As founder of The Huffington Post, Arianna Huffington has long been a thought leader and trailblazer. A recent Quartz article served to remind us of exactly this fact. Because it was way back in 2016 that Huffington created Thrive Global – a company that, as the home page of its website boldly states, is “on a mission to end the burnout epidemic”. Thrive Global’s is working to “debunk the collective delusion that burnout is the price we must pay for success”.

Indeed, in a recent Deloitte survey, 95% of executives agreed they should be responsible for employee wellbeing, while 83 per cent said they would increase their responsibility to it over the next two years.

Yet increase it they must, because there remains a significant gap between appreciation in principle of the value of employee wellbeing versus acting on ensuring wellbeing is embedded at the heart of a business.

Corporate Wellness Is In Everyone’s Best Interest 

The same Deloitte report found that around one in three employees and executives are constantly struggling with fatigue and poor mental health. That 57% of employees and 69%of executives are seriously considering quitting for a more supportive job. That on average 72% would be more likely to stay with their company if it better supported their wellbeing. And that 68% of employees and 81% of the C-suite see improving their wellbeing as more important than advancing their career.

Yet in spite of all this, obstacles still stand in the way of doing things that would help – taking micro-breaks during the day, finishing work at a reasonable hour, taking a proper lunch break and getting good quality sleep, for example. The most commonly quoted issues: having a heavy workload or stressful job (30 per cent) and/or not having enough time because of long working hours (27%).

It doesn’t help that C-suite executives consistently underestimate how much employees are actually struggling with their wellbeing, or that – while 91% of executives believe their employees look positively on their company’s wellbeing efforts – in fact only 56% of employees believe their employer cares about their wellbeing.

Companies must tune in far better to their workforces’ needs, then act on them.

And it really is in everyone’s best interests. Even as long ago as 2016 – before issues were compounded by the pandemic and the challenges of hybrid working – a study by Global Corporate Challenge found that employees may miss an average of four days annually, but that they’re unproductive for almost 58 days a year. This presenteeism was reported to cost businesses 10 times more than absenteeism.

As Huffington explains: “Employee wellbeing and mental health improve business metrics like retention, attrition, productivity and healthcare costs.”

How to Start Corporate Wellness

The 2022 Employee Wellness Industry Trends Report by Wellable Labs highlights some interesting shifts in focus among organisations already striving to deliver corporate wellness.

• On-demand fitness is hot, appreciated for its flexibility and affordability, and is seeing a scaling up of investment
• On-site classes and reimbursement of gym membership are being dialled back
• Mental health is a top priority and an area where more resource is being added, including meditation, mindfulness and stress management
• Companies appreciate the importance of proper sleep, but have yet to find the resources they need to support their employees in this way

It almost reads like a who’s who of the Wexer offering, with our Mobile ecosystem putting world-class wellness content – covering all of these areas and more – in people’s hands wherever and whenever they need it, through any connected device.

Because it’s all very well encouraging micro-breaks and proper lunch hours, but you do also need to hand your employees the tools to turn these into wellness breaks.

That might be as simple as easing and re-mobilising their bodies after sitting at a desk all day. It might be achieving a moment of calm during their commute, re-energising during their lunch hour by getting their heart pumping, or winding down at the end of a busy day.

Whatever they need, they’ll find it in our ever-growing, market-leading corporate wellness library. We have a huge collection of mind-body and meditation classes. We have relaxation sessions and guided stretching. We’ve partnered with Sweat Factor to offer its fantastic Office Fit series, as well as Self-Care by Sweat Factor. Mind123 takes a holistic, educational approach to all facets and contributors to wellbeing. And we even plug the gap identified by Wellable Labs, providing content around sleep in the shape of Sweat Factor’s Sleep Stories.

And that’s without touching on the vast library of health and fitness content – from cardio and strength to dance, cycling, HIIT and far, far more besides – to get those endorphins flowing, stress released and mental focus regained.

Wexer is here to help you create a first-class corporate wellness for to improve employee wellbeing.

Read more here or get in touch at info@wexer.com

The post Corporate Wellness Strategies: How to Take the Leap to ‘Nailing It’ appeared first on Wexer.

