Making it even easier to get healthy by way of your smart device, the folks of the popular crowd-sourced nutrition and fitness app, MyFitness Pal, have acquired coaching startup Sessions.
Sessions pairs people with coaches to make exercise a habit. The move comes on the heels of massive growth for MyFitnessPal, which now integrates with 80 percent of wearable activity trackers, including Fitbit and Jawbone, and has over 50 million registered users.
The deal will combine MyFitnessPal's massive market footprint with Sessions' insights into behavior change coaching.
"Our members have told us they want expert advice and accountability. Acquiring Sessions gives us a team that's been thinking about coaching for years to help us jumpstart our own coaching initiatives," said Mike Lee, co-founder of MyFitnessPal. "This move positions MyFitnessPal to provide yet another layer of offerings to what we already have: the largest-ever set of health data and tools, and a living, breathing study in how to make healthy living the new normal for millions of people."
In addition to basic calorie, weight, and exercise tracking functions, MyFitnessPal’s integration makes it even easier to keep tabs on health goals. Coaches via Sessions will be able to leverage all of the resulting data to help clients achieve their objectives.
Fitness-based apps can be an extremely useful and effective tool whether it’s to lose weight or just maintain a healthy lifestyle. “Self-monitoring" is making the move toward mainstream. Tons of gadgets and apps out there track your overall behavior and habits –what you eat, your sleep schedule and your movement – and give you a big picture analysis of your overall health.
Apps like MyFitnessPal eliminate the need for costly gym memberships and put the ease of exercise, quite literally, in the palm of your hand. Although consistency plays a crucial role in health management, motivation is the fuel that keeps you burning, and motivation is determined by your goals.
Having easy access to exercise, whether it’s five minutes at your desk or an hour on the track, makes it easier to stay motivated, thus resulting in fitness success.
Edited by
Cassandra Tucker
