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

The post Hanu partners with Wexer to expand reach appeared first on Wexer.

On today’s episode, Paul sits down with Title Boxing Club’s Chief Revenue Officer and Co-founder and President of BoxUnion, Felicia Alexander. Felicia spent 20 years in the corporate world but always knew her career would center around the fitness industry.

Before starting BoxUnion, Felicia had a successful career as a sales and marketing executive for several companies: including Sun Microsystems, Sony, Mattel and Demand Media. She became passionate about boxing at an early age because she found it was a vehicle to help change people’s lives.

“I felt like an inner badass had been released the moment I put on gloves.”  

– Felicia Alexander – 

THE STORY BEHIND BOXUNION AND TITLE BOXING CLUB

BoxUnion was founded in 2016 by Todd Wadler and Felicia Alexander. BoxUnion is a unique blend of boxing, HIIT, strength, energy, and community that makes every class a one-of-a-kind experience.

Felicia Alexander is the Chief Revenue Officer at Title Boxing Club and Co- Founder/President of BoxUnion. She grew up in a household where fitness was part of their life. 

Her first boutique experience was going to a Jazzercise class with her older sister when I was eight. She joined her first gym at 14 and got a job working at a gym when I was 16. She also played competitive soccer since the age of 4. After the loss of her father, she found boxing. 

“The first time I put on gloves, it was truly the most cathartic transformative experience.”

~ Felicia Alexander ~

Todd Wadler is the CEO of Title Boxing Club and Co- Founder/CEO of BoxUnion. Wadler is a former investment banker.  

Title Boxing Club started in 2008. Title Boxing Club is an unbelievable brand and a proven concept. BoxUnion acquired Title Boxing Club in 2021 after Todd saw an opportunity for creating a boutique boxing franchise brand. Their customer demographic was very similar to the customer base that BoxUnion was servicing. 

BoxUnion was well capitalized and poised to grow. He felt the time was right because the current boxing fitness was skewing predominantly male and older, and it didn’t mimic what boutique fitness on the whole represented. 

So they took a leap of faith and built a boxing and fitness franchise system to bring a fresh energy, a passion for learning and development, and their product innovation to the Title brand.

Felicia said, “What differentiates Title Boxing Club from other fitness boxing gyms is that we’re really leading with boxing, and incorporating fitness with the 52 week curriculum that reinforces a different focus of the week through a combo of the day. It’s a boxer’s journey that we’re taking people on an everyday by reinforcing a different focus of the week through a combo of the day. Others claim to have fitness boxing, but they are leading with fitness and only adding a sprinkling of boxing.”

“We’re not training people to step into a ring, but we want them to feel empowered, de-stressed, and ready to take on whatever life throws their way.”

~ Felicia Alexander ~

Classes in the facility may be longer, but the digital content integration allows members to participate at home and outside the facility. It includes more variety with shorter form videos and more body part specific workouts. They can select a quick workout or combine multiple body parts to accomplish their goals and fit their schedule. So digital content is a bonus for the fitness studio to add to their fitness and boxing routines for members or clients outside the gym. 

“We see digital content integration as an additive to our member base and a way to increase the lifetime value of a member.” 

– Felicia Alexander –

SALES AND MARKETING FOCUS: HYPER-LOCAL COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT

It’s not about doing one thing, but doing a lot of things consistently. The first thing we tell prospective franchise partners is to be involved in their franchise and get hyper-local in your community. Reach out to your target market and different demographic groups.

For example, step outside your bubble to see what else is happening in the wellness community in your market. For example, check out groups that focus on recent mothers.

Also, develop friendships with other studio owners to stay relevant in the evolving fitness industry.

WHAT IS ROCK CITY? 

Rock City is an unbelievable program that uses boxing and fitness to help lessen and alleviate the symptoms that many Parkinson’s patients have. Parkinson’s Disease is a neurological condition that affects balance, strength, walking, and especially confidence. It’s based on a foundation of non-contact boxing, and it’s very effective for improving all the symptoms that people with PD typically experience.

They offer Rock Steady programs at Title Boxing Clubs and senior living facilities. This brings people in during off-peak hours and it provides a tremendous benefit to Parkinson’s patients.

