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Online Services and Custom Workouts |
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In the mix: online services allow users to access custom audio workouts
Feb 17, 2009
TORONTO — Whether the tunes are streaming through your headphones or blasting from a stereo, music is integral to helping you pump it up during a workout.
More and more websites and digital music services are targeting casual exercisers and fitness aficionados by offering something besides an online library of bumping beats.
Customized audio workouts for portable music players are designed to get heart rates up and toes tapping while focused on fulfilling specified fitness needs.
At NextFitness, individuals can have a customized program centred around targeted fitness goals, such as losing weight or running a marathon, combined with coaching from expert trainers. All of this is integrated with the user's own personal music playlist.
Don't Quit Music, billed as the first physical and digital fitness music label launched by the music and fitness industries, was introduced in January.
Accessible through its website and on iTunes, users can download tracks from contemporary and classic artists in addition to non-stop, fitness-specific custom mixes 30 to 40 minutes in length. The range of music includes groovy disco tunes for dance workouts and Motown oldies for cardio.
Custom mixes are also available for running, strength training and yoga and Pilates.
Fitness guru Jake Steinfeld, whose Body by Jake Global brand is partners with Universal Music Enterprises in the venture, lends his own personal touch to some of the mixes with motivational voiceovers. He said they have collected nearly half a million email addresses since last month's launch.
"The programs are important and the kinds of workouts are important, but it's the music that really gets into your head to help you do the last repetition, run that last half-mile, want to do the workout more, or to want to look forward to a workout," Steinfeld said from Los Angeles.
In addition to videos, Vancouver-based website My Yoga Online has had music available on its site for download since it first launched in 2005.
The service is proving to be of benefit beyond just those yoga practitioners needing some added lift as they tackle downward dog and warrior poses. The music store is also providing exposure for local and international artists who submit tracks.
My Yoga Online co-founder Michelle Trantina said creation of a pre-made music mix is on the agenda.
"We wanted to provide for people songs that are very calming, very grounding, but also very positive at the same time," she said.
"It's for teachers to download for their own practices in teaching, but also for people who want to use it for practising, or just for mellowing out."
Convenience and customization are some of the reasons that downloadable workouts are so appealing, Trantina said.
"We're so busy, it's so hard to carve out the time to take care of yourself, and this just makes it that much easier," she said.
"I think also, too, you can go in and kind of see what you're getting first when you're online. You can go on and scan through and find exactly what you're looking for rather than, say, buying one DVD, or going to a class that you're not sure what you're getting before you actually partake (in it)."
The cost of online workouts may also be a draw to those seeking a less expensive path towards fitness, as fees for gym memberships and classes can run into the hundreds of dollars.
Visitors to Don't Quit Music can download songs for 99 cents (US) a track or US$9.99 per playlist. My Yoga Online offers music tracks starting at 99 cents each. Monthly and annual membership fees, which include access to videos, are $9.95 and $89.95, respectively.
Shawnessy Luke, certification co-ordinator with the Alberta Fitness Leadership Certification Association, said while music is important, it can't ever replace the objective observation and analysis individuals get from working with someone with more expertise, like a fitness instructor or personal trainer.
"Even if you download a set of music, you may be inspired to work out, but when it comes down to having a safe and effective workout, it's really important that you're taught well," she said from Edmonton.
"I think music ... is more accessible than it ever was," she added.
"I would say that that's a positive influence: that it's accessible, we can get music that we never were able to get our hands on before..... But in terms of replacing a personal trainer or a fitness leader, I don't think music is ever going to take over that role."
Yuri Elkaim is owner and founder of Toronto-based Total Wellness Consulting, and provides coaching through fitness training programs designed for MP3 players.
Elkaim said while such workouts won't replace one-on-one training, it's the next best thing, particularly for those who can't afford a trainer. That said, many of his clients have trainers, but use the workouts while travelling or on days they are working out solo, he said.
"The biggest obstacle most people have to maintaining an exercise regime is lack of motivation," he said.
"There's obviously a population of people who just want music, who want some really motivating or pumping music for their workouts, and that's great. And other people need more of the motivation from, for instance, my voice or the coaching and how-to and the structure that our workouts provide, so it really depends on what the individual is looking for."
On The Net:
Don't Quit Music: www.dontquitmusic.com
My Yoga Online: www.myyogaonline.com
Total Wellness Consulting:
www.totalwellnessconsulting.ca
Copyright © 2009 The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
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