watchOS GymKit goes live in Australia

Apple’s GymKit has now made its worldwide debut in Australia, with Fitness First in central Sydney becoming the very first gym globally to offer this feature which brings fitness buffs connected workouts with cardio equipment.

The Australian reported Wednesday that GymKit-enabled machines will be available at Fitness First in Bond Street, Barangaroo, Bondi and at the Richmond club in Melbourne in the next few days before gradually rolling out to other gyms.

Jay Blahnik, Apple’s Senior Director Fitness for Health Technologies, said Apple noticed that more and more people wanted to capture data from their workouts on their watch. “When you use equipment at the gym, the equipment has data that the watch doesn’t have and the watch has data the equipment doesn’t have,” he said.

With GymKit, Apple Watch owners can pair their wearable device directly to treadmills, ellipticals, indoor bikes or stair steppers with a tap, using NFC.

Data not previously communicated between Apple Watch and fitness machine syncs seamlessly, including calories, distance, speed, floors climbed, incline and pace.

This results in the most accurate measurements possible with less device management and without the need to enter your personal data, like weight, height, age and sex, before jumping on the machine. And if the treadmill is stopped, your workout is automatically paused.

The gym equipment does not retain any personal data when you stop using a piece of equipment. Apple has been working with major gym equipment manufacturers to implement GymKit, including TechnoGym, Life Fitness, Matrix, StairMaster and Schwinn.

Are you looking forward to trying out GymKit?

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