What the landscape of design will look like in 2020, according to the most innovative designers of 2015.

"a variety of kitchen gadgets"

synonyms: | appliance, apparatus, instrument, implement, tool, utensil, contrivance, contraption, machine, mechanism, device, labour-saving device, convenience, invention, thing

Banners, letterbox drops, and newspaper advertising used to be the standard tools for a membership drive but, while those methods are still useful, social media has taken fitness marketing to a new level. Facebook pages, blogs, Twitter accounts and YouTube are powerful ways to connect with new clients and grow your fitness business.

2. Fitness instruction

YouTube videos on your website and virtual personal training techniques offer new ways to deliver fitness instruction. Franchises are also taking advantage of the web to train their own instructors, allowing them to standardise their classes by updating new choreography and videos on web portals.

3. Community

It’s well-known that social support encourages long-term exercise adherence, but social media has taken social support to a whole new level. Online fitness communities can help exercisers stick to their exercise goals, and point newbies to good sources of information. As well as being able to connect with their clients, communities of fitness professionals are also able to meet online and share resources.

4. 24-hour access

While 24-hour gyms aren’t new, the phenomenal success of fitness franchises such as Anytime Fitness is largely enabled by technology, which allows members access to gyms outside of normal opening hours.

5. There’s an app for that

There are so many apps out there which encourage people to take more responsibility for their exercise and nutrition behaviour. For personal trainers, this means you don’t have to be there for long cardio sessions. Apps such as 5k101 take users through an eight week running program, allowing personal training sessions to be spent on activities where technique and guidance are more important, such as weight sessions.

6. Wearable gadgets

Sensor embedded sports gadgets are becoming the ultimate fitness tracker. Measuring activity levels and heart rate, these sports wristbands provide valuable data about a user’s progress. Other gadgets target behaviour modification, such as Pavlok, a sports wristband that emits a mild shock as negative reinforcement to encourage users to reach their fitness goals.

7. Innovative fitness machinery

Technology has taken the simple treadmill to a new level with surround sound, integrated television screens and heart rate monitoring, but more technology is on its way. Several gyms in the United States are testing VirtualU, a 3D body scanner. The

3D body scanner is in beta testing, and is designed to note changes in the body measurements.

How has technology changed the way you teach fitness?