THE ultracompact, platform-agnostic, user-configurable mobile fitness device that Dr. Michael Joyner showed off at a recent sports technology conference caused a stir. The attendees had gathered to ponder the future of high-tech performance enhancement.
Dr. Joyner, an expert in human physiology at the Mayo Clinic, had a jump rope.
Wearable fitness technology has completed its 10,000-step march to ubiquity. More than 13 million fitness trackers, made by companies such as Fitbit and Jawbone, were sold last year, with a total cost of $1.5 billion — more than double the 2014 total. The market is projected to be worth more than $50 billion a year by 2018. Smart watches and mobile phones are adding fitness-tracking abilities, GPS devices and heart-rate monitors keep shrinking, and new sensors promise to analyze your running stride or your sweat as you go.
Of course, like any megatrend, the rise of mobile fitness gadgetry has inspired its share of contrarian views. Dr. Joyner’s jump rope was a reminder that the fundamentals of getting fit remain simple — a message he proffers “whenever people start going off the gizmo ledge.”
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