The partnership will see Wexer Virtual technology harnessed to make Hanu’s world-class content available for on-demand, 24/7 use in gyms, hotels and residential developments across the American continent. End users will be able to enjoy more than 20 different training disciplines, all automatically programmed and customised for each location.

José Antonio Condell, CEO and co-founder of Hanu, says the company has identified strong opportunities within “off-peak hours in gyms, multi-purpose rooms within residential buildings and hotels, and hotel guestrooms”, with the Wexer-Hanu partnership now set to “enable and make profitable the spaces that are under-used for much of the day”.

Felipe Apablaza, Hanu Co-Founder and CEO of DMOOV Fitness Clubs & RFA Fitness Equipment, adds: “Our extensive research into the innovative, disruptive technologies within the health, fitness and wellness industry brought us to Wexer. We are delighted that this partnership will bring our platform and content to an even broader audience.”

“This unique solution for the Latin American market presents fantastic opportunities for both Wexer and Hanu,” confirms Robert Louw, Chief Growth Officer at Wexer. “Adding Hanu’s full range of high-quality content allows us to even better penetrate and serve Spanish- and Portuguese-speaking markets with content that immediately resonates with local audiences.

“Meanwhile, Hanu benefits from a new distribution channel that brings with it significant growth opportunities, both in terms of verticals and geographical territories.

“It is a win-win for both our companies, but also for gyms, hotels, residential developments and consumers alike as this fantastic content becomes available through our platform.”

For more information, get in touch at info@wexer.com

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Why Professional Audio Video Communications?

Wexer has worked very effectively with Professional Audio Video Communications for 6 years now. It hasn’t been an exclusive partnership to date, but all our experiences – and those of our customers who’ve used Professional Audio Video Communications – have been very positive.

As our business now scales following our acquisition by US-based Core Health & Fitness, we decided it was time to have one trusted pair of hands into which to place all our US installation projects.

And Professional Audio Video Communications is the perfect choice. It’s one of the leading AV installation companies in the US, but that isn’t all. Equally important, its team is experienced with Wexer technology, meaning we really can rely on them to deliver an exceptional installation every time.

What does it mean for you?

At the heart of it, this official us installation partner appointment is about quality of installation, consistency in service and a hassle-free experience for you as a Wexer customer.

Because Professional Audio Video Communications is the full package – a one-stop AV shop with expertise across the board of design, installation and servicing of your in-club technology.

We’ve gone into partnership for its proven skills in installing Wexer technology, of course, but it’s also notable that its services pan everything from CCTV to wifi to wireless mics, AV biometrics and body analysis to cardio entertainment systems, and more besides.

The long and short of it: Professional Audio Video Communications isn’t just an AV expert. It really understands fitness, too, with the team working in the industry for 15 years – and that means informed advice and support for your business.

With speedy response times, competitive pricing and US-wide coverage, you can be confident your needs will be served quickly and efficiently by our new official partner, Professional Audio Video Communications.

To find out more about the official US installation partner, Professional Audio Video Communications, Inc., and our partnership, please get in touch at info@wexer.com

The post Wexer Appoints Official US Installation Partner appeared first on Wexer.

But all that has now changed, and guests’ expectations are more than keeping pace.

Even pre-pandemic, with the renewed focus this brought to health and wellbeing, wellness tourism was on the rise, while the vast majority of business travellers were already considering the gyms and wellbeing activities on offer before selecting a hotel (83% according to travel management company CWT).

Back in 2019, in a wellbeing report by hotel group Accor, Emlyn Brown – now the Accor’s Global VP of
Wellbeing – observed: “The data shows that how well we meet [guests’] wellness needs influences how ‘delighted’ they feel about their hotel stay, and how likely they are to return.”

“No longer a trend, no longer an option. No longer a commitment just at home, or in waking hours; wellness is the standard our guests have come to expect,” added François Dung, Accor’s Senior VP Consumer & Market Insights, in a second foreword in that same report. Accor is a global hotel operator and franchisor. They operate more than 2,200 luxury and economy hotels and more than 3,000 franchise hotels.

