Fitness + Technology

This week, on the Fitness + Technology podcast, host Bryan O’Rourke welcomes friend and FIT-C board member Dr. Ted Vickey to the show. Ted is an educator and advisor with over 25 years of experience and has played key roles as Executive Director for The White House, Senior Advisor for Fitness Technology for American Council on Exercise, and Committee Chair for the United States Golf Association. His doctoral background is in physical activity and social networking from National University of Ireland, Galway. He currently works as an assistant professor at Point Loma Nazarene University as a professor of kinesiology and is the founder of FitWell, a fitness technology management consulting company specializing in operations, design consulting, and professional development. This episode focuses on the dynamics behind health coaching and the impact of technology for fitness professionals. Bryan and Ted have an open conversation about the trends and what this means for the industry as a whole. If you are intereste

This week, on the Fitness + Technology podcast, host Bryan O’Rourke welcomes long time friend and fitness aficionado Dan McDonogh to the show. Dan is a fitness leader with over 20 years experience and has played key roles as Program Director and Senior Manager for Group Training & Athletic Performance for several global brands including Les Mills International, TRX, and Under Armour, respectively. He currently works as the Director of Performance Programming for GoodLife Fitness where he continues to drive brand awareness, growth, and retention through education and content engagement. This episode focuses on the impact and changes in the marketplace as a result of the pandemic and how industry professionals such as Dan have responded. One Powerful Quote:  20:54: “So when you’re now delivering experiences or sessions, don’t destroy them. Make it about the reunion. Make it about it we’re now back together and give them permission to ease back into it…Take it easy and make it about the regathering and the

This week, on the Fitness + Technology podcast, host Bryan O’Rourke welcomes long time friend and colleague Tim Keightley to the show. Tim heads up fitness operations and sales as a VP for Texas Family Fitness. His experience track record ranges from creating the largest personal training business in Europe to elevating some of the most successful health club operations in the US as fitness director for Fitness First UK, VP of sales & business development for Les Mills US, and VP of fitness operations for Gold’s Gym, respectively. Listeners will hear Tim’s insights into how he and his team used the pandemic to reorganize Texas Family Fitness and implement new guidelines for reopening their facilities. If you are interested in learning more about the virtual event “Closing The Health & Fitness Gap: How You Can Stay Competitive In the Gym Industry of the Future ” with Bryan, Tim, and Dana Milkie of eGym happening on Tuesday, June 16th at 1pm CST, you can register FREE here: https://egym.zoom.us/webina

This week, on the Fitness + Technology podcast, host Bryan O’Rourke welcomes long time friend and colleague Dana Milkie to the show. Dana is a key executive leader well known and respected throughout the industry including his positions as Senior VP of ABC Financial, President & CEO of InTouch Technology, and now VP of North America at eGym. As an expert in growth, resources, and profitability strategies, listeners will hear Dana’s insights from his new position and how he is changing the direction at eGym as a result of the crisis in business shutdown and uncertain consumer behavior. Also FIT-C's upcoming webinar "Conquering the Crisis. How Tech Will Help Gyms Pivot" will be on Tuesday May 12th at 2PM Eastern. You can register for FREE now here: https://egym.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_oYZTN6fBQ46tgqIsv5DfLA. We hope these conversations continue to be of value and interest to you as the situation continues. If there is anything we can do for you, again please reach out @bryankorourke or at bryankorourke

This week, on the Fitness + Technology podcast, host Bryan O’Rourke welcomes long time friend and business partner Robert Dyer to the show. Robert is a health club and fitness industry executive, leader, and entrepreneur with over thirty years of experience operating a variety of health club business models including consulting and advising fitness facility owners and global suppliers. His most notable position was CEO of Fitmarc, where he nurtured a team of fitness professionals into the largest distributor of Les Mills group exercise and business solutions in the U.S. He currently is an investor in Vedere Ventures, whose portfolio includes VertiMax, Motosumo, 24 Seven Fitness, and Moon Mission Media. Listeners will hear Robert’s advice on continuing to operate businesses and how to move forward together during these unprecedented times. We hope these conversations continue to be of value and interest to you as the situation continues. If there is anything we can do for you, again please reach out @bryankoro