WHAT IS TITLE UNIVERSITY 

Through the TITLE University learning management system, master instructors and coaches offer franchisees and individuals a carefully crafted curriculum that focuses on boxing as the core component. Coaches can easily access detailed programming on TITLE University, streamlining training and creating consistency in clubs. Members achieve “flow” state through intentional movement and inspirational coaching. Members leave class with the confidence that they’re tougher than anything life could throw at them.

They also have developed focused digital content to support each week’s objective. When you log on to book a class, you can see the focus and the skills that you’re going to be working on in each class.

She challenges podcast listeners:

“Find the nearest Title Boxing Club close to you and put on your gloves!” 

~ Felicia Alexander ~

Tune in to discover how to elevate your fitness business with digital content integration. Release the raw energy of digital content in just the right doses, and stay relevant in the ever-changing fitness landscape.

Additional Resources:

• Wexer Virtual Fitness
• Title Boxing Club
• BoxUnion
• @feeslalaland on Instagram
• @titleboxingclub on Instagram
• @boxunionstudio on Instagram

Podcast 18 Key Takeaways

• Did fitness find you or did you find fitness 2:02
• The importance of having a strong marketing strategy 7:21
• Rock City 9:52
• Box Union’s transition 15:07
• Boxing is a good analogy for everything 18:00
• How to select talent for the show 22:20
• How to deliver an amazing experience online 25:26
• Do you think a community solution has an advantage over big box clubs 31:10

The post Digital Content Integration Is Key To Staying Relevant 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 digital training space has leapfrogged directly into the future, and the awareness and growth of online workouts has made years of progress in a matter of weeks. But what awaits after the pandemic?

Here at Wexer we are convinced that the entire fitness industry will be facing a new normal. One where customer behavior will not be the same and gym habits are radically changed. Bottom line – if clubs don’t offer their member digital training options, then those members will get it from someone else. I guarantee it!

The side effect of all this? More digital content consumed = more digital content needed. Supply and demand – simple as that.

We serve some of the biggest club chains in the world and we know how fast demand is changing.
Essentially, there has never been a better time to become a Wexer content partner. We supply our clients with a world class platform and your workouts could be on it.

What are we looking for then?

We’re looking for content that will engage the end user and leave them wanting to come back for more!

• Perhaps you’re already producing cool content and you need another revenue stream?
• You have a great following on social media, but it’s time to take your game to the next level?
• You are a trainer, who’s business has been disrupted and it’s time to go online?

In short: Whether you have established production or just getting into it – feel free to get in touch, if you have just the right content or concept.

Our daily engagement with our clients makes it easy for us to identify needs and gaps in the current digital workout landscape to give you ongoing direction to your production.

The future is now

I know – that saying is slightly worn out. However, there has probably never been a moment, where this was truer than now. It is time to go digital or capitalize even more if you are already there.

If you think your content has what it takes to be up there with the best brands, trainers, and clubs in the world, then join us as a Wexer content partner.

Also check out How To Live Stream On Your Own Branded Platform.

For more information please get in touch at morten@wexer.com

The post There’s No Better Time To Become A Wexer Content Partner appeared first on Wexer.

In a change to our usual blog format, we put Morten in the hotseat! Here, he talks to fitness journalist, Kate Cracknell, about data and usage trends for 2022, and what it means for those looking to curate and share the perfect content offering with their customers.

“The way people are consuming virtual and on-demand fitness and wellness is evolving and maturing”

Morten Andersen, Global Head Of Content for Wexer

Morten, can you tell us a bit about yourself?

I’m Global Head of Content for digital fitness expert Wexer, which means I’m constantly looking for fresh new content and content providers that will complement our world-class library and appeal to our customers around the world. Key to that is ongoing monitoring of content usage on our platform, of broader trends in the sector, and of influencers within this fast-moving field.

My background in health clubs and my passion for technology mean I have a strong insight into the needs of fitness operators, as well as the evolving demands of exercisers. This underpins a strong content agenda – one that’s based on continual innovation and relevance.

Before we dive into the trending insights, what data points are your observations based on? 

The following trends, observations and insights are based on a full-year of usage stats for the 2022 calendar year, collated from data across the entire Wexer ecosystem.

Because of course, the joy of digital technology is that everything can be measured: across our portfolio of market-leading mobile solutions and our in-club Virtual group exercise platform, we know exactly which classes have been streamed, where and when.