Fast-forward to today and wellness is at the centre of almost every hotel and hospitality conversation: we’re seeing operators around the world investing significant sums in fitness and wellbeing facilities that deliver the experiences travelers are now looking for – namely, experiences that are at least as good as the ones they’re used to back home.

Nowadays, a high-quality fitness and wellbeing offering is the price of entry, a competitive necessity. It takes a world-class offering to set your brand apart in consumers’ minds – and drive revenues in the process, with guests willing to pay more for a hotel that meets their wellbeing needs.

So, where do you start?

In-Room Fitness

Of course, in a world in which fitness and wellbeing has to be 24/7, the model remains a self-service one for the majority of hotels – all of which plays strongly into the hands of digital provision, not only in the gym spaces themselves but also in-room and on-the-go.

Let’s start with in-room and an observation that a number of hotel brands now provide a small selection of fitness equipment in their guestrooms, alongside on-demand workout and wellbeing content via an app or in-room TV.

It isn’t hard to do, either, because you don’t have to start from scratch in creating all this technology – or even the content. You just have to choose the right partner, and this is where we specialise.

Let’s start with the Wexer Web Player, a white labelled digital platform that offers 1,500+ on-demand classes spanning everything from meditation, yoga and stretching to HIIT, strength, dance, indoor cycling… The list goes on. One of our global content partners, Sweat Factor, has even created a Self Care series comprising audio-only guides – guided meditations, walks and movement – with many of the sessions suitable for guests to do while they’re out enjoying your grounds, or perhaps on their way to a business meeting.

Notably, the Web Player also features a section called Connect, where your hotel can upload any fitness or wellness content you’ve created yourself. This represents a great opportunity to create a wellness USP for your hotel brand, but crucially, this signature content is made available to guests on the same white labelled platform as all the third-party content. This ensures there’s something for every guest, no matter what their fitness and wellbeing requirements, all within one branded space that you can own, ringfence for guests only – and monetise, should you wish.

Alternatively, if you already have your own app – or indeed smart TV or other smart technology – our Wexer SDK and Wexer API solutions allow you to cherry pick from our globally aggregated and constantly refreshed content, flowing it into your own digital ecosystem for guaranteed strength in depth of wellbeing and workout content at all times, all within your existing guest experience.

Whether in-room or on-the-go, our technology and content ensure the hotel wellness offering delivers what your guests’ want and fulfill their wellness needs.

Virtual Group Classes

Meanwhile, if you’re looking to bring a new dimension to the fitness experience in your hotel gym itself, there’s Wexer Virtual – the market-leading, big screen virtual class solution that’s perfectly suited to either a dedicated group exercise studio or a group fitness space on the gym floor.

Once again, with 1,500+ classes from which to choose, there’s a world-class workout waiting for every guest, at any time of day. And with the newly launched Virtual Connect, you can now upload your self-produced content into the platform too, allowing you to complement the exceptional workout content from Wexer’s global partners with any signature wellbeing content you feel your guests would enjoy in the communal fitness space – in the process even further enhancing their brand experience with you.

And it’s all delivered via Wexer’s incredibly robust, reliable platform. Commercial grade; built, supported, monitored and constantly enhanced by us; and boasting an unparalleled 99.9% uptime, this is the system you need if you want to offer 24/7 fitness and wellbeing in total peace of mind.

Find out how Wexer can enhance the your hotel wellness offering at your hotel, contact us at laura.phillips@wexer.com

The post Creating a Hotel Wellness Offering For Your Hotel Brand Is Easy appeared first on Wexer.

Here we will examine why you should be taking advantage of virtual group fitness classes in your business. 

Virtual SWOT Analysis

Strengths of Virtual Group Fitness Classes

First and foremost, it’s the strength and depth of the class offering that’s available through virtual fitness.

Wexer Virtual offers access to over 800 different group exercise classes from a huge range of well-known fitness brands, including Beachbody, CYBEROBICS, Zumba, Move123 and many, many more. There really is something for everyone, whatever your interests, age or fitness level (view some of our classes here).

But it’s not just about the diverse choice on offer. It’s also about the quality, with great production values combined with the expertise and motivational power of the instructors, who are all leading fitness ambassadors from around the globe.

