Seemingly not content with the existing partnership that brought iPod exercise functionality to select models of footwear, technology and sporting giants Apple and Nike have this week revealed that they’re again turning their attentions to the exercise market.

However, unlike existing Nike+ technology, which is a wireless system that enables Nike running shoes to communicate with a user’s iPod Nano via an embedded sensor, Apple and Nike are this time aiming at gym equipment.

Set to be introduced in more than 500 gyms around the world this coming summer, Apple and Nike have indicated that they are working alongside a number of gym equipment manufacturers and health clubs such as 24-Hour Fitness and Virgin Athletic Health Clubs so that members armed with an iPod Nano can plug directly into their cardio equipment.

Once connected, gym members will be able to monitor and track workout performance and set fitness goals along with the ability to upload exercise information to the official Nike Web site, reports Business Week.

Beyond monitoring the progress of their fitness, users will also be able to use their iPods to purchase ‘specialty’ song tracks and engage in social-based activities such as issuing challenges to other gym users.

“People enjoy tracking themselves as a way to keep themselves motivated,” explained Trevor Edwards, Nike's VP of global brand and category management. “They want to get credit.”

Apple and Nike have offered that moving the exercise technology into the gym environment is the next natural step for their partnership considering the popularity garnered by the Nike+ site, which receives around 1,000 new members each day and has exercise-conscious members spread across more than 160 countries.

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