In-club, operators will often schedule specific virtual classes, but they can also auto-rotate similar classes for variety within a timetable slot or allocate periods of on-demand use should they wish. Through their MyWexer portal, they can then see – in real time – which classes are streaming, and this data is also collated over time to build up a picture of what members are choosing to take part in.  

We can be even more precise in our mobile platforms, for the simple reason that the content streams to consumers’ own devices. We – and the clubs – therefore know exactly what each user is choosing to do, at what time of day, for how long, on which day(s) of the week, in combination with which other sessions… It builds up an incredibly strong picture of individual behaviours and preferences, as well as providing an overview of interests and trends across the whole customer base.

This is invaluable both to operators – and indeed all those sharing our content with their customers – and to Wexer. Operators can adjust their studio schedules based on current, quantified needs and interests; can fine-tune their marketing and promotions to maximise interest; can spotlight particular class collections to make it even easier for their members to find what they want; and, if they’re also producing their own content, can focus on producing more of whatever’s proving most popular.

Meanwhile, Wexer continually monitors usage data from every customer across the globe, gaining invaluable insights into what’s genuinely hot and where we need to take our content library next; already unparalleled in its scope, we’re continually exploring new content partnerships and refreshing our library to ensure every possible user need is met. The fact that this data is real-time means we can respond quickly and proactively to stay ahead of the game. 

DOMINANT DIGITAL FITNESS INSIGHTS 

We witnessed a number of interesting themes in digital content usage that I can discuss in more detail, but the top themes include:

1. Virtual Indoor Cycling Dominates – In the club environment, virtual indoor cycling leads the way.
2. Strength and Cardio Still Key – The bread-and-butter basics of strength and cardio are still key: abandon them in favour of shiny new trends at your peril!
3. Wellness Is Strong – Wellness is coming through strongly, with users finding new entry points and avenues into this field. 
4. Shorter Virtual Content Is Preferred – Short is the sweet spot with virtual content in-club and on mobile platforms. 
5. Specific Is Good – Specific content that focuses on a specific body part or training style is more likely to engage users. 
6. Virtual Content Experimentation – Users are getting comfortable experimenting with a wider selection different fitness and wellness content.

Let’s go in depth to the question and answers with Morten.

1. Q & A – Let’s start with indoor cycling. What are you seeing and how is Wexer responding? 

In-club, virtual indoor cycling is more popular than ever: in 2022, almost 52 per cent of our club-based plays were cycling. The next highest category was conditioning, accounting for almost 24 per cent of all in-club plays.

This isn’t really surprising, because where multi-purpose studio spaces can be used for other activities when there’s no class scheduled, cycling studios tend to be dedicated spaces filled with bikes. Operators understandably want to maximise the yield of these studios in off-peak times and virtual classes are the perfect solution. 

We recently sub-divided our virtual indoor cycling classes into three categories: Studio, Road and 3D World. The traditional virtual instructor-led classes (Studio) remain popular – strong presenters will never go out of fashion – but we’re seeing the two other categories emerge strongly.

I put this down to two key factors, the first of which is the importance of entertainment. After all, studio bikes don’t go anywhere: it’s good to have something to keep the mind stimulated when the legs are burning from pedalling.

Second, with cycling tech now mainstream, a lot of riders want to use data in their training to monitor their efforts, set targets and track their progress.

Power- and heart rate-based workouts are very popular, but I personally think it’s when the tech element meets entertainment that it all really comes together. That’s why Wexer has secured a range of workouts that are data-driven – via on-screen graphics – but where this data is evenly matched with a good dose of entertainment.

If you choose a Road workout, for example, you’ll ride through footage of some of the most iconic roads and scenic mountain passes in the world. Alternatively, if you prefer to emerge yourself in an animated world – from riding underwater to cycling among dinosaurs – you’ll find it all there on the Wexer platform!

2. Q & A – Strength and Cardio content is still key. What should be the balance between new trends and fitness staples?

New trends are cool and Wexer is always on the lookout for them, because we love bringing new titles to our users and finding new ways to get and keep people engaged.

But when it comes to training, the basics will never disappear. As our 2022 data shows – and, for that matter, all the data from previous years – good old strength and cardio workouts are still king. Once again, the two most popular categories on the Wexer Web Player last year were Strength (just over 19.5 per cent) and Cardio (almost 18 per cent).

