047 Steve Groves: What iOS 11 Means To The Fitness Industry

With the recent update for Apple's iOS 11, today on the podcast we're learning about what this means to the fitness industry from the Chief Information Officer & Vice President of Good Life Fitness, Steve Groves. If you're like most of us in the fitness space, you've been hearing rumors for months about how Apple has been gearing up to change the landscape of how we do business, take payments, collect activity data and engage our members using GymKit and opening up the bidirectional NFC reading capabilities, along with so much more.

On episode 047, we're exploring this pivotal subject in depth to uncover the real truth behind how club staff, front desk, trainers, and everyone that compliments a member's journey will now shortly be able to serve at a higher level, and save the member valuable time by using this bidirectional NFC for the creation of a truly "seamless experience" that so many in our industry have been asking for.

This iOS update points the needle of progress in the right direction and opens up a future where using the iPhone to gain access to a club and all of its amenities with a simple fingerprint touch through the mobile device, is a reality.

Apple's NFC functions coming to the Apple Watch with watchOS 4, and iOS 11 might also be handling much more than just Apple Pay transactions and Passbook check-ins.

With over 2700 fitness technology companies listed on Angel List, and with the pivotal new updates for iOS 11, how do we get closer to clarity in a fast-expanding space?

The answer to that question and much more takeaways for club owners, operators, and fitness pros in this episode with Steve Groves.

About Steve Groves

Steve Groves is the CIO & VP at Goodlife Fitness with over 20 years of success in bridging the logistical and communication gaps between business leaders and their technical teams in order to achieve results. Steve is a industry pro who specializes in collaborating with senior management and company boards to drive the strategic use of technology, both to support employees and to delight customers. Steve is an expert in uncovering "the art of the possible" in terms of using digital technology to personalize the customer experience. He is a creative thinker with an eye towards the technology trends on the horizon and has extensive experience in ICT service management, Internet strategy, digital media strategy, mobile application design, productivity consulting and management of high performance teams.

Listen To Episode 047 As Steve Uncovers

• How to bridge the logistical and communication gaps between business leaders and their technical teams
• How we can drive the strategic use of tech to support employees and delight customers
• Ways digital technology is helping us personalize the customer experience
• How apple and IOS 11 are affecting the fitness industry
• Steve's journey of rising to CIO of Good Life Fitness
• The beginning stages of the World Wide Web
• Enhancements in communication between workout equipment and the Apple Health Application
• How AI is impacting the fitness space
• Smart Activity Coaching with the Apple Watch
• What we can learn from adjacent industries such as hospitality and retail
• How tracking may revolutionize personal training
• How Bi-directional NFC will create a more seamless user experience
• How Apple and Samsung are mimicking the capabilities of RFID chips within their phones
• Why a large portion of club operators are slow to adopt new technologies
• The need to fail fast and quickly abort projects that aren't working

Top 3 Takeaways From The Show

• Club owners and operators are at the beginning of an exponential increase in data communication with cardio equipment, the Apple Watch, and Apple's Health App as the connectivity of wearables and other fitness and wellness technology open up new API's and data silos beyond the 4 walls of the club.
• When it comes to game-changing advancements in the fitness technology space, it's important to keep a close watch on what Apple is up to in the next 6 months. The new iOS 11 updates are driving more precision accuracy standards to be established for wearables including heart rate information, treadmill speeds, and other activity data sets that will be fed into Apple's HealthKit and used by tech-savvy fitness organizations.
• It's important for all of us in the industry to remain curious regarding the future of technology so we can make the appropriate decisions from a budgeting and directional standpoint. However, Steve reminds us that trying to look too far out over the horizon is irrelevant, as the advancements in AI, robotics, and image technologies make it virtually impossible to predict how tech will transform the world in 10+ years. One thing is for sure, if there is change happening at the intersection of fitness and technology, by listening to this show you'll be connected to the pulse of what matters most for your fitness business.

Power Quotes From Steve

"I think for many of us, the holy grail of monitoring our health will be automatic tracking of what we ingest." - Steve Groves on the Fitness + Technology Podcast

"If I could take everything that I've learned over the past 5 years and apply it to one roll in our company, it would be personal training." - Steve Groves on the Fitness + Technology Podcast

What many of us in the technology space are trying to do is eliminate friction from various transactions that happen within our clubs." - Steve Groves on the Fitness + Technology Podcast

Experimentation comes with failure. For whatever reason, I don't think the culture of our industry is able to tolerate that very well. I'm hoping we start to see more companies that are willing to experiment with different technologies. Even when they fully know certain tech won't work properly or be adopted by their members." - Steve Groves on the Fitness + Technology Podcast

"We have to recognize when something isn't working, and be willing to kill a failed project within 30-60 days at the most." - Steve Groves on the Fitness + Technology Podcast

Members look to us as fitness and wellness experts. We can't only focus on the 2-3 hours a week they are using the facility. Organizations need to to think about the time their members spend outside of the gym." - Steve Groves on the Fitness + Technology Podcast

Resources Mentioned From Steve

• Steve Groves on LInkedIn
• Good Life Fitness on the web
• Good Life Fitness on facebook
• Good Life Fitness on Twitter
• Good Life Fitness on Instagram
• Good Life Fitness Group Training programs
• The new Apple iOS 11
• Bi-directional NFC
• Apple's Gym Kit
• Watch OS 4
• Jay Blahnik, Apple
• LIke The FIT-C Facebook Page
• Fitbit is surging after it announced a big health partnership: Continuous glucose monitoring
• My Fitness Pal
• Runkeeper
• 019 Brian Hayden: The Future of Strength Training
• ResMed S Plus
• 045 Lee Embley: The Evolution of Fitness & Wellness Technology
• iOS 11 could use the iPhone's NFC chip for more than Apple Pay
• Advertisers are furious with Apple for new tracking restrictions in Safari 11
• IHRSA Conference 2018
• How To Keep Innovators Happy? Use The 'Dandelion Principle'

Thanks To Our Outstanding Sponsors

• Bryan O'Rourke and his family of companies including Vedere Ventures, Integerus Advisors, and many more. If you are looking for unmatched guidance, capital, insights or a great speaker or facilitator, Bryan and his partners are the go to resource for your organization. To learn more visit bryankorourke.com
• The Fitness Industry Technology Council, your non-profit resource for reliable technology information supported by forward looking brands who are seeking to drive increased technology adoption in the fitness industry. Make a difference and join FIT-C at fittechcouncil.org today
• Check out Bryan and his partner Robert Dyer's recent book "9 Partnership Principles: A Story of Life Lessons" which is available now on Amazon.com

Become A FIT-C Podcast Sponsor

• Contact the Fitness Industry Technology Council to become a Podcast Sponsor
• Review our various options for Sponsorship
• Send us a Facebook Message