The Rise of DRAGO (The rebirth of TECH in the fitness industry) is it worth the hype?
Rocky 4 featured the unstoppable juggernaut of Ivan Drago who was touted as the pinnacle of scientific study and data driven training. From the punching machines and indoor running track, to the weight lifting and drugs that he was injected with. The whole process was documented, adjusted, and incorporated by numerous men in white coats into the next round of training. Smiling scientists marveled at their work and mocked ol’ Rocky out in the mountains lifting wheelbarrows and carrying logs. Seems the stuff of cinema; but is it only happening on the big screen? How about an example a little more real to life?
Several years ago when the recession was in full swing every fitness trainer with a business card was calling on clients to come to boot camp style workouts in the park. Everyone was feeling the wrath of the economy and this low cost low overhead was a heavy influence on the marketing around the “bodyweight workouts” and the “functional movement” programming that could be offered in this environment. All you needed was a pair of shoes and the will to get out there to get into shape.
Flash forward a few years, with the improving economy and the ability to afford space and equipment again, garage fitness with truck tires and sledgehammers sprung up. A hybrid so to speak, that had clients out running in the streets with weights over their heads and doing squats out by the dumpster in the alley. ( no that is not an exaggeration saw it with my own eyes ) and those facilities calling themselves “elite training facilities". These hour long workouts with “practical movements” were now the way to go to get fit and lean.
Flash forward again to the present, the latest movement is data / tech driven fitness. Biofeedback, variable and assisted resistance machines, large billboards flashing neon heart rate numbers so clients can see they are out performing the rest of the pack. This data driven fitness is now a little more affordable and all the rage. So the fitness industry is more than happy to add some bells and whistles that now wow clients in a way that hasn’t happened since they strapped a television to the treadmill. Truly the age of Drago has arrived.
However IS that data being interpreted correctly and does it benefit you? Last year, Expert Review of Medical Devices ran an editorial written by a group of scientists that highlighted how new digital tech devices get to be commercialized without actual proof of their effectiveness (Morone et al., 2016). Documentation by several independent testers including Consumer reports have found digital wearable trackers to be up to 33% off in their reporting of calories burned. (Oct 19 2017) And even the numbers on your favorite cardio machine are just a guesstimate based upon time and speed of the motor. That machine has no idea how much your body is actually working. However with the booming trend in wearable trackers and high tech workouts It is easy to add some flashing lights and a few testimonials and suddenly we are all Ivans expecting to take on the world.
However for the majority with unproven, over reliance on,misinterpretation of, or just inaccurate data we are not actually doing anything more for our health and fitness.
1. Technology/data is not a replacement for physical monitoring and body manipulation
New devices are including feedback from exercise with everything from heart rate to sensory muscle engagement. However, none of this is actually new. It has just become cheaper with lower production costs. Now with it being back in the fold the industry touts it as amazing new tech. However, this relatively old technology with a twist should not be elevated to being anything more than another tool in the toolbox. Without an individual trained in the exercises that you are doing and carefully monitoring how you are performing them this tech simply becomes another commercialized hammer that will supposedly fix all of the clients ills.
2. Technology/ data does not assure procedural adherence, develop programming, or modify for the client
Ever since the first clock was strapped to a treadmill people have been looking at it wondering when they could get off this crazy thing or using it as a benchmark as to how fit they are by how long they can go. However with this new set of tech, clients have never had so many numbers and markers thrown their way. People generally enjoy setting goals and tracking them; many find the accountability and sense of accomplishment that comes with this process helpful, like getting a food pellet when the right button was pressed. However if clients see their goals not being met, the decline of that tech use is swift, that is until they find a different piece of tech or a different set of numbers that they can insert and feel successful again. We have all heard don’t trust the scale but has anyone said don’t trust the flashing neon billboard? That device touting itself as the all and powerful OZ has very little to offer behind the curtain. The underlying belief system that accompanies almost every heath and fitness trend often seems to be a “Set it and Forget it” mentality that offers a system of if “ I just do what the tech tells me to then I will be successful.”
While we can use tech and the numbers as fitness markers and make correlations to other data to help gain a sense of the bodies overall capacity and health, simply seeing one’s heart rate up on a billboard in truth has a minimal impact on the actual level of fitness and even less on the level of health. It is time to start taking exercise and its benefits beyond the level it is currently at. It is time to accept a larger mantle of responsibility in the fitness world. To be the forward thinking professionals that can discuss the benefits of exercise in a tangible concrete fashion.
RE*FIT is proud to be among that group who believes in training not trends mentality. When your ready to make a change , make a choice, and make a difference in your future RE*FIT will be there to help.