Last month, thousands of YMCA professionals gathered together in downtown Philadelphia for the 2013 YMCA General Assembly ( and a Philly cheesesteak or two).
This year Exergame Fitness hosted the Exergame MOVchallenge, where the attendees wore an activity tracking device (called a MOVband) on their wrist throughout the entire show in order to collect data on their level of activity during the convention; but more importantly to collect points and win great prizes!
The object of the game was to engage in the most activity during the event, thus achieving the most movements throughout the entire show, essentially gamifying the YMCA General Assembly. We are pleased to announce the official winners of the 2013 Exergame MOVchallenege:
Grand Prize: SPARK After School Curriculum
Timothy Dry
Bridgewater YMCA – Bridgewater, NJ
2nd Prize: Samsung Galaxy Tablet 2
Chad Eberhart
River Valley Regional YMCA – Williamsport, PA
Congratulations to you both!
So why is collecting data so important? Well here are the 4 ways data empowers the YMCA organization to deliver more engaging wellness programs.
1) Accountability
According to the 2011 Edelman Health Barometer, 68% of people who used tools or apps to track health data saw positive health benefits. Studies are beginning to find that data displays can help us stay engaged with our fitness routines as we continually try to move the needle closer to optimal health and wellness.
2) Assessment
You can’t manage what you can’t measure. Data tracking empowers leaders to analyze their communities’ fitness trends and provide members with customizable programs and measurement to go along with it – essential tools to formulate better and more valuable fitness programs.
3) Benchmarking
As data generates, leaders can find trends, averages and top-performer benchmarks that can serve as success measures and motivational tools for members. Data benchmarks equip directors and youth coaches with information that helps them understand improvement in membership, engagement, and fitness.
4) Incentives
Reward your membership by incentivizing personal or community milestones while using data as a positive reinforcement and motivational tool. Rewards give members fun and engaging ways to work harder and stay longer while promoting a stronger fitness culture.
One of the biggest areas of concern among the YMCA’s is Youth Development. Our goal is to incentivize physical activity among children – especially in that 7-14 age group – and we do that by GAMIFYING the activity collecting process with MOVbands. Children are very used to the model most video games provide: that is progressing through levels by collecting points, unlocking greater achievement and rewards. Well how about making that a real life model in the modality of fitness? This is what we do here at Exergame Fitness. We make fitness fun again, by making it a game. It’s the intersection where technology and fitness meet. It’s called FITNESS 2.0 .
Are you interested in learning more about how you can grow your youth membership base, increase engagement with your current members, and instill fitness habits within our youth of today?
Click here to see our solution to getting kids active and engaged in fitness.
Contact us to learn more about how YOU can make a change for the future of fitness.