This reinforces the content strategy I’ve embedded at Wexer, where we understand that the basics should always form the backbone of the platform – the ‘bread and butter’, if you like. These are the workouts that appeal to all user types. These are the classes proven to bring results for users as they work to achieve their fitness goals.

So in 2023, while we will supercharge our wellness library and respond to new and emerging trends, we will also continue to bring in a lot of new cardio and conditioning workouts. We will ensure our users never run out of options or inspiration for these basic strength and cardio workouts that are so essential to improved fitness levels.

3. Q & A – Let’s talk about wellness, as this is a very hot trend these days.

Absolutely: wellness is arguably the hot trend right now – we published a really interesting blog on this topic recently, which you can read Fitness and Wellness Trends here. 

We’ve actually been developing this content category for a number of years and in 2022 pressed down the accelerator by bringing in a wealth of new wellness-focused content, from a new Breathe channel to a Stretch & Recover category, meditation to Sleep Stories by Sweat Factor, an ever-expanding array of mind-body classes to snackable wellness breaks in the shape of Office Fit by Sweat Factor. 

I believe this is the category that will take the greatest leap forward in 2023, both on the Wexer platform and across the rest of the market, as consumers continue to broaden their view of what health and fitness actually means.

Stretch & Recover is already the third most popular category on our mobile platform: a 16.5 per cent share of all plays in 2022 saw it beaten only by the workout staples of strength and cardio. Meanwhile yoga, previously most people’s entry point into wellness, accounted for just over 12 per cent of all plays. People’s willingness to embrace new facets of wellness is growing fast.

Stretch & Recover is often still aimed at physical wellbeing, but as the genres of wellness content continue to diversify – drawing in all sorts of new approaches to both physical and mental wellbeing and development – consumers will find new entry points into this growing and important area of self-care. This is my prediction for virtual fitness in 2023. 

And so at Wexer we have a clear goal of building the world’s best wellness content library: we’re committed to adding 750 titles across the wellbeing genres in 2023. Pair that with our existing fitness library and you really will have fingertip access to everything you want.

4. Q & A – When you say ‘short is sweet’, what do you mean? 

I predict that virtual class durations will get increasingly short, especially on mobile platforms where people are doing their own workouts away from their club. 

The most popular workout duration in 2022, both in-club and on our mobile platforms, was 20–30 minutes, but on our mobile platforms 0- to 10-minute and 10- to 20-minute workouts were also extremely popular. In fact, more than 82 per cent of all workouts played through our Web Player in 2022 were 30 minutes or less.

I predict that virtual workouts of the future will be around 20 minutes long: long enough to build up a sweat and get the muscles working, long enough to feel an effect, not so long that you struggle to fit it into your day. It’s the perfect length of time for a stretch or mind-booster throughout the day.

In addition, not many people have the luxury of a dedicated gym space at home: workouts are often done in the living room, spare room or garage. In other words, at-home workouts are done where life also happens, which can get complicated if you’re taking up that space for an hour. Twenty minutes is do-able most of the time; if you do have more time, you can always do another session.

5. Q & A – Why is specific good – what do you mean by this? 

You can include pretty much anything in a virtual workout, and this can sometimes tempt producers to try and do it all. After all, it makes sense to cover multiple genres in one workout, doesn’t it? Start with cardio, do some strength, stretch and end of with a bit of meditation? 

Actually, no: when options are limitless, limits are key. Our data shows that users like workouts that are specific, with titles that are to-the-point. They’re more likely to engage with content that focuses on a specific body part or a dedicated training style: HIIT, for example.

And that makes sense to me. We live in a highly digital world where we can tailor almost everything to our liking, and consumers now expect this across the board – including in their exercise, movement and wellbeing experiences, which they want to be able to tailor around their precise personal preferences. 

Specific content is the key to delivering this: we’re seeing Wexer users stack multiple specific, targeted pieces of content, putting them together to create an overall workout programme that suits their exact goals and needs on any given day.

I believe this will continue in 2023 and beyond, so Wexer will continue to build its library of short, specific workouts. 

6. Q & A – And what about the notion of users experimenting with content? 

As users become more and more familiar with virtual, and people are more open to trying new types of class – driven not least by a growing interest in the broad field of wellness – we’re seeing Wexer users increasingly ready to experiment.

How can we tell? Because typically, the actual stream time is shorter than the official duration of the selected workout.

