瑜伽課結(jié)束，美國(guó)健身連鎖品牌Equinox的首席執(zhí)行官尼基·利昂達(dá)基斯閉眼端坐，深呼吸，雙手合十向老師致意：Namaste。利昂達(dá)基斯從頭到腳都是運(yùn)動(dòng)品牌露露檸檬，身材好得讓人羨慕，看起來(lái)跟紐約曼哈頓下城蜂擁上瑜伽班的人們沒(méi)什么兩樣。身旁一起練習(xí)瑜伽的人們很難想象，不久之前她還坐在樓上的會(huì)議室，討論這家健身房的公司未來(lái)發(fā)展，因?yàn)樾袠I(yè)即將迎來(lái)技術(shù)革新的洗禮。

Equinox CEO Niki Leondakis sits with her eyes closed, breathing deeply, hands folded together. She bows to the teacher: Namaste. Clad head-to-toe in Lululemon and enviably fit, Leondakis looks like any other gym-goer in the crowded yoga class in downtown Manhattan. There’s no reason to suspect—and indeed no one around her does—that moments ago she was sitting in the boardroom upstairs, discussing the future of the company that operates this gym, whose industry teeters on the brink of technological disruption.

利昂達(dá)基斯擔(dān)任Equinox的首席執(zhí)行官并沒(méi)有多久，任職剛一年。在此之前，她在酒店業(yè)工作超過(guò)30年。在執(zhí)掌Euqinox以前，她在美國(guó)科羅拉多州一家精品連鎖酒店Two Roads Hospitality任首席執(zhí)行官。（利昂達(dá)基斯接手后，她的前任哈維·斯派瓦克升任Equinox母公司的執(zhí)行董事長(zhǎng)，目前母公司旗下還有高端健身俱樂(lè)部SoulCycle、瑜伽中心Pure Yoga和評(píng)價(jià)健身品牌Blink Fitness等。）某種意義上說(shuō)，利昂達(dá)基斯跳槽的時(shí)機(jī)非常好。她接掌Equinox時(shí)，正趕上健身業(yè)爆發(fā)性增長(zhǎng)。非營(yíng)利貿(mào)易組織國(guó)際健康、網(wǎng)球及體育俱樂(lè)部協(xié)會(huì)（IHRSA）的數(shù)據(jù)顯示，2009年到2016年，美國(guó)的健身俱樂(lè)部會(huì)員人數(shù)增長(zhǎng)了26%。僅2016年就有200萬(wàn)美國(guó)人成為健身房的會(huì)員，其中經(jīng)常健身者估計(jì)達(dá)5730萬(wàn)人。Equinox開(kāi)有92家俱樂(lè)部，今年準(zhǔn)備至少再開(kāi)八家，明年年初還要開(kāi)設(shè)首家酒店。畢竟，健身已成為一種生活方式。

然而，樂(lè)觀的數(shù)據(jù)卻掩蓋了健身業(yè)發(fā)展不均衡的現(xiàn)狀，高端的奢侈品牌和低端的口碑品牌狀況良好，中端俱樂(lè)部則境況不佳。Equinox與Orangetheory、Flywheel和Rumble等高端連鎖健身房積極擴(kuò)張，Planet Fitness之類(lèi)每月會(huì)員費(fèi)才10美元的平價(jià)連鎖健身房也吸引了不少新會(huì)員。然而，在美國(guó)西北部經(jīng)營(yíng)中端健身俱樂(lè)部的Town Sports International剛剛從破產(chǎn)邊緣掙脫，市值約為十年前的四分之一。

現(xiàn)代人比過(guò)去更熱愛(ài)健身，高端客戶(hù)更注重專(zhuān)屬服務(wù)的體驗(yàn)。因此，健身業(yè)的公司也開(kāi)始利用高科技。單車(chē)健身房Flywheel的首席執(zhí)行官、曾于2012年到2016年任Equinox總裁的莎拉·羅伯·奧哈根解釋說(shuō)：“通過(guò)科技手段可以讓人更投入健身。”當(dāng)然，關(guān)鍵要鼓勵(lì)現(xiàn)有客戶(hù)堅(jiān)持鍛煉。據(jù)IHRSA統(tǒng)計(jì)，健身俱樂(lè)部運(yùn)營(yíng)商每獲得一個(gè)新會(huì)員，投入的銷(xiāo)售和市場(chǎng)營(yíng)銷(xiāo)成本中位值是118.65美元。而老會(huì)員每年為健身房收入貢獻(xiàn)的中位值是793.4美元。

