FitQuest
FitQuest brings advanced biomechanical and body composition assessment technology into the gym or corporate wellness environment. It enables members to track their fitness progress, personal trainers to monitor client development, and operators to strengthen engagement, retention, and premium membership uptake.
FitQuest goes beyond measuring isolated parameters by delivering an overall fitness assessment known as the Fitness Quotient, or FQ. Similar in concept to an IQ score, FQ is a single benchmarked fitness score derived from a database of more than 42,000 individuals and adjusted for age and gender, meaning a score of 100 represents average fitness for someone of the same age and gender.
With more than 1.5 million measurements collected worldwide, FitQuest has demonstrated value not only as a fitness assessment tool but also as a commercial driver for operators. It formed a key part of The Gym Group's premium membership proposition, where the nationwide roll-out of premium "LIVE IT" memberships reportedly helped acquire 150,000 subscribers and contributed approximately ÂŁ9 million in additional revenue in the first year. FitQuest was later acquired by The Gym Group in February 2022.
Promotional Video
Approach
A custom force platform was developed around offâtheâshelf transducers to keep costs down, combined with a bespoke bioâimpedance measurement board, touchscreen, and embedded PC.
FitQuest guides users through a series of simple tests: Balance, Press Ups, Jump, and Step - followed by a Heart Rate Recovery measurement. Later enhancements incorporated octoâpolar bioelectrical impedance and spectroscopy analysis (BIA/BIS), providing segmental body composition data including body fat, muscle percentage, visceral fat, and hydration levels. Further refinement added Upper Body Strength measurement using strainâgauge technology to assess peak force and endurance. The full assessment takes around 4 minutes, with results displayed instantly on screen and available online for ongoing tracking.
APIs were built to enable gyms to integrate their membership signâon services and incorporate FitQuest results directly into member apps and exercise programmes.
Web widgets were also developed to provide rich, interactive visualisations of FitQuest results within gyms' portals and mobile applications.
A leaderboard application was also developed, displaying daily, weekly, and monthly top results across the gym and by region within the same operator - ideal for driving member competition, marketing, and engagement.
My Role
Chief Technology Officer (CTO) - MIE Medical- Architecture & Technical Leadership: Led technical architecture across embedded, desktop, cloud, and web platforms, spanning hardware integration, Azureâbased microservices, public API design, and resilient offline fallback capabilities.
- Stakeholder Presentations: Presented the product roadmap, development milestones, and usage insights to boardâlevel stakeholders, translating complex technical capabilities into clear business value.
- Software Engineering: Managed the development team with hands-on, deep-dive involvement when needed, delivering the WPF kiosk application, data acquisition systems, cloud synchronisation services, REST APIs, gym membership SSO integrations, and web/mobile results widgets.
- Hardware & Software Integration: Integrated bespoke forceâplatform transducers, octoâpolar BIA/BIS boards, RFID/NFC/QR readers, payment POS terminals, and touchscreen hardware into a single cohesive product.
- UX, Design & Marketing: Contributed to UX and user journey design across the kiosk interface and results presentation. Managed the build of the marketing website and ensured product imagery aligned with brand guidelines.
- Data Analysis & Algorithm Development: Oversaw the compilation and analysis of human performance data, supporting the development of algorithms for normative ranges and user benchmarking.
- Exhibitions & Client Engagement: Represented FitQuest at major international trade shows, including FIBO Cologne, Elevate London, and LIW, addressing scientific and technical questions from operators and prospects on the show floor.
- Testing & Quality Assurance: Established testing protocols for hardware calibration and software validation, including reproducibility and stress testing, to support product reliability and consistency.
- Kiosk Security Hardening: Designed and implemented the kiosk security model, including a lockedâdown Windows shell replacement, application whitelisting, watchdog services, secure boot configuration, drive encryption and recovery, and remote management for tamperâresistant deployments in unmanned gymâfloor environments worldwide.
Technology Stack
Gallery
FitQuest Eco-System
Installations
Exhibitions
Measurements
Notable Highlights
- Over 1.5 million measurements made - benchmarked against a normative baseline of 42k users
- Bespoke low-cost force platform built from scratch
- Octo-polar bio-impedance segmental body composition
- Real-time data capture and visualisation during assessments
- Cloud sync for multi-site gym deployment across
- Gym membership SSO integration (PIN/Password, RFID/NFC, QR-Code)
- Mobile/web widgets for gym white-labelling
- Leaderboard app with daily, weekly, and monthly rankings by gym and region
Physiological Parameters
Raw Measurements
- Jump / Force Platform - Forces & Moments (Fx, Fy, Fz, Mz), N / N·m, 1000 Hz, ±0.1% accuracy
- Centre of Pressure (CoP, cm)
- Length of Path (LoP, cm)
- Passive ECG - Heart rate (bpm)
- Octo-polar BIA/BIS - Multi-frequency 5 kHzâ500 kHz (Impedance: ±0.5 Ω, Phase angle: ±0.2°)
Results
- Fitness Quotientâą (FQ) - index
- Balance (Motor Sensory Control)
- Upper body strength / endurance
- Lower body strength / endurance
- Speed ability
- Explosive muscle power (W)
- Heart rate recovery (bpm)
BIA - Whole Body
- Intracellular Water (ICW, L)
- Extracellular Water (ECW, L)
- Total Body Water (TBW, L)
- Fat Mass (FM, kg)
- Fat Free Mass (FFM, kg)
- Skeletal Muscle Mass (SMM, kg)
- Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR, kcal)
- Metabolic age (years)
BIA - Segmental
- Left arm skeletal muscle mass (kg)
- Right arm skeletal muscle mass (kg)
- Trunk skeletal muscle mass (kg)
- Left leg skeletal muscle mass (kg)
- Right leg skeletal muscle mass (kg)
- Visceral Fat Area (VFA, cmÂČ)