This is partly because users often stack several workouts, mixing and matching specific targeted classes as I just mentioned. They might therefore skip past a warm-up or end the workout before the cool-down.

But it’s also because users sometimes cut off a workout to do something else. A bad thing, you might think, but I disagree. It means users are trying a much wider selection of our workouts. Virtual training has finally arrived at a place where users are fully comfortable with experimenting – and with ending a workout and finding something else if they didn’t get what they expected first time around.

Content providers must therefore stay on top of their game to keep the attention of the user. Intros must be to-the-point and workouts should start quickly: no messing about or you might lose the audience.

2023 will see more virtual users gaining confidence and experimenting with lots of different training types and genres. I predict it will be more important than ever to have a broad and deep library of workouts to stay relevant.

Get to know your content… and what your customers really want. If you’re already a Wexer customer, reach out to your account manager to discover the content people are really engaging with on your platform. If you aren’t working with us yet, message us here and we’ll arrange a call to explore ways to take your content strategy to the next level!

The post 2023 Digital Fitness Insights: The Content Customers Really Want appeared first on Wexer.

You might think of it as a gentler side to fitness – the yin to HIIT’s yang – and it’s all about taking care of your body and mind. It’s about recovering from your workouts and creating some headspace in stressed times.

And it’s a huge growth area, with our Q3 data showing a significant rise in usage of our Stretch and Recover category. We’re seeing high levels of interest in all-round stretching sessions to relax the body, but also in targeted sessions for desk-sitters, for example, who need particular stretches and movements after spending a large portion of their day at the office.

Our Wellness category is also growing in popularity, including the broad range of meditation sessions we offer – a trending content genre. Most users prefer short meditations that provide a quick mental boost during the day or around bedtime, including using some of our dedicated bedtime meditations or sleep stories.

Look After Yourself In 30 minutes – or Less

When it comes to workout time, our data is clear and confirms previously observed trends: short workouts are trending. Indeed, 84% of all workouts selected on our Web Player have a duration of less than 30 minutes.

The most popular workout durations are 10–20 minutes and 20–30 minutes – but that may change soon, as usage of the 0–10-minute category is up almost 8% this quarter. The trend towards shorter and shorter workouts and sessions continues.

In turn, this is casting a spotlight on the value of Wexer’s large, varied workout library:

• You can always find something relevant, wherever you are and whenever you need to squeeze a workout into your busy schedule.
• It’s easier to experiment: You can try things you normally wouldn’t, as you aren’t committing yourself to a long workout.
• Stack and build: 30 minutes available to work out means you can stack 3 x 10-minute workouts to create precisely the session you want.

Top 25 Fitness and Wellness Options = Huge Diversity

As mentioned previously, one of the main advantages of Wexer’s digital library is the huge variety it offers. Certainly, when looking at our top 25 titles, it’s clear you can look after yourself by taking full advantage of the breadth and diversity of our library, with almost all training types and categories represented.

The top 25 includes six yoga classes or yoga-inspired stretch sessions. Another six classes focus on stretching, recovery practices or meditation, confirming the holistic fitness trend. The remainder of the top-ranking classes range from classic cardio workouts to dance moves to a lot of strength and conditioning sessions: HIIT-based, core-focused… you name it, it’s there in the list!

Find out more about Wexer’s unparalleled content library and how it could add value to your customers at info@wexer.com

The post It’s Cool To Look After Yourself With Fitness and Wellness Options appeared first on Wexer.

Movement for Active Recovery

In fact, recovery doesn’t necessarily mean total inactivity: if your body is aching and stiff after training, taking a more active approach is a good way to speed up your recovery.

We’re talking active recovery, which is essentially low-intensity exercise such as stretching or yoga. It works because it improves circulation in muscles and tissue, flushes away lactic acid and boosts the metabolism. As such, it’s a vital part of the overall exercise picture.

Diving a little deeper into the benefits of stretching and yoga for recovery, we think this is a pretty compelling list:

• It maintains the range of motion in joints
• It keeps muscles flexible and can therefore prevent injuries
• A calm stretching or yoga routine lowers your blood pressure and activates the parasympathetic nervous system
• It flushes the lactic acid from your muscles that has been built up after exercise
• It reduces stress
• It feels good, enhancing your mood and releasing endorphins
• It can help your overall performance in other sports
• It can improve posture by reducing muscle tension and tightness

How To Do Active Recovery

The same rules apply for active recovery as for training: start gently and ease your way into it. Don’t overly push yourself.

