iFIT, Freemotion Take Hybrid Fitness to New Heights With AI Coach
Partnership
Sponsored By Freemotion Fitness
As hybrid fitness becomes the industry standard post-pandemic, iFIT’s artificial intelligence-powered digital coach can serve as a key tool in gyms’ quest to engage and retain members
Freemotion is getting a major boost as it looks to make hybrid fitness the standard at gyms worldwide.
The commercial equipment brand has long embraced its relationship with parent company iFIT, whose vast library of fitness and wellness content, including around 18,000 workouts from expert coaches, is available to stream on Freemotion’s newest cardio machines.
Soon, iFIT will be launching its AI Coach, an artificial intelligence-powered digital coach that interacts with users via text message to provide personalized, 24/7 support.
Now available in Beta mode, iFIT’s AI Coach, called “Tailor,” helps users pinpoint their individual fitness goals. Based on those goals, Tailor then creates custom workout plans, schedules workouts, sends reminders, and delivers motivation to keep users on track and engaged.
“I personally use Tailor every day to stay on track with my fitness regimen while testing the product,” iFIT CEO Kevin Duffy has told Athletech News, adding that while AI Coach will mark a new era for fitness, it won’t replace human personal trainers but rather enhance them.
“Through our research, consumers have told us that a great personal trainer would help them know what to do next, in all parts of their health journey, hence why iFIT’s AI Coach won’t solely focus on the workout but the whole person,” Duffy explains.
To that end, iFIT is creating an expert panel of fitness, wellness, nutrition and mental health experts to ensure Tailor’s guidance corresponds to the real needs of users worldwide.
“iFIT will be one of the first fitness and wellness brands to enhance its real trainers with AI support with the debut of our AI Coach this fall and we cannot wait to help more people live happier and healthier lives with expert coaching on-demand,” Duffy adds.
Hybrid Fitness Is the New Normal
The creation of AI Coach comes as hybrid fitness becomes the standard industry-wide – fitness enthusiasts, even highly dedicated gym-goers, are increasingly working out at home and on the go in addition to time spent inside the four walls of their favorite facility.
“How people exercise has fundamentally changed since the pandemic and we are remaining nimble to match our customers’ needs,” Duffy says. “The hybrid approach to fitness is a new reality – from the home gym to studios to sports and hobbies – people are no longer compartmentalizing where they break a sweat.”
Freemotion is embracing this reality rather than running from it; the equipment brand and its executives are encouraging their gym partners to board the hybrid fitness train before it’s too late.
“We tell our customers, ‘You need to have a digital solution because you’re going to lose your members if not,’” Peggy Vo, Freemotion’s Director of Global Marketing, has told ATN. “You want them to use your digital solution and not someone else’s.”
AI as a Member Engagement Tool
For gyms, the digital solution Vo speaks of can come by carrying Freemotion machines that stream iFIT content. It can also come by giving members access to iFIT at home to complement the in-facility experience.
Fit Athletic Club in San Diego notably signed a content deal with iFIT in 2023 to give its members a complimentary subscription to the fitness platform. Members at many other clubs across the world have experienced iFIT content in-club on Freemotion machines.
As gyms fight to engage and retain their members, a tool like iFIT’s AI Coach could be a game-changer. Tailor drives motivation and builds healthy habits with personalized text messages, including daily reminders and nudges. Members who are motivated by Tailor to work out at home using iFIT content can then hop on a Freemotion cardio machine at their gym and pick up where they left off with the same content and featuring the same coaches.
The symbiotic relationship between brick-and-mortar fitness and virtual content is one of the guiding principles behind Freemotion’s current business model and the value proposition it offers its gym partners in 2024.
“(Gyms) shouldn’t see it as a competitive product; it’s a complementary product to what (members) are using in the gym,” Adam Guier, Freemotion’s VP/North America Sales says of virtual fitness options like iFIT content. “I have everything I need in my home to work out but I still want to go to the gym. I want that gym atmosphere and that energy you find when you walk into a facility.”
Learn more about iFIT AI Coach and sign up here.