Weaknesses of Virtual Group Fitness Classes

The only real weakness potentially comes in the execution: the uptake of virtual fitness among members will correlate directly with the quality of its execution in the club.

By this we mean quality of installation – impactful screen, lighting, sound system and so on – as well as team buy-in: it’s absolutely crucial that staff are briefed and inspired to be ambassadors for virtual fitness. Finally, it’s about good marketing and promotion: if you don’t tell members virtual is there, if you don’t sell it to them, they’re unlikely to use it – you can see an overview of our marketing materials here.

So, bad execution is a potential weakness – but if you get it right, there really aren’t any weaknesses to the system.

Opportunities of Virtual Group Fitness Classes

Adding virtual group fitness to the offering at your club opens the door to a world of new opportunity.

Studios often lie empty during off-peak hours; yield is far from maximised at most clubs. Introducing virtual classes allows operators to cost-effectively deliver group exercise throughout the opening hours of the club. Even if only three or four members attend one of these classes, that’s three or four members who have been given a new reason to engage with the club. In this way, virtual fitness is able to boost member satisfaction – and with it member retention.

There’s also the opportunity to choose between on-demand or scheduled classes. The best recipe tends to be to have times of day when on-demand is available – when members can just turn up and self-select a virtual class – and times of day when virtual classes are on the timetable alongside instructor-led ones. Our Wexer Count system allows you to accurately track attendance at virtual classes, so you can fine-tune the balance between scheduled and on-demand, as well as the line-up of classes offered within the scheduled periods.

Other opportunities come from our ongoing product innovations. For example, Wexer Trainer, which brings the power of virtual to the gym floor; the Wexer Mobile app, which enables clubs to build a 24/7 relationship with members by selling digital memberships; and Wexer Broadcast, whereby clubs can live stream classes to all app users, as well as across a group of clubs.

Threats of Virtual Group Fitness Classes

I don’t really see it as a threat – more of a challenge – but it’s important to ensure that staff and instructors understand that virtual isn’t there to replace live classes. That it isn’t there to replace them. There will always be a place for live, instructor-led classes. What virtual is able to do is help clubs fill in the downtime when it isn’t financially viable to run live classes.

Studies also show that regular virtual class attendance helps build newer members’ confidence to the point that they feel ready to walk into popular, busy, instructor-led classes: in Wexer’s Global Survey 2016, 32 percent of virtual users said they had used a virtual class to prepare for the live version of that same class.

Finally, virtual can be used in the background of a live class, freeing up the instructor to move around the room more, helping individual members and focusing on motivation.

The Future of Virtual Group Fitness Classes

The quantity of great content will only grow, as well as the diversity in the number of channels available to share these classes with members. Meanwhile innovations such as Wexer Broadcast, and digital memberships through Wexer Mobile, will gain real traction as operators seek to stay relevant to their members in an increasingly digital world.

We’ll also see virtual fitness become increasingly prominent in health clubs, with dedicated virtual rooms designed to absorb and enthral the member. Fitness will enter a realm where it’s as entertaining as going to a movie theatre or night club.

But perhaps even more importantly, I believe we’ve reached a tipping point for virtual fitness. More and more operators are now adopting virtual. It’s getting to the point where, if you don’t have it, you risk getting left behind.

For more information contact me at robert.louw@wexer.com or take a look at our virtual content information here.

The post A Virtual SWOT Analysis For Group Fitness appeared first on Wexer.

Thanks to a new partnership with Beachbody, we now offer legendary classes such as P90x and Insanity! Then there’s Cyberobics – cinematic quality classes that has been shot in locations ranging from Miami’s South Beach to Malibu and the Mojave Desert!

When it comes to virtual fitness, your members deserve the best.

Some of our virtual fitness class highlights for 2017 include new partnerships with:

• CYBEROBICS– Our partnership with CYBEROBICS provides a premium virtual fitness experience for members.
• Beachbody– Beachbody brought the addition of popular Insanity and P90X classes to your players.
• FORTE– FORTE provide content from the best boutique studios worldwide straight to your studio.
• InstaFit– Our Spanish content partners cover virtual classes from HIIT to yoga.
• FitSteps– FitSteps is founded by Ian Waite and Natalie Lowe from Strictly Come Dancing and features a wide range of high energy dance workouts.