吸引會(huì)員經(jīng)常光顧健身房的一個(gè)方法是鼓勵(lì)其對(duì)自己身體責(zé)任。為此，多家健身房推出了收集會(huì)員詳細(xì)數(shù)據(jù)的系統(tǒng)。比如在單車(chē)健身房里，系統(tǒng)會(huì)追蹤會(huì)員的騎行速度和消耗的熱量。而在Orangetheory等高強(qiáng)度健身為主的精品健身房里，系統(tǒng)主要監(jiān)控會(huì)員的心率數(shù)據(jù)。Orangetheory的首席執(zhí)行官戴夫·隆表示，會(huì)員對(duì)收集的健身數(shù)據(jù)很“著迷”。

科技也能幫助健身房了解會(huì)員，有時(shí)確實(shí)能了解得很深入。Flywheel的會(huì)員就能“互粉”，像玩Twitter一樣關(guān)注彼此的健身情況。Equinox則是在移動(dòng)應(yīng)用中植入一個(gè)了解會(huì)員健身活動(dòng)和目標(biāo)的程序，在為期六個(gè)月的試點(diǎn)項(xiàng)目中，使用“數(shù)字教練”程序的會(huì)員活躍率比不使用的會(huì)員高40%以上。Equinox還為參與個(gè)人訓(xùn)練項(xiàng)目Tier X的會(huì)員提供人工智能初創(chuàng)公司Halo Neuroscience的耳機(jī)，據(jù)稱(chēng)可以從神經(jīng)層面“調(diào)節(jié)”大腦，從而刺激肌肉更快適應(yīng)訓(xùn)練。

Leondakis hasn’t been Equinox CEO for very long. She took on the role a year ago after spending three decades in the hotel business, most recently as chief of Two Roads Hospitality, a boutique hotel chain based in Colorado. (Harvey Spevak previously led Equinox before ascending to executive chairman of its parent company, which now includes SoulCycle, Pure Yoga, and Blink Fitness.) In one sense, her timing couldn’t be better. Leondakis took the reins at Equinox at a time of warp-speed growth for the fitness industry. Health club memberships in the U.S. grew by 26% from 2009 to 2016, according to data from the International Health, Racquet & Sportsclub Association (IHRSA), an industry trade group. In 2016 alone, 2 million Americans joined gyms, bringing the estimated number of regular gym-goers to 57.3 million. Equinox has 92 locations and is preparing to open at least eight more in 2018, as well as its first-ever hotel—fitness is a lifestyle, after all—in early 2019.

But those cheery statistics belie the fact that a fitness industry carve-out is underway, allowing high-touch luxury brands and low-touch value brands to flourish as middle-market clubs suffer. Equinox and upscale workout studio chains like Orangetheory, Flywheel, and Rumble are expanding aggressively as bare-bones gym chains like Planet Fitness, which starts at $10 a month, rack up new memberships. Meanwhile, Town Sports International, owner of mid-market clubs in the Northeast (New York Sports Clubs, et al.), just clawed its way out of the brink of bankruptcy with a market capitalization of about a quarter of what it was a decade ago.

People are working out more than ever—and at the high end, they want an exclusive experience. So companies are turning to tech. “Technology is a route to making people even more engaged in fitness,” explains Sarah Robb O’Hagan, CEO of cycling studio chain Flywheel and Equinox’s president from 2012 to 2016. Engagement of existing customers, of course, is key. According to IHRSA, club operators spend a median of $118.65 in sales and marketing costs for each new membership account. But existing members generate a median $793.40 in annual revenue.

One way to keep customers coming back is keeping them accountable. Several fitness companies have introduced systems that gather detailed data about their customers. In the case of cycling studios, that means tracking things like speed and calories, while clients at Orangetheory, a boutique gym that offers a high-intensity workout, receive monitors to track their heart rates. People “get hooked on” results, says Orangetheory CEO Dave Long.

Technology is also helping fitness companies get into customers’ heads—sometimes literally. Flywheelers can “follow” each other’s performance in a Twitter-like fashion. And Equinox saw users of its “digital coach”—a bot embedded in its mobile app that “l(fā)earns” from a customer’s activities and goals—check in 40% more than nonusers during a six-month pilot program. The chain has also given Halo Neuroscience headsets, which claim to neurologically “prime” the brain and help muscles adapt more quickly, to members of its Tier X personal training program.

