consumers now demand: full tests, workouts and programmes to assess, plan and track fitness all in one place – the palm of their hand.

“These unique digital training solutions will significantly enhance the experience of any rider of any ability. By transferring data seamlessly through the app, riders can not only analyse their session but carry all their data with them wherever they go – as well as sharing results through social media channels, helping riders build a training community... and healthy competition!”

The app also introduces a library feature where the user can see recently started workouts and tests, as well as saving their favourites which can then be loaded instantly on the next workout.

As consumers are now information-hungry for trackable data, a new history section is included to give a more detailed breakdown of the workouts and tests that have been performed.

The Wattbike Hub is free to download and available on iOS and Android, working on both tablets and smartphones. The open API will allow data to be shared across personal tracking apps such as Strava.