This week, on the Fitness + Technology podcast, host Bryan O’Rourke welcomes esteemed colleague Blair McHaney to the show. Blair is currently the President and CEO of MXMetrics, the customer experience system developed by Medallia exclusively for fitness centers. As an educator, practitioner, and student of customer experience management, listeners will hear Blair’s practical thinking on the current state of the industry as it continues to grapple with the effects of COVID-19. We hope these conversations continue to be of value and interest to you as the situation continues. If there is anything we can do for you, again please reach out @bryankorourke or at bryankorourke@gmail.com. If you interested in learning more about MXM and their free access to the Membership Shutdown Survey, visit https://mxmetrics.com/fitness-industry-shutdown-survey/ to sign up. If you would like to learn more about MXM’s Idea Generation System, Crowdicity, register at https://mxmetrics.com/crowdicity/. One Powerful Quote:  34:30:

This week, on the Fitness + Technology podcast, host Bryan O'Rourke continues his second series of interviews with guests on the ongoing crisis of the coronavirus pandemic. Listeners will hear their insight into how their handling the situation from licensed franchise operations to communication strategies for crisis management. We hope these conversations continue to be of value and interest to you as the situation continues. If there is anything we can do for you, again please reach out @bryankorourke or at bryankorourke@gmail.com. Interview 1: Bryan is with Rick Mayo, Leading Franchisor of Alloy Personal Training in Roswell, Georgia. Rick and his team conduct over 60,000 personal training sessions a year with over 1000 clubs licensed worldwide. One Powerful Quote:  15:38: “Stay focus on the things you can do. There are so many things right now that are outside of our control…But there are a lot of things that we can control. Just focus on what’s right in front of you right now.” Bullet Points (w/ timesta

This week, on the Fitness + Technology podcast, host Bryan O'Rourke welcomes special guests from across the industry in wake of the coronavirus pandemic. As leading thinkers and experts in fitness and club operations, listeners will hear their foresight into the future and how you can stay prepared in this time of uncertainty. The upcoming podcasts will be a series of interviews we hope will be of value to you as this situation unfolds. If there is anything we can do for you, please reach out @bryankorourke or at bryankorourke@gmail.com. Please know, we will get through this. We wish everyone the best. Interview 1: Bryan is with Garrett Marshall, Leading Business Developer, Strategist, & Innovator of Xponential Fitness in Irvine, California. This chain has over 1,800 facility locations and an 8 brand network. One Powerful Quote:  8:47: “We did make a deliberate decision to not over communicate and stick to a 48-hour schedule, so that we could be more formally prepared, and you know, not having the team

This week, on the Fitness + Technology podcast, host Bryan O'Rourke welcomes brand and content strategist, Keri Roberts. Keri serves in a variety of roles, most notably as the podcast host for Inside VOICE and program director for VOICE Summit, one of the largest international conferences for chat and intelligence agents. As one of the leading marketers in the voice automation industry, listeners will enjoy hearing Keri’s thoughts as she and Bryan discuss the importance of implementing voice interface in your brand’s strategy. If you are interested in hearing Keri Robert’s Inside VOICE interview with Bryan on “Voice in the Fitness Industry”, you can listen to it here: https://anchor.fm/insidevoice/episodes/Voice-in-the-Fitness-Industry-with-Bryan-K-ORourke-e816j1 One Powerful Quote:  19:13: “I think voice is something that it’s not just a gimmick. It’s not just something that’s here for a bit and going to go away. It reminds me very much of when social media came out… Voice is and continue to be the same way.

This week, on the Fitness + Technology podcast, host Bryan O'Rourke welcomes back Matthew Januszek from CES 2020 in Las Vegas. CES, the Consumer Electronic Show, is one of the largest exhibitions in the world attracting business leaders and pioneering thinkers to a forum where many industry’s most relevant issues are addressed. Listeners will enjoy hearing Matthew’s deeper insights from this experience and the great impact it had on his view from their previous interviews.  One Powerful Quote:  7:07: “I think in the world of fitness just that the ability to kind of tailor information, support, guidance to you in a way that just never been possible in the history of the universe that was really, really powerful…Technology is a good thing because it allows us to do things that were never available before.”  4-10 Bullet Points (w/ timestamps) - Highlighting key topics discussed: 3:30: Matthew confesses that he felt uninformed on the impact of technology with the fitness/health industry before attending CES 2020.

