» By: Ryan M. Hoback
Fitnesscasting is the commercial application of podcasting for the personal fitness industry. Fitnesscasting is the distribution and publishing of audio and video feeds, that offer personal health and fitness training and information delivered over the Internet, for on demand listening. This is a new step in the evolution of on-demand health and fitness information delivery, making it accessible, informative, useful and appealing. This mix presents the health and fitness industry with a very unique opportunity to reach its audience through this new medium. Those individuals, who are already seeking health and fitness information actively, will use RSS subscription technology built into each podcast feed, to receive information immediately as it is updated by each organization. With one click of a button, a user can subscribe to a feed that may be interesting, and any related information that is ever updated to that feed will be automatically processed to their personal aggregator. An aggregator is able to subscribe to a feed, check for new content at user-determined intervals, and retrieve the content. To take this process one step further, podcasting publishes each feed with the capability to be transferred to any portable audio or video device. So with the growth of the ipod and all the other portable media devices, you have the ability to grab fitnesscasts and place them on your portable player for listening or viewing. Most users attach their portable players to their computers daily or weekly, and once the player is attached they automatically receive the new Fitnesscast updates. The flexibility of this medium is what will drive the growth of Fitnesscasting tremendously over the next few years. There are numerous formats that can be used in developing a fitnesscast. Audio and video workouts give the power to the listener or viewer to receive on-demand health and fitness training. In addition, podcasts are being placed on portable video devices to offer exclusive training workouts for those clients who may travel a lot, or want to workout in the comfort of their home or on their own schedule. The best thing about fitnesscasting is that the opportunities are endless. Here are some examples of how podcasting will benefit the fitness industry. Most Americans have heard of 6 minute abs or the home jazzercise videos, in fact, these have sold extremely well in our society. With as busy as people are in today's society, some individuals do not have the opportunity to make it to a gym as much as they would like. However, these same individuals are not looking to give up their workout routine, they just need it custom fitted to their likings. With fitnesscasting, you have the ability to utilize this medium on-demand at the convenience. In addition, with audio and video ipods you can take these fitnesscasts with you when traveling. Another example of its use could be in large scale gyms. All gyms have trainers who help their patrons' workout and develop their bodies, yet, sometimes there are either not enough trainers or time schedules do not match up. With fitnesscasting, you have an audio or video of a trainer giving you instruction, at the touch of your fingers and on your time schedule. The options are wide open for the development of fitness programs that are cutting edge, and highly opportunistic in terms of converting listeners and users into consumers and revenues. The popularity of portable on demand information will grow even greater as wireless internet services continue to flourish across the country. These portable devices will no longer have to be connected to the internet; they will receive information wirelessly as it is updated. In addition, as cell phones and portable devices continue to merge together, the market grows larger. For organizations that have members worldwide, the distribution of company information is very important, and once again this offers each institution a method of on-demand delivery which is convenient to all. There are numerous uses for Fitnesscasting, and over the next few years it will explode in popularity. It is beneficial to organizations as well as the consumer, and it will be seen as a great tool in any health and fitness organizations' operations.