Some of our existing virtual class producers have also released great new workouts to your players this year including;

• BoxxMethod– With 4 brand- new virtual boxing classes now live, Boxxmethod have gone for a spin on the classic full body workouts.
• SH1FT– With everything from tennis to sprint these high intensity workouts promise results.
• Zumba– 3 new Zumba Blitz classes were launched this year as well as ‘So you think you can’t dance’ for even the most timid of dancers, taught by Beto Perez himself.
• Sleek Technique– Have just launched 4 new classes for 2018, their unique ballet workouts help you strengthen and tone.

If you want to find out more about any of the above virtual fitness classes, or our other great class providers, then please contact us here

The post Virtual Class Highlights for 2017 Fitness Classes appeared first on Wexer.

The addition of Cycling Sophie’s German language content enriches Wexer’s library, catering to a diverse global audience. In this blog post, we dive into what makes Cycling Sophie’s content unique, her inspiring journey, and how this partnership with Wexer is set to revolutionize the indoor cycling experience.

Pedaling to the Rhythm of Success: What Cycling Sophie Offers

Cycling Sophie’s philosophy centers around rhythm and performance-based indoor cycling with a special emphasis on the power of music in every class. But it’s not just about the music beats, Sophie crafts her classes with specific goals in mind. Whether you’re a beginner or an advanced cyclist, each session is designed to cater to your needs and help you achieve your fitness objectives.

With the integration of Myzone heart rate zones, Cycling Sophie ensures that every class is a personalized journey for you and your body. Sophie shared, “It really is just about you and your body. You don’t ever need to worry that you won’t be good enough to do my classes.”

“Cycling Sophie offers classes for all levels – beginner, intermediate and advanced – with workouts ranging from 15 to 90 minutes. There really is something for everyone.”

~ Sophie Joline Fischer ~

From English to German: Unveiling the Surge in Demand

While Cycling Sophie initially created content in English to connect with a global audience, it was the shift to producing German language content that truly set the wheels in motion. As the first to offer this unique approach to indoor cycling in Germany, Sophie saw her YouTube user numbers skyrocket. With a gap in the market and a strong demand for quality content in the German language, Cycling Sophie quickly became a sensation, filling a void that enthusiasts had long been searching for.

There just wasn’t anyone else doing this for indoor cycling, and the demand in Germany was high.

A Powerful Partnership: Cycling Sophie Joins Wexer

Sophie’s journey took an exciting turn when Core Health & Fitness, the exclusive commercial licensee of the Schwinn brand and owner of Wexer, approached her. This partnership led to the integration of Cycling Sophie’s content into the Wexer ecosystem. With her workouts now available on Wexer Virtual – the in-club system – and Wexer Mobile, Sophie’s reach extends to indoor cycling enthusiasts in clubs worldwide who may not have previously encountered her captivating content.

Sophie shared, “It’s really exciting, because it gives us a chance to reach people who cycle in clubs and who might not have come across Cycling Sophie yet. We will start with 30 workouts on the Wexer platform – 80 per cent of which are in German, the remainder in English – and will regularly add new multilingual content.

Sophie’s Story: From Professional Cyclist to Inspiring Influencer

Sophie’s path to indoor cycling stardom is one of perseverance and passion. Having been a member of the German national youth cycling team from the age of 16, Sophie’s love for cycling ran deep. She embraced indoor cycling, starting out as a participant before becoming an instructor in 2017. 

However, a life-altering accident in 2018 forced her to shift her focus from outdoor cycling to indoor workouts. She shares, “I had a serious bike accident outdoors. I only survived because I was wearing a helmet. I lost confidence outdoors and indoor cycling became my go-to workout. There’s now nothing I enjoy more, and I aim to share that passion with everyone who cycles with me.”

What began as a personal coping mechanism soon evolved into a mission to share her newfound passion with others.

The Spark Behind Cycling Sophie: Empowerment and Inspiration

The onset of the pandemic brought about unprecedented challenges, but it also fueled the birth of Cycling Sophie. She saw in-club fitness attendees were looking for ways to stay active during the lockdown. Sophie and her business partner Jan envisioned a platform that offered more than just exercise routines. They aimed to inspire and empower individuals at various fitness levels and offer workouts ranging from 15 to 90 minutes that truly reflected Sophie’s unwavering enthusiasm.

