Dr. Stephen Hui Research Centre for Physical Recreation and Wellness (CPRW) at Hong Kong Baptist University (HKBU), in collaboration with the Department of Orthopaedics & Traumatology at The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK), has officially launched the MusFit Action mobile app.
Under the project, a series of simple home-based exercises were designed for middle-aged and elderly people, to help them train their muscles and develop a habit of doing exercise regularly. Interested participants, aged 50 or above, will be invited to join a three-month training course to practice the exercises.
After course completion, participants will continue working out at home on their own for the following nine months. The MusFit Action mobile app serves to guide and motivate participants to continue with their exercise programmes and maintain a healthy lifestyle.
Key functions of the mobile app include:
- A digital health adviser function which enables users to easily obtain accessible health and exercise information as well as sports and health knowledge.
- Demonstration videos for users to follow and do self-workouts at home.
- Reminders to remind users to do exercise.
- A class schedule of the project’s exercise courses for eligible new participants’ reference and registration.
Users who register for the mobile app will be asked to fill in a questionnaire so that the project team can evaluate whether their physical condition is suitable to join the programme.
Users can also receive a health report by filling in their personal health information, such as height, weight and lifestyle, through the mobile app, after which a health score will be shown for the users’ reference. The app will channel health data collected from users to a confidential database for academic research purposes.
The launch of the mobile app is an important milestone for the Jockey Club Mus-Fit Action project. Inaugurated in 2019 with the support of The Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust, the three-year project aims to promote a healthy lifestyle to the community, enhance the citizen’s quality of life.
The project team behind the development of the MusFit Action mobile app includes Professor Chow Bik-chu, Director, Professor Cheung Siu-yin, Associate Director, and Dr Lobo Louie, Associate Director of CPRW at HKBU; and Professor Patrick Yung Shu-hang, Professor and Chief of the Sports Medicine Team in the Department of Orthopaedics & Traumatology at CUHK.
It is hoped that the benefits of the MusFit Action mobile app can go beyond the participants, and extend its influence to the community. With its simple interface, its developers believe it can effectively motivate the middle-aged and elderly to pay more attention to their health. The mobile app is available for free download from the Apple App Store and the Google Play Store.
Virtual fitness market expected to grow
One report notes that the Global Fitness App Market size is expected to grow from US$3,312.58 Million in 2019 to US$13,016.77 Million by the end of 2025 at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 25.61%.
Major factors driving the growth of fitness app market size are demand for real-time data, increasing emphasis on maintaining a healthy lifestyle, the emerging trend of wearable fitness equipment, increasing acceptance of sports & fitness apps for tracking activities & heart rates, and the widespread penetration of the internet.
Based on the health and fitness apps statistics 2019, several private companies are analysing the market to launch new fitness apps that offer various types of training modules. These fitness apps also provide users with diet maps, allowing them to improve their wellbeing.
