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Best Buy focuses on fitness with new range of high-tech gym equipment

Trevor Mogg
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Getting fit may be the last thing on your mind when you’re wandering aimlessly around a Best Buy store, but the big-box retailer is hoping to change all that with the launch of a new collection of connected fitness equipment in dedicated sections inside 100 of its U.S. stores.

The new fitness spaces will launch this year and include products such as exercise bikes and rowing machines from various equipment makers.

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With many fitness equipment purchases quickly becoming little more than dust-gathering ornaments, Best Buy has decided to select items that virtually connect you with “world-class fitness trainers” to help you “stay motivated, have fun, and get the most out of [your] workout.”

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Within the new collection, you’ll find, for example, the Flywheel Home Bike from Flywheel Sports, which offers an indoor cycling experience with livestreamed, on-demand classes from qualified instructors based around the country.

NormaTec, meanwhile, offers the Pulse 2.0 Recovery System, described as a “dynamic compression recovery system trusted by more than 97 percent of professional sports teams and elite athletes.” The attachment, which is worn on the arms or legs, works to increase blood circulation and reduce pain and soreness, thereby helping athletes to warm up for activities and recover when they’re done.

Hydrow has a connected rowing machine “that brings a real-life rowing experience to the living room,” while NordicTrack offers various connected treadmills and studio cycles that come with iFit, an interactive and personalized training system that aims to help you stay motivated.

Finally, from Hyperice you’ll find various tech-driven recovery products — among them percussion devices and fitness rollers — designed to speed up muscle recovery and enhance mobility.

To give its new in-store fitness spaces the best chance of succeeding, Best Buy is staffing them with specially trained advisers to answer questions and aid purchasing decisions.

“We know there’s a growing intersection between fitness and technology, and no one knows tech like we do,” Jason Bonfig, Best Buy’s chief merchandising officer, said in a release. “We’ve promised our customers we’ll help enrich their lives, including their health and wellness, by using technology.”

Customers who can’t make it to a Best Buy store can also buy the products from its online store, the company said.

If Best Buy’s new push into fitness has your withering muscles twitching in excitement at the idea of embarking on a new (possibly your first ever) fitness regime, then be sure to also check out Digital Trends’ carefully considered suggestions for other smart fitness gadgets.

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Trevor Mogg
Trevor Mogg
Contributing Editor
Not so many moons ago, Trevor moved from one tea-loving island nation that drives on the left (Britain) to another (Japan)…
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