They uploaded the first Cycling Sophie multilingual content to YouTube in January 2021. Their goal was to change how people felt about indoor cycling. Sophie said, “In Germany, it’s always been seen as a tough workout where the room is full of men in lycra. I wanted to change that, sharing my passion with new and younger audiences.”

Milestones and Dreams: Cycling Sophie’s Impact

Cycling Sophie’s influence is undeniable. Sophie’s online presence is a testament to the positive impact she’s making in the fitness world. She has almost 1 million YouTube clicks and a robust following on Instagram. However, beyond the numbers, Sophie’s proudest achievement lies in the lives she’s touched.

Daily messages of gratitude pour in from individuals whose lives have been transformed by her approach. Sophie envisions a future with her own indoor cycling studio, but for now, her focus remains on radiating positive energy through her virtual presence.

“Cycling Sophie’s excellent content is exactly what we were looking for, allowing us to support our customers across Germany with expert but fun classes that will help clubs do exactly what Sophie set out to do: change the way people view indoor cycling and inspire new audiences to get involved.”

~ Morten Andersen, Global Head of Content at Wexer. ~

Embracing the Cycling Revolution with Sophie and Wexer

The partnership between Cycling Sophie and Wexer marks a significant stride in the evolution of indoor cycling and provides more cycling multilingual content. By joining forces, they’re breaking barriers and redefining the way we approach workouts. Check out this article about The Future of Indoor Cycling: The Virtual Trends Fueling the Evolution by Morten Andersen, Wexer’s Global Head of Content.

With a commitment to offering tailored experiences and fostering a sense of community, Cycling Sophie’s content on the Wexer platform promises to captivate, inspire, and empower cycling enthusiasts around the globe.

As Sophie continues to pedal to the rhythm of her dreams, her journey becomes an invitation for us all to embrace the joy and vitality of indoor cycling.

If you want to learn more about how Wexer can support your digital content strategy, get in touch – info@wexer.com  

More Information

Wexer Press Contact: Claire Evans claire.evans@wexer.com

Cycling Sophie

Sophie Joline Fischer

Cycling Sophie YouTube

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This was the business case for the creation of Wexer Virtual 10 years ago: helping health club operators cost-effectively maximise the usage, yield and retention-boosting value of their group exercise studios, by providing high-quality virtual content to fill these spaces during off-peak times, complementing live instructor-led classes.

You know a concept is strong when its value has grown exponentially over the past 10 years. Check out the Research On How Virtual Fitness Boosts Member Retention.

