SHUA making workouts more user-friendly

SHUA Fitness, a Jinjiang, Fujian province-based fitness equipment supplier, has stepped up the upgrade of its products by giving full play to emerging technologies — from ergonomic engineering to the internet of things — aimed at continuously increasing its market share.

A spokesman for SHUA Fitness told China Daily that the company began developing intelligent technologies in 2014 and has actively utilized them to improve its fitness equipment. Roughly 3 million yuan ($421,517) to 5 million yuan is invested in this type of research each year.

For example, one of the company's new treadmills could monitor user's physical condition in real-time and adjust parameters accordingly.

"Users need to wear a running armband, through which the treadmill can obtain their age, heart rate and other key data. Meanwhile, the treadmill can automatically adjust its speed and incline, so as to ensure that oxygen consumption remains at optimal levels and users can achieve the best possible results from workouts," said the spokesman.

Tan Jiahao, a running enthusiast in Beijing, said he looks forward to trying out the equipment, which he believes will bring a lot of convenience.

Tan said most runners can only occasionally check their sports bracelets to monitor heart rates, and when they get too fast, they have to spend time adjusting treadmill settings, which is neither safe nor convenient.

"Therefore, I think it is of great significance to develop such smart equipment. It will be even better if the company could make the treadmills more compact," said Tan.

In addition to seeking innovation in home fitness equipment, SHUA Fitness has launched a variety of "outdoor fitness stations", which are not only equipped with smart fitness equipment, but also have large electronic screens.

"By simply standing in front of the screen and scanning faces, residents can learn about their workout history and how much exercise they need every day, because the fitness equipment can transmit data to an online platform to create a large database," the spokesman said.

The fitness stations have been set up in many provinces across the country, such as Fujian, Zhejiang and Henan, which has significantly improved the livelihoods of seniors and provides residents with more entertainment options.

Eying further breakthroughs, SHUA Fitness will cooperate with professional associations and universities — such as the China Sport Science Society and Shanghai University of Sport — to carry out more research on new technologies, materials and products.

Zhou Mi, a researcher at the Beijing-based Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation, said SHUA Fitness has provided customers with more professional and customized services through product innovation.

"In the past, fitness enthusiasts had to hire a personal trainer if they wanted customized services, and the prices were relatively high. The smart fitness equipment can serve as a good solution to this problem," said Zhou.

Meanwhile, Zhou said if the company wants to further improve its fitness equipment, it must increase both the size and diversity of research samples.

"Customers have different expectations of exercise results, and their exercise environments could also vary a lot. Only after analyzing a large number of samples can smart equipment accurately customize exercise plans for each user," he said.

While striving to develop new products, the company also has to keep a close eye on after-sales services, so as to improve customer satisfaction and further advance market expansion, he added.

Lin Shen, an associate research fellow at the Institute of World Economics and Politics of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, also recognized the role of emerging technologies in helping companies improve product competitiveness.

Lin said companies must carry out appropriate assessment and planning before introducing new technologies. Efforts are also needed to advance cooperation with professional technology suppliers.

"In addition, companies should establish a complete system for data security management and utilize encryption, anonymization and other technical means to protect user privacy," Lin added.