Technology is shaking up the fitness industry and making established gym chains work up a sweat. New apps are challenging traditional membership structures and introducing more flexibility into the market.

For example, for a monthly fee of around £80, the ClassPass app gives access to around 8,000 studios across the world and you can book classes up to four times a month at each participating gym.

Similar services are cropping up around the world as start-ups see opportunities to challenge the perceived inflexibility of established fitness club memberships – most of which involve compulsory annual contracts.

But what’s in it for the established studios?

It is claimed that it allows studios to build up a new client base, especially if they’re relatively small, have no budget for PR and want people to start talking about them.

But while some studios benefit from the new clients the apps can bring in, others are unhappy with the revenue-sharing arrangements and have been leaving the schemes.

The danger is that if the offering becomes too narrow, these apps may lose their appeal.

Source: BBC News