Reasons Why Virtual Fitness Is Growing

1. Quality of Virtual Instruction –The high quality content can be delivered to service members in an instructor’s absence–especially a last-minute absence. Say your street dance instructor called in sick with five minutes to go until class? Not a problem. Choose from a wide range of dance classes available at the drop of a hat through the Wexer Virtual fitness platform, all led by top instructors from around the world.
2. Availability of New and Niche Fitness Classes – What about special fitness classes you don’t have among your team at all? It soon became clear that Wexer had an important role to play in complementing clubs’ own in-house fitness offerings. Have a group of members who really want to try something a little more niche – a specialist form of yoga, perhaps, that your in-house team has no expertise in? Step forward Wexer, either as a permanent solution or as a trial to see if it’s worth sourcing a live instructor for that class.
3. Fitness Class Times – Over the two years of the pandemic, customers became incredibly familiar with the concept of working out with an on-screen instructor. It may have forced their hands at the beginning, but they came to enjoy the experience and the easy access to genuinely world-class trainers. This now plays into clubs’ hands as they boost their studio scheduling and timetables with virtual content their members are more ready than ever to embrace.
4. Flexibility and Convenience –The pandemic accelerated well-documented growth in consumer expectations of flexibility and convenience. People now expect brands to meet them where they are, and that expectation of convenience – the exact class they want, when they want it – isn’t just something for out-of-club. It extends into your facilities too.
5. Self-Produced Fitness Content – Wexer’s own products have continued to evolve, not least the option – launched this year – for operators to upload their own self-produced content onto the Wexer Virtual platform. It means clubs can now stream their most popular trainers onto the big screens of their virtual studios, either live-streamed or on-demand, at any time of day. In turn, this drives all-important consistency in the customer experience across all touchpoints: in-club and at-home; physical and digital.
6. Show Previously Recorded Poplular Fitness Classes – Say your regular cycling instructor calls in sick and you can’t find a live instructor to cover their class. Now, you can show previously recorded classes led by your in-house talent. You’re not limited to picking a cycling class from Wexer’s third-party library. You can now screen a virtual class led by the exact same instructor who’s called in sick that day. Cue satisfied members who still get to work out with their favourite trainer.
7. Expansive Fitness Content – The growth of the Wexer library includes years of aggregating content from leading producers and influencers to meet every workout need across all disciplines, experience and fitness levels. The strength in depth of our 1,600+ class library is unparalleled. We do all the heavy lifting here, too, keeping the library continually refreshed with new challenges and workout trends to ensure it always motivates your members to work out. Your studio really can be a place of round-the-clock ‘fitspiration’.
8. Support – The behind-the-scenes support you get from Wexer. It’s something we’ve always prided ourselves on the incredible reliability of our technology, the ongoing advice from our customer service team, the regular upgrades and add-ons we automatically deliver to your Wexer Virtual player. Our own in-house development team means we can continually innovate in response to the feedback you’re giving us–and that means tools, content and functionality you simply won’t find anywhere else.

Want to explore how Wexer Virtual could boost the value of your GX space? Get in touch at info@wexer.com

The post 8 Reasons Why Virtual Fitness Is Growing More Relevant appeared first on Wexer.

We thought it might be useful to move on from the why and look instead at the how of taking your business hybrid. We’ve stripped it back to five important steps.

Steps To Digital Transformation

#1 – Have a clear Digital strategy

Before you act, ensure you have a strong digital strategy in the first stages to digital transformation.

Acknowledge and embrace the change that’s happening, recognise your strengths and weaknesses, and develop a strategy you can execute.

Remember that your digital offering will be your extension of your brand. If you have loyal members at your club, and you create an online offering that’s relevant to them, the big brands – the Apples and influencers of this world – become less of a threat.

So, who are your members, your demographic, and what do they want?

What would a digital extension of your offering and your brand look like?

This isn’t about copying others. It’s about complementing your unique in-club experience with a digital one that’s equally unique and relevant to your customers. It’s about creating a seamless journey that allows your members to step into your brand more often.

It’s also about choosing your digital partner wisely: one with relevant and reliable technology, content that suits your model, an option to monetise should you wish, scope to own and personalise the experience. A partner who will be with you every step of the way, taking the headache out of getting things up and running and providing ongoing support and expertise.

#2 – Understand what hybrid is

Digital isn’t, or certainly shouldn’t be, an add-on. To bust a common misconception, hybrid categorically doesn’t mean ‘in-club over here, digital over there’.

What hybrid actually means is embracing digital and in-person equally, enabling an omnichannel approach where a seamless series of touchpoints allows every single customer to consume your product in the way that best suits them on any given day.

As Garrett Marshall of Xponential Fitness observed in a recent edition of The Wexer Podcast, it’s then about understanding the consumer value of these different facets of your brand experience. His advice: it’s OK to acknowledge that the in-studio or in-club experience remains the pinnacle, while all the while selling digital too.

Because in-person will always be your all-singing, all-dancing sensory experience: the lights, the scent, the community, the atmosphere. But for the role it plays – allowing people to still participate when time or geography doesn’t allow for in-person, or indeed complementing in-person with stretching, meditation and recovery for example – the experiential step down doesn’t in any way diminish the relevance, importance or value of digital.

Digital must be viewed as a critical business unit that receives the same level of attention as your physical space.

#3 – Create a content plan

In a hybrid world, members need to be able to dive straight in to a familiar experience wherever they are; health clubs must deliver exactly the same user experience across all digital and physical touchpoints.