This week, on the Fitness + Technology podcast, host Bryan O'Rourke welcomes business owner and fellow podcaster, Matthew Januszek. Matthew is the co-founder of Escape Fitness, which specializes in functional training experiences, and leads his own podcast Escape Your Limits. His show along with the success of his business have made Matthew a highly regarded figure in the space. Listeners will enjoy Matthew’s insights as he and Bryan discuss his background, technology adoption, and their overall thoughts on the industry.  If you interested in hearing Matthew Januszek’s podcast interview with Bryan on “Building Trust For the Future of Fitness”, you can watch it here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7b0kE524uYY&t=15s or download: https://escapefitness.com/us/podcast One Powerful Quote:  32:20: “I think with the world as it is and technology, you’ve got to find some way to just staying open and connected to all different parts of what goes on and sort of work out what information to pay attention to and what

This week, on the Fitness + Technology podcast, host Bryan O'Rourke welcomes friend and long-time supporter, Chris Stevenson. Chris has lead key roles in the space such as serving as an IHRSA Board Member, owner of Stevenson Fitness, and as the founder of Stevenson Consulting. As an international speaker and strategic business advisor, Chris is considered one of the leading thinkers in all aspects of the health club industry. Listeners will enjoy Chris’s view on the future as he and Bryan discuss the value of automation, the relevance in adopting technology, and keeping the human experience core to any operation.  One Powerful Quote:  16:23: “If at each point, each touch point in the customer journey, you’re able to create an awesome human element and a seamless technology element, you’re going to be successful. You’re going to make people happy.”   4-10 Bullet Points (w/ timestamps) - Highlighting key topics discussed: 3:32: Chris shares his thoughts on the latest adoption trends in the health club space and

This week, on the Fitness + Technology podcast, host Bryan O'Rourke welcomes friend and advocate, Emma Barry. Emma has lead key senior roles including Director of Group Fitness for Equinox and as a founder for group fitness exercise for Les Mills International. As an author, speaker, and advisor, Emma is considered one of the leading thinkers in the personal betterment sector. Listeners will enjoy Emma’s views on the space as she and Bryan discuss implementation, user experience, and the business model behind boutique studios.  If you are interested in Emma Barry’s article publication “Customer Engagement in Boutique Studios” featured in EuropeActive’s Retention Report, you can purchase it here:  https://blackboxpublishers.com/en/publications/customer-engagement-in-boutique-studios/ One Powerful Quote:  4:31: “I think the surge definitely is going to continue and increase because we are living in times of convenience with technology and able to take experiences with us… some of these experiences aren’t the s

This week, on the Fitness + Technology podcast, host Bryan O'Rourke welcomes friend and colleague Hans Muench, principal of Muench Solutions Consulting, live from Amsterdam. Hans has served in a variety of executive roles including the Director of Europe for IHRSA, Chief Development Officer for Elixia Clubs, and currently serves as an advisor for VirtuaGym and Urban Sport Clubs. He is an ambassador for Gym Factory and acts as a consultant for suppliers and club operators. As one of the leading, trusted advisors in the European health club market, listeners will enjoy Hans’s advice as he and Bryan discuss the overall shape of the marketplace and recap VirtuaGym’s FitNation 2019. One Powerful Quote:  4:31: “There is much of a danger [technology] to be too early as too late…You can only really effectively do as much innovation as you can integrate and implement in your organization.” 4-10 Bullet Points (w/ timestamps) - Highlighting key topics discussed: 3:26: Hans shares his perspective on the European marketpl

This week, on the Fitness + Technology podcast, host Bryan O'Rourke welcomes friend and colleague Sean Maguire, MD and founder of Legend Club Management Systems. As one of the leading technologists in the fitness facility industry, Sean founded Legend in 2002 as a software solution provider for fitness club operators in the UK. Legend now provides leisure management software and outsourced services to hundreds of fitness facility operators in the public, private, and educational sectors. Listeners will appreciate Sean’s advice as he and Bryan discuss the future of technology and consumer trends in the market along with business philosophies and insights. Legend will be hosting its annual conference October 10th in Birmingham, UK. To learn more, click here. Bryan O’Rourke will keynote the event.  One Powerful Quote:  4:50: The consumer has somehow overtaken us, but certainly, has stepped off our path, and we’re trying to understand where that consumer is going to be. 4-10 Bullet Points (w/timestamps) - Highli

