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Opinion: Fitbit Luxe Tracker, Virtual Trainers as Music Influencers, Equinox Trainer Business, New Life Time NYC Tour
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Opinion: Fitbit Luxe Tracker, Virtual Trainers as Music Influencers, Equinox Trainer Business, New Life Time NYC Tour

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This soon-to-be-over week was yet another happening one in the worlds of fitness as well as fitness tech and fitness finance. We saw Fitbit Luxe Tracker being announced, virtual fitness instructors being discussed as music’s newest influencers, a former Equinox instructor building her own business and a tour taking place inside Life Time’s latest New York City location.

Without further ado, here are our takes on the week’s happenings.

Fitbit launches new fashion forward Fitbit Luxe tracker, its first under Google
Product | Yahoo Finance | Apr. 19, 2021

Athletech’s Take: 
Fitbit announced its first new product as an official part of Google’s Alphabet (Google acquired the company for $2.1B in January). At $149, the Fitbit Luxe is a tracker with a built-in, color display designed to look like a piece of jewelry rather than a fitness band. Fitbit, like with other wearable tech, is trying to make their products desirable to wear everyday. Available in three colors — gold, platinum, and matte graphite — the tracker is compatible with various accessories including jewelry-like bangles. And beyond the usual heart rate monitor and sleep tracking Fitbit devices are known for, Fitbit is adding a host of mental wellness options including 200 mindfulness sessions from brands like Aaptiv, Aura, and Deepak Chopra’s Mindful Method. In terms of whether we want to wear it, we need to see it in real life to decide!


Are Virtual Fitness Instructors Becoming Music’s Newest Influencers?
Business | Music Business Worldwide | Apr. 20, 2021

Athletech’s Take: 
Without a doubt music is an integral part of any digital fitness programming. Tony Calandra, Peloton’s VP of Global Music Supervision & Programming, highlights the value of music in programming as well as the importance of providing instructors the ability to curate and choose their playlists. He explains it as “almost like 35 radio stations,” where instructors can create their unique brand with their own music genres. For fitness, music isn’t about listening, it’s about experiencing he believes. We agree. For both larger established fitness companies like Peloton as well as smaller players, being able to access content is a critical requirement. Companies like Tuned Global, a B2B music company working closely with the global fitness sector, are working to ensure that instructors are able to access and stream the music they need and want to create the ultimate workout experience for their followers. 

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How this fitness instructor set up her own virtual fitness biz after quitting her job at Equinox
Fitness | Insider | Apr. 21, 2021

Athletech’s Take: 
Jenn Blackburn, who was a general manager at an Equinox in the Washington, D.C. area, knew she had to make some major changes when the pandemic hit. Not only did she have to care for her five children now on at-home schooling, she also needed to maintain her income. Blackburn shares with Insider and the fitness community four key takeaways that enabled her to become a successful virtual fitness instructor. They include: transforming your space to create a designated training space, finding the correct streaming partner (she ended up leveraging Moxie, an emerging platform that virtually connects independent trainers with consumers), optimizing your schedule and leaning hard into digital to help you with all aspects of your business.


A Tour Inside the Post-pandemic Gym
Fitness | Fortune | Apr. 21, 2021

Athletech’s Take: 
It is a complex time to open a business right now– no less a fitness establishment. But Life Time, a chain of health clubs in the United States and Canada, recently opened a brand new location in New York’s Flatiron District. Primed to be a cutting edge, ultra-luxe health and fitness destination, the latest location features an expansive fitness floor outfitted with the latest state-of-the-art equipment including more than 110 new cardio and strength machines from Technogym. The center also boasts a cedarwood sauna with Himalayan salt wall lamps, spacious dressing rooms, indoor salt water lap pool, teakwood showers, radiant heat panels in the yoga studio, and more. 

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