And of course, where equipment is essentially anchored to the gym, content can be perfectly replicated and disseminated across all channels. Content is therefore the key to omnichannel delivery of the club experience, so your next step must be to create a content plan.

We’re talking your own content: the content that features your own loyalty-driving superstars, that you must make available not only in-club but also digitally, via every possible channel and touchpoint, to enable omnichannel delivery of your signature club experience.

But we’re also talking third-party content, which should also be made available via every possible channel and touchpoint to ensure strength in depth of your content offering at all times: all levels, all interests, all catered for, all the time.

These dual strands of content are equally important: our data shows the variety of Wexer’s global content library is what draws people to on-demand in the first place, but the locally-produced content plays a major role in keeping them there.

#4 – Secure team buy-in

Make it a team effort. Gather your talent, identify their skillsets and clearly assign who does what. To make hybrid a success, you need buy-in at all levels of the organisation, not just your leadership.

Ensure that your whole team can talk about what you’re doing with genuine understanding and passion. And show them how they can bring value to digital as well as physical themselves, highlighting how this can, in turn, enhance their own visibility and careers.

Get your superstars contributing content digitally as well as in-person, incentivising and rewarding them for doing so. Empower and incentivise them to promote this content among their followers, too. Help them grow their profile at the same time as rewarding them for their role in your success, to ensure their ongoing loyalty to your brand even as their reach and appeal grows.

But remember it isn’t just about your superstars. Every single member of your team needs to be involved in the steps to digital transformation. Everyone needs to understand how the in-person experiences they deliver fit into the ecosystem of your now omnichannel business, as well as looking for ways to add to the digital experience too.

#5 – Critique your content plan

You created a content plan already in #3 of your stages to digital transformation,  now you need to keep evolving it, fine-tuning it, bespoking it around your members’ very specific needs and behaviours.

To get your content just right, you have to regularly dig into the data, analysing both in-club and at-home usage, then crafting your offering around your findings.

Because this is the great thing about taking the steps to digital transformation in your business model: you can very clearly track exactly what members are doing, what content they’re consuming, which instructors they’re loving and which types of classes are most popular.

Take your content lead from this. Be ready to pivot. Be ready to respond. Create more of what your members want, then place this content at the heart of your marketing.

If you’d like to chat about hybrid and how we can help you take the all-important next – or even first – step, please get in touch at info@wexer.com

The post 5 Steps to Digital Transformation: The ‘How To’ Of Hybrid appeared first on Wexer.

CITYROW started life in 2014 as a New York City-based boutique fitness studio–one that specialised in total-body, high-intensity, low-impact workouts using a water-based rowing machine alongside strength training exercises.

It has since grown and become a digital fitness platform offering group fitness experiences led by its team of highly experienced, motivational instructors and perfected in the studio for on-demand use at home, in the gym or on the go.

With a basic premise of supporting sustainable, holistic fitness for anybody of any age and any level, its immersive workouts deliver cardio, strength training, endurance and mobility in every class.

As CITYROW joins Wexer with their unique virtual content, rowing meets the mat for a total, heart-pounding, results-based workout in as little as 20 minutes.

“Rowing works 86% of your muscles in every stroke for a true total body workout,” says Wexer’s Global Head of Content, Morten Andersen. “The result is an intense, efficient yet safe workout that delivers exceptional results without pounding your joints.”

Yet there’s more to CITYROW than rowing; not all workouts even require a rowing machine. There are Signature and Cardio+Core classes that feature high-intensity intervals on the rower combined with mat-based strength exercises, while Endurance, HIIT the Rower and Power Row use the rowing machine for a majority of the workout. But there are also dumbbell-based strength workouts and even bodyweight-only HIIT the Floor, Mat Pilates, Active Yoga and Restorative Yoga classes. In all cases, the content is fresh so you never get bored.

“I started CITYROW because I knew there had to be a better way to work out: sustainable and effective, high-intensity but low-impact,” says its CEO and founder Helaine Knapp. “Results today, body for life. For us, it’s more than a workout. It’s a mission.”

Find out more about CITYROW joins Wexer and all the other fantastic content partners in Wexer’s world-beating library: info@wexer.com

The post CITYROW joins Wexer global content library. Results today, body for life. appeared first on Wexer.