The folks at Nike wanted to stand out among the myriad fitness apps and trackers that claim to be a personal trainer in your pocket. More than just providing data, they wanted a personalized experience for every athlete. And in the Nike world, said Nike’s Jay Lee, who leads the creation of Nike+ Training apps, “If you have a body, you’re an athlete.”
Thus, today marks the release of the company’s fifth version of the Nike Training Club app, which was introduced in the app store in 2009. This latest version is designed for both men and women, and, as are many new products in the tech world, it’s focused on hyper-personalization.
“Athletes want more than data,” said Lee, while demonstrating the new app. “They want a relationship, a personalized experienced — something that will learn and grow and work with them.”
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To that end, the free app’s 100 new workouts come in 20 languages (they’ve added Dutch and Swedish) and works with both iOS and Android devices. The app provides workouts that are customized for each user based on their answers for a series of questions. Basic stats like age and level of fitness to desired workout length or amount of equipment required are all figured in.
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Workouts are led by Nike master trainers in addition to elite athletes and influencers. It lets users create adaptive plans that adjust according to their activity. To participate, users need to be a Nike+ member. Although there is no up-selling or in-app purchases, Lee said, there are personalized product recommendations in a user’s feed. And, in the era of Snapchat, it also includes a selfie-friendly social aspect in which users can snap and share post-workout photos with stickers and hashtags.
He emphasized president and chief executive officer Mark Parker’s comments at a Nike event in March, in which he said: “We’re at the dawn of a new era in sport. It’s the era of personalized performance.” Among the many products that were introduced: the HyperAdapt 1.0, a sneaker with an “adaptive lacing” system that laces by itself.
In the coming months, Lee said there would be additional products and services added, including Olympic-related content and physical and digital experiences. He said Nike was also working on connections with hardware like the Garmin, and that the app connect with Apple Health on iOS.