Work Out More and Pay Less, One App Wants to Change Gym Culture
Jan. 27, 2014— -- A new fitness app, website and workout service aims to upend gym habits by charging users less the more they workout.
Called Fitmob, the fitness service eschews the normal gym model and instead connects users directly with fitness trainers for classes. The trainers put together the class and find a workout space through Fitmob, which has researched venues that rent by the hour.
Users can then attend the class and rate the trainers so other users know exactly what they're in for.
While gyms will oversell their memberships knowing that many January signups will be no shows in August, the creators of Fitmob want to incentivize working out. They charge users less money the more classes users go to per week.
For example one class per week is $15, two is $10 each and three or more is $5 each and there is no upfront fee. If you miss a week, you aren’t charged anything.
Co-founder and CEO of Fitmob, Raj Kapoor said he was inspired to start Fitmob after learning that about the high rates of unused memberships.
Around 60 percent of gym memberships are unused by some estimates. Kapoor said he wanted to use the app and the website so that people would have workout communities and be more committed to exercise.
“Why don’t we create neighborhood communities, instead of using fancy equipment,” said Kapoor. “All you need is human body weight and you can get an amazing workout.”
Kapoor co-founded Fitmob with Tony Horton who developed P90x, an intense home workout. While eventually any user will be allowed to hold a class, in the early stages Kapoor said they have picked certified trainers to focus on yoga, core strength and running classes.
He's says they're also committed to finding unusual "fun" workouts with classes such as "Twerkout Conditioning" or "Weapons of A-- Reduction."
"If it’s not a chore, you’re much more likely to continue," said Kapoor.
In the future if a class is held by a user, other potential students will be able to see if the class leader is certified and what other students have rated the class.
“They have to commit to a minimum schedule [of classes] and then if they don’t show up it will appear on their ratings like an EBay rating,” said Kapoor.
