Appcoming Trend

By Ge Lijun

Yin Yue， a research assistant at the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations， loves to run in his spare time. As the member of a runners group， every Tuesday night he jogs with other members in Yuyuantan Park in Beijing.

Yin came to know about the group through a mobile phone app created by Codoon， a Chinese sports and wellness service provider. With over 60 million users， it could be the largest social media platform for exercisers.

“Codoon has established a lot of online runnerscommunities for people to communicate. Running is no longer a boring， solitary way of exercising but a means of social communication，” Yin told ChinAfrica.“People with the same hobby - running， in this case- get together to exchange information and experiences. Many become good friends.”

The social jogger

Yin had a special reason to take to running. The 28-yearold said he used to be obese and when he joined the university， tried to lose weight by running. He usually jogged alone in the campus or on the treadmill. He went about it in a systematic way， keeping a record of how frequently he ran， for how long and with what results. Then he entered all the data on his computer and analyzed them.

It was not easy. “Many times I just wanted to give up，” he confessed. “Running alone made me feel bored. Plus I had to wear a watch and carry a bag to record everything.” However， though it was painful， Yin persisted with his mechanical running until he finished his postgraduation.

But today， running has entered a new era after meeting the Internet. “Now a running app can do everything for you， such as recording the run， analyzing running data and navigating，” he explained.

Besides， the exercise app provides a platform for runners to share their experiences with friends. “The days I ran alone are gone. I have made a lot of friends through the running app， and we usually run together，” Yin said. “Though we live in different places， the app keeps us linked. Now running is a social activity for me.”

For his masters dissertation， Research on Exercising Pleasure in the Process of Long-Distance Running， Bian Fuluo， a physical education teacher at Sun Yatsen University in south Chinas Guangdong Province， interviewed several long-distance runners. The dissertation says， “Most long-distance runners participating motivation is relaxation and entertainment.” Nearly half the respondents chose “Communicating with friends” as their biggest motivation for running. Running， initially an exercise for self-gratification， is gradually changing into a process of communication， recreation and happiness-sharing between runners. Apart from organizing running camps and competitions， some running apps also host a lot of online competitions. “Runners can record their routine and achievements with the Codoon app and upload the information for verification. Once the results are verified， the toppers get a medal. The more you run the more medals you win. This is a way of gaining a sense of achievement，” Yin said.

Watch your step

Apart from running， there are also apps designed for other exercises such as cycling and walking. All these apps are a combination of recording the exercise and making social contacts.

Wang Xiao， a 20-year-old student at the Shandong University of Finance and Economics in Jinan， east Chinas Shandong Province， bought a bicycle with a speed meter to record his cycling speed.

“With the speed meter the data can be transmitted to a riding app. The app then records my cycling routine so that I can share my locations with my friends. I can also see their locations. It is a convenient way of keeping in touch with the whole group，” Wang said.

On the weekends， Wang usually finds a partner through the app to ride together. “The app brings us a good exercise experience and we really enjoy cycling，”he said.

Lin Lin is a 26-year-old photographer who has been traveling around China. Recently， she has become addicted to Le Dongli， an app which records how many steps you have taken during the day. Many of her friends are using the app and through it she can not only check how much she herself has walked a day but also how much her friends covered.

“I have to walk a lot due to my work and this app helps me measure how much I walk every day，” she said. “I feel I am not walking alone， many of my friends are walking together with me.” Lin pays close attention to the ranking done by the app in terms of whos walked the most. She has a strong sense of achievement when she is ranked first.

The phenomenon of the growth of mass sports stimulated by the Internet has drawn the attention of sports professionals who are turning to it for business opportunities. Chen Yibing， an Olympian and four-time world champion on still rings， founded his own sport brand Go Sports offering professional sports consultations in November 2015.

By downloading the Go Sports app on their cellphones， users can get a selection of professional coaches who offer online consultation and oneon-one offline training in fitness， swimming and other sports anytime they want. Besides， users can share their experiences， display their exercise achievements and make new friends on this platform.

At a brand strategy conference， Chen said the Internet and sports could be more closely integrated.

In 2014， there was an outbreak of social sports products. There are over 1，000 exercise and fitness apps today and the number of people who use these apps has reached 290 million. An increasing number of companies are now using sports apps to boost the sale of exercise products.

On May 4， China unveiled the 13th Five-Year Plan（2016-20）， which has a strategy for the development of sports. It says the Internet will be the driver of sports development along with the use of technological innovations.

Shop as you jog

“Many apps have built-in shops，” Yin said. “Every time I finish a run， I am rewarded with credits which can be used to buy exercise equipment from the online shops. After all， good equipment， sportswear and shoes are necessary to gain a better exercise experience.”