My day at the Fitness Expo

Azdak

Every year there are several major conventions aimed at health club owners and the industry in general. The one held in Chicago is called Club Industry and was held last week. In addition to 3 days of workshops and seminars, there is also a large exhibit hall where equipment and services vendors exhibit their newest product offerings.

I have attended the show every year since it's earliest days in the 1980s--over 25 years. It's been interesting to see the changes in the industry over that time. If you like bad, sleazy culture, nothing could beat the "thong" era of the late 80s-early 90s. Since then, the industry has become much more professional, albeit more boring.

This year was the first time in almost a decade that I attended the show again as a spectator. For 8 years previously, I worked as a representative for a major equipment manufacturer and so I had to work at our booth the entire time.

I had a couple of goals this year. One was to network with people I know in the industry, most of whom I had not seen since I lost my job earlier in the year (and since I had lost my 56 lbs), and explore any employment opportunities that might be available.

I also wanted to visit with some specific vendors, as I am exploring the possibility of developing some type of wellness/lifestyle coaching business that might include some metabolic testing.

My first stop was at the Tanita Scale booth. I asked my usual question of what they tell customers about getting consistent readings, since that is the biggest criticism of their products. He just said do it the first thing in the morning, which I'm not sure really addresses the issue completely, but that's what I expected. I also asked if there was any difference in the quality of the technology between their cheapest and more expensive body fat scales. He said the bioimpedance signaling and receiving technology was the same, but the models that had the "athlete mode" setting (and above) had more sophisticated software.

I next went to New Leaf Fitness. They are a new commercial brand division for a company that has been one of the top manufacturers of metabolic carts for the past 25 years. They make an VO2/CO2 analyzer that can measure caloric expenditure--at rest and during exercise. The equipment is great, although I was disappointed to see their business model. Basically, they have taken the whole outmoded "fat burning" concept and applied it to their very sophisticated testing hardware. By that I mean that the elaborate reports that are produced from the testing results are all centered around describing the "fat burning" zone of 50% carb and 50% fat substrate utilization. (By comparing the ratio of expired oxygen and carbon dioxide in expired air, one can not only measure oxygen uptake, but you can estimate the amount of calories expended from burning carbs vs burning fat). When I asked him why they had chosen that model, the sales rep really had no answer (not unusual--most of these guys are not real exercise scientists, even though most of them have fitness degrees and backgrounds). I also asked what they thought of the BodyBugg and GoWearFit devices and if they saw them as a threat, and, again got the same blank stare. I still really liked the machine, however, and would still like to figure out a way to develop a business out of it.

I visited the Polar booth and had my usual list of questions for their reps. First I asked about the efficacy of using Polar HRMs to measure calories at rest. I told him that I noticed that the manuals for older Polar HRMs said that the Calorie Counting feature was not accurate and could not be used at heart rates lower than 100 bpm, but that text had disappeared with newer models. I asked if that was because the technology had changed or because Polar realized it was to their marketing advantage to leave that part out. He replied it was probably the latter. I also asked about whether Polar algorithms accounted for cardiovascular drift and related my own findings that suggested they don't. He said he did not know -- "they don't tell us much" I believe was the direct quote. I also talked about the inaccuracy of using HRMs to measure calories during strength training because the HR increase was pressure-mediated rather than caused by increases in cardiac output, therefore not related to increased VO2. Once again, I got the blank stare. I think he was glad to see me leave.

My last stop was at the Body Bugg booth--obviously, this was their first time at the show. Given their current business success, it was a happy, happy place. Body Bugg is marketed by Apex Fitness, which is a division of the 24 Hour Fitness health club chain. They license the product from BodyMedia, who I believe invented the device. BodyMedia also markets their version of the device, the GoWearFit. As far as I know, the devices are the same--the difference is in the website support. I believe both devices are using a similar business model--the armband device is not meant to be an end in itself. To get anything out of it, you have to pay a monthly fee to upload the data to their website, which interprets everything. Of course the BodyBugg rep said their website was superior to the GoWearFit. I don't know that I learned all that much--quite frankly, the science behind these things is pretty complex and I am not qualified to personally evaluate the math or the engineering (and neither were they), so there wasn't that much I could do to challenge them. But they were handing out the best snacks and they were all young and buff and eager to please, so we had a fun time.

Arienna

Thanks for all the input! Those body bugg things, don't they use those on biggest loser? They're arm bands that they wear all day then input the info from there on the site?