利昂達(dá)基斯相信，Equinox很快就能吸引大批數(shù)字技術(shù)用戶(hù)。（無(wú)獨(dú)有偶，人氣跑步與單車(chē)應(yīng)用Strava標(biāo)榜打造運(yùn)動(dòng)員社區(qū)，已經(jīng)確實(shí)圈到不少用戶(hù)。）目前Equinox在十家健身房分店的器材上安裝了自帶定位的“標(biāo)記”。通過(guò)收集的數(shù)據(jù)，Equinox能夠了解會(huì)員屬于哪類(lèi)健身人士（比如喜歡跑步還是喜歡臥推），然后向會(huì)員提供有針對(duì)性的建議。

數(shù)字服務(wù)也能幫助連鎖健身房獲得線下客戶(hù)，聽(tīng)起來(lái)可能不合常理，但事實(shí)如此。誰(shuí)說(shuō)健身房一定要開(kāi)實(shí)體店？2012年，一家高端單車(chē)健身公司Peloton開(kāi)創(chuàng)了新商業(yè)模式，用戶(hù)跟著實(shí)時(shí)播放的視頻學(xué)習(xí)，在家中就可以健身。Peloton的競(jìng)爭(zhēng)對(duì)手紛紛仿效。視頻健身教學(xué)班的利潤(rùn)比不超過(guò)50人的實(shí)體健身房開(kāi)班利潤(rùn)還高（Peloton可以同時(shí)開(kāi)數(shù)千個(gè)實(shí)時(shí)視頻教學(xué)班）。在豐厚利潤(rùn)的吸引下，F(xiàn)lywheel和ClassPass最近幾個(gè)月也推出了類(lèi)似的平臺(tái)。該模式資金投入有限，理論上卻可以無(wú)限增加開(kāi)班數(shù)，的確很有吸引力。

利昂達(dá)基斯倒并不太擔(dān)心健身業(yè)大量應(yīng)用數(shù)字技術(shù)。她預(yù)計(jì)，人們還是會(huì)去實(shí)體健身房，健身不是因?yàn)橛行滦土奶鞕C(jī)器人或者酷炫的耳機(jī)，而是因?yàn)槿藗兿Ｍ氨M可能享受健康精彩的生活”?，F(xiàn)在人們上網(wǎng)時(shí)間越來(lái)越多，健身房增加網(wǎng)絡(luò)投入也合情合理。（財(cái)富中文網(wǎng)）

本文首發(fā)于2018年3月期《財(cái)富》雜志，原文標(biāo)題為《經(jīng)歷數(shù)字技術(shù)的陣痛，終有收獲。》

注：本文已更新，澄清了Town Sports International雖然曾面臨嚴(yán)重的財(cái)務(wù)問(wèn)題，但并未破產(chǎn)。

譯者：Pessy

審校：夏林

Leondakis says she believes Equinox will soon enjoy a flourishing digital community. (Not unlike, say, the one created by Strava, a popular running and cycling app that markets itself as a social network for athletes.) Armed with the data from geolocating “beacons” installed in the chain’s facilities—there are 10 such locations to date—Equinox is able to know what kind of exerciser you are (Runner? Bench presser?) and nudge you toward certain activities.

Counterintuitively, fitness chains’ forays into digital services are helping them build analog communities. But who says you need a physical location at all? In 2012 Peloton, a pricey exercise bike company, pioneered a business model based on at-home workout experiences using live-streaming video. Competitors have since caught on. In recent months Flywheel and ClassPass launched similar platforms, attracted by profit margins that are magnitudes larger for a streamed class (which for Peloton might serve thousands of living rooms at a time) than a physical one with 50 people or fewer. Limited capital requirements, theoretically infinite scalability—it’s an attractive business to be in.

Leondakis isn’t particularly concerned about the influx of technology into the fitness business. People are still going to gyms, and it isn’t because of chatbots or fancy headphones. They come back because of the promise, as the Equinox CEO puts it, “that they can live their best lives.” As people spend more of those lives online, it only makes sense that fitness companies join them there.

A version of this article appears in the March 2018 issue of Fortune with the headline “Through Digital Pain, Gain.”

Note: This story was updated to clarify that Town Sports International never entered into bankruptcy despite serious financial troubles.