Posted 11/12/2012 - 7:56:46 AM
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NEW YORK—Hoteliers on the lookout at IHMRS for what’s trending in fitness center equipment can expect to see a distinct push toward increased technology in a variety of pieces.
According to Marty Weinbaum of Gym Source, “More and more equipment is being installed with Internet capabilities, not necessarily interactive, but working off the Internet, getting information.”
He noted such technology is showing up on all types of equipment: “Everything from cardio equipment to strength equipment. It gives people the ability to see how machines are used, as well as getting information, newsfeeds, etc. from the Internet while they’re working out.”
The technology also allows for the workout experience to be personalized. For example, Weinbaum noted he could hook up his iPad Touch to any of the Gym Source machines and view videos or watch a seminar he might have recorded and listen to the information while working out.
Beyond technology, Weinbaum is seeing a trend toward smaller facilities and hence, smaller pieces of equipment, such as an elliptical machine less than six feet in length or a single station multigym that takes up a three-foot by three-foot space.
In a smaller space, hoteliers looking for a single piece of equipment are going for “a cardio piece because that’s what most people use,” said Weinbaum. “But even in facilities as small as 500 sq. ft., they’re going with one or two pieces of cardio and a multigym.”