This week, on the Fitness + Technology podcast, host Bryan O'Rourke welcomes longtime friend Rick Mayo, founder and CEO of Alloy Personal Training Center. Initially started in 1992, Rick created Alloy in 2010, a consulting and licensing company as a platform for the Alloy personal training systems, with over 1000 clubs licensed worldwide. Rick shares his thoughts on how to effectively implement technology in the fitness realm, as well as the launch of Alloy's new franchise model. Listeners will appreciate Rick's whip-smart sense of humor and he and Bryan's rapport as they discuss the state of the industry today.  One Powerful Quote:  6:00 In this day and age, you can't ignore [tech]. It's the big disruptor for everyone. You can say what you want about it, but if you talk negatively about it, it's just because you're scared of it.  4-10 Bullet Points (w/ timestamps) - Highlighting key topics discussed: 3:10: Rick shares his journey, from working as a personal trainer to pay his way through college, to growth i

This week, on the Fitness + Technology Podcast, Host Bryan O’Rourke welcomes Matt Wright, vice president of personal training and programming at City Fitness in Philadelphia, PA. Matt is a well-known trainer and at the cutting edge of programming, training and technology.  Powerful Quote:  23:03 “I think it’s important that every single member we can direct them towards what’s going to be most accessible to them to build an exercise and healthy lifestyle as a behavior and habits and who they are as a person.”  Key topics discussed: 6:29 Bryan asks Matt’s perspective on what technology brings to the table in terms of the relationship between clubs and trainers, and Matt defines service vs. experience and the role they play in that relationship. 11:22 Brian asks Matt if he sees fitness club orientation shifting from sales to hospitality, and Matt asks Brian how he has viewed fitness club orientation in terms of what fitness professionals are doing from an experience standpoint. 15:00 Matt comments on how he see

This week, on the Fitness + Technology podcast, Bryan welcomes Craig Miller, Chief Digital & Information Officer for Planet Fitness, the largest health club chain in the world, with 13 million members across 1800 clubs. Miller came to Planet Fitness via Sonic Drive-In, and he shares with F+T listeners his wealth of experience in the digital sphere and how data can be used to provide a competitive advantage in the fitness field. One Powerful Quote: 8:00 What I found is that probably 70, 75% of a digital strategy is really very consistent [across industry]. It isn't until the go-to-market or consumer-facing aspect of your business is when it really begins to change. OR 12:35: The foundation of all digital strategies is data. 4-10 Bullet Points (w/ timestamps) - Highlighting key topics discussed: 2:45 Guest Craig Miller talks about his first 18 months at Planet Fitness and how he ended up working at the world's largest health club chain. 4:40 Bryan asks Craig to talk about the Planet Fitness brand and its in

On this week's Fitness + Technology podcast, host Bryan O'Rourke welcomes, from beautiful Copenhagen, Denmark, Kenn Gudbergsen, co-founder of TrainAway. TrainAway is a mobile app that provides users, especially travelers, access to gyms directly on their phone. Recently, TrainAway partnered with IHRSA to offer a passport program that provides IHRSA member with a 25% discount and participating clubs while they travel. Listen in as Kenn and Bryan discuss industry trends including the upswing in travelers, especially millennials, who still work out while they travel. One Powerful Quote: 22:22: “It's all about learning. We need to learn from our users, and we need to learn from the gyms. It's the fundamental feedback loop we need to succeed at...being able to learn from your users is so important.” 4-10 Bullet Points (w/ timestamps) - Highlighting key topics discussed: 3:05: Kenn gives us a quick rundown of his business philosophy, as fully articulated in a recent article published in LinkedIn, and how this serv

On this week's Fitness + Technology podcast, Bryan joins us direct from the 2019 IHRSA Conference for a member roundtable entitled “Club Technology: Trends, Opportunities & Threats.”  IHRSA is a global community of health and fitness professionals representing 8,000 member clubs in over 70 countries, whose goal is to grow, protect, and promote the health and fitness industry. This year, IHRSA members flocked to San Diego to learn from and network with the best and brightest in the industry, and Bryan, after a brief presentation, takes questions from club owners and operators in the audience, while other participants and audience members chime in with their own experience as club owners and operators.