Microsoft is dipping its toe in the sport market by adapting its augmented reality HoloLens headset to expand fan experiences for National Football League (NFL) games.

The coming together of sport and fitness – encapsulated in the new DCMS strategy – marks a huge opportunity for health clubs and leisure centres to play to their strengths and tap into new funding streams, says Kate Cracknell

A proliferation of opportunities to be physically active. ukactive’s Steven Ward looks ahead to 2016

Mintel’s senior leisure and technology analyst, Paul Davies, looks at the current state of the health and fitness market, and asks how club operators can be more innovative in 2016 and beyond

Stressed-out sports captains, struggling to put out a team on a cold Tuesday evening in Stoke, have been thrown a lifeline – an app which links up available sportspeople with local teams in need of players.

It’s understood that IMAX, which specialises in creating immersive 3D and 4D cinematic experiences, is looking to move into the US health and fitness industry.

Sports minister Tracey Crouch has highlighted the importance of technology and apps in trying to mobilise people from disadvantaged communities to get active.

Following the lead of the US and Australia, trampolining parks are springing up all over the UK and Europe. So what’s all the fuss about, and how do these centres sit alongside other fitness operations?

Steven Ward, executive director of ukactive, gives his views on what’s in store for the UK fitness and physical activity sector in 2016 – including new technology, sector diversification and assisting with public health remits

The National Living Wage is coming, and while it unquestionably presents challenges for the health and fitness sector, it also brings with it a great opportunity to upskill the sector and drive credibility, says Kate Cracknell

Ahead of his keynote speech at this year’s IHRSA convention, marketing strategist and bestselling author Jay Baer tells Julie King why ‘help’ is much better than ‘hype’ when it comes to selling your services

Neil King, managing director of 1Life, explains the leisure operator’s root and branch transformation since 2013

In the second part of our internet middlemen series, Stephen Tharrett and Mark Williamson of ClubIntel ask whether ClassPass delivers on its brand promises

Video assistance for match officials, sin bins and temporary substitutions will be debated at next month’s International Football Association Board (IFAB) Annual Business Meeting (ABM).

Oil giant Shell has built Africa’s first human-powered football pitch as part of a programme to inspire entrepreneurs with innovative energy solutions.

Weight loss apps are no more effective in helping overweight people shed pounds than a paper flier from the doctor’s office, according to a new study.

Precor is expanding its offering through new partnerships with Spinning and Queenax

Your customers aren’t being disloyal if they don’t only use your gym, says Kate Cracknell. It’s time to recognise a growing desire for flexibility

This year’s new-look Leisure Industry Week had a strong focus on education. If you missed the keynotes, we have the low-down

Brands today must challenge their customers to do and be better – but how? Global trend agency trendwatching.com offers insights into how this might be achieved

The creator of Flow Play explains how music impacts the brain, and why music selection for yoga classes is so important

Jak Phillips visits Oxygen Freejumping in Acton and explores whether it can jumpstart the UK’s fledgling trampoline park market

Leisure Industry Week relaunches this month having been acquired by BodyPower. We look ahead to what’s on offer this year

Are your reception staff your most undervalued retention resource? Dr Melvyn Hillsdon investigates

Are ‘exercise passports’ the shake-up the industry needs to improve retention and market penetration?

Jak Phillips visits Olympian Daley Thompson’s new gym in Putney to see how he’s putting the fun and old-school values back into fitness

The founder of freerunning talks to Kate Cracknell about James Bond, growing his academy network, and the vital need for everyone to move and have fun

Technology must be placed front and centre in initiatives to get communities moving if the health and fitness sector is to overcome the UK’s inactivity epidemic, according to a new white paper.

It’s often said that you get what you pay for, and it seems that fitness apps which cost nothing provide little more than that, according to a new study.

Mobile developers and coding experts from across the UK are being invited to create an app that “facilitates social change through sport” at the inaugural Sport England Sport Technology Awards Hackathon.