For both yoga and stretching, it’s important to take your time and allow your body to settle into the poses. Focus on your breathing and concentrate on your body. Perform movements with the same concentration and intent as you would doing high-intensity training.

It shouldn’t hurt. Some yoga positions and stretching can feel uncomfortable, but you shouldn’t feel any sharp pain.

Active Recovery Is Trending

Wellbeing is a hot topic on Wexer’s platform, with sessions that allow users to slow down and look after their body and/or mind in high demand. It’s evidence of a growing interest in recovery, whether that’s recuperating from strenuous exercise or easing tension after a busy day at work.

“Gentle movements like stretching or yoga can certainly help improve recovery and overall wellbeing,” says Morten Andersen, Global Head of Content at Wexer. “We see more users picking up on that, realising that movement is often better than simply surrendering to the couch.”

And so the recovery revolution is underway – yet for many people, doing something active for physical and mental recovery and wellbeing still takes some getting used to.

“We’re confident that most people can learn to wind down and enjoy the softer side of fitness,” says Andersen. “If you allow yourself a couple of recovery sessions to get familiar with the process, there’s a great chance you’ll quickly feel the revitalising benefits, as well as enjoying improved overall mental and physical wellbeing.”

And Wexer has some great new content to help you on your way, adds Andersen: “Yogaia has provided us with some great sessions that encompass gentle stretches, movement and yoga. I strongly recommend everyone give it a go.”

Try Yogaia Recovery Classes 

Yogaia have picked 3 of their favourite classes to help you recover and become more flexible. You can try them out on the Wexer platform.

1. Relaxed Stretch
   A silky, gentle restorative class to help you calm your mind and relax your body. Focused on getting you grounded this class is suitable for anyone looking for more balance and relaxation.
2. Slow Gentle Flow
   A gentle and sweet class of movement and breathing that will take you through some lovely twists, lunges and gentle backbends in an approachable flow.
3. Stretch in 10
   Perfect for post-workout but great as a standalone class, enjoy ten minutes of blissful stretching. Focus is on opening inner thighs, quadriceps and nice juicy stretches for your back and the sides of the body.

Find out more about Yogaia and Wexer’s other fantastic recovery-focused content at info@wexer.com

The post Better Active Recovery Exercises With Yogaia 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.

“At Yogaia, we therefore go beyond yoga and fitness. Our vision is to inspire and guide every body and mind to build wellbeing and self-care into every day, and we offer simple tools and guided online classes to show you how.”

Founded in Finland in 2013, Yogaia was the brainchild of CEO Mikko Petäjä, who realised he was getting stressed by having rush to a studio for yoga class while also juggling a busy work and personal life. He searched for an online alternative that would offer the in-studio experience, but at the time was unable to find one. So he founded one.

The result is a studio that comes to you, on-demand, 24/7, to put wellbeing at your fingertips. Offering all the guided classes your body and mind need – fitness, yoga and mental practice – there are also tried and tested self-care tools that guarantee ‘aha’ moments and that make minutes matter.

And it’s all now available on the Wexer platform.

“We are thrilled to work with Wexer, whose platform provides an amazing opportunity to reach so many people who are interested in wellbeing,” confirms Petäjä.

Go small, feel better

Yogaia believes people often underestimate how much they can improve their wellbeing in five to 10 minutes, meaning they tend to do nothing if they don’t have a longer period of time available.

Its 10 Minutes or Less class collection addresses exactly this issue, proving that minutes do matter when a class is well-designed. Bringing together a selection of all-time favourites, there are options here whether you want to break a sweat or just gently refresh your mind and body. Across all classes, Yogaia’s expert instructors pack a huge amount of goodness into a short amount of time – all without the class feeling rushed.

“If you could feel better in minutes, would you click ‘play’ and follow along?” asks Soininen. “Because with Yogaia, that’s all it takes. It’s why we talk about Yogaia as ‘the smallest thing you can do to feel better today’.”

Another great collection available now on Wexer is Relax and Restore, where classes have been designed to recharge our batteries, balancing out active lifestyles with dedicated time for relaxation and the restoration of mind and body. Most classes involve soothing, mindful movement, but there are also deep relaxation classes and mindfulness sessions.

Try our favourites!

With new live and on-demand classes streamed daily from Yogaia’s studios in London, Los Angeles and Finland – catering for three levels, from beginner to advanced – there’s always a fresh new workout to enjoy. Some of our favourites include…

Deep Relaxation – Yoga Nidra

Deep relaxation practice is gaining more and more popularity as a way to soothe the mind and restore the body.

This simple yet effective meditation practice is instructor-guided, meaning no previous experience is required. Practised while laying down in a comfortable position, the idea is to enter a state of complete physical and mental relaxation by reaching a stage where you’re physiologically asleep but still maintaining internal and external awareness.

Benefits include lower stress levels, improved sleep quality, reduced cognitive and physiological symptoms of anxiety, and improved self-regulation – clarity of thought, control over anger, self-confidence and so on.

Refresh & Reset In 5

This simple mindful movement class always delivers what it promises. It’s the perfect pick-me-up to do in the morning – or, indeed, at any time of day when you need some refreshment for the mind and body!

Find out more about Yogaia and Wexer’s other fantastic global content partners at info@wexer.com

The post Yogaia makes minutes matter on the Wexer platform appeared first on Wexer.

We’ve crunched all the Web Player usage data from the first half of 2022, across all our customers around the world, and there are some interesting themes emerging…

Strength is strong

Looking across all the different genres of workout available on our platform, strength has emerged as a clear favourite for the first half of this year, accounting for a quarter (25.5%) of all content streamed.

While cardio comes in as the second most popular genre, it accounts for only 13.8% of streams, suggesting that many people still look to the larger equipment of the gym – or perhaps going for a run or bike ride – for their cardio workouts.

Strength workouts, however – often done using smaller pieces of kit or even bodyweight only – are seen as achievable, non gym-based workouts. On a similar vein, bootcamps accounted for 12.1% of streams.

We thought it would be interesting to break the strength data down further, and we found that full-body strength workouts dominated: 42.5% of all strength workouts done through our Web Player platform were full-body. This was closely followed by core workouts, which accounted for 32.5% of the strength workouts selected by our global users.

Complementing in-club

Continuing on the theme of complementing rather than duplicating in-club workouts, we’re still seeing recovery and low impact styles of workout coming through as popular choices on the Web Player.

Yoga alone accounted for 12.3% of all Web Player workouts in H1 2022; if you add together the usage of our yoga, pilates, meditation and stretch & recover content, you get to a nice round 30%.

That’s almost one in three at-home workouts incorporating a good degree of stretching, flexibility and mind-body connection.

We’re hearing a lot of clubs anecdotally reporting that members are doing different workouts at home from what they do in-club, whereby home is seen as a great space for recovery and club for the more high-impact, high-energy workouts. Our data supports this.

Stack it up

There’s a really interesting trend in terms of length of workout selected, too, whereby the most popular class length is 20–30 minutes (38.6%), followed by 10–20 minutes (29.4%).

Class durations of under 10 minutes account for 15.3% of streams, and 30–40 minutes for 12.5%. Anything longer than 40 minutes drops almost off the radar.

However – and here’s the big learning – in almost half of all sessions (47.9%), the actual stream time was less than 10 minutes. Meanwhile, 25.5% of streams lasted 10–20 minutes, and 19.2% 20–30 minutes.

Put another way, while a large proportion of users are selecting workouts that have been recorded as 20- to 30-minute sessions, not everyone is completing those workouts.

What the data suggests they are doing instead is taking the ‘meat’ of those workouts, then switching to a separate, dedicated stretch class for example – for a more comprehensive, extended stretch – rather than using the cool-down of the main workout.

The learning? Digital users want stackable content delivered in bite-sized chunks so they can mix and match at home, building a jam-packed session that fits their mood and needs that day, as well as the time they have available.

Keep it fresh

A final observation, which is a point we’ve made before but which is still absolutely key: members want a steady stream of fresh content, so they always have something new to try and don’t get bored doing the same-old virtual workout from home.

The evidence? We’re seeing significantly more usage on our platform for the content providers who are really active, launching new content on their channels on a regular basis, than for those who upload a class collection and then leave it untouched for months.

For more guidance on the content trends that can help you shape your digital business, get in touch now: info@wexer.com

The post The digital fitness content your members are looking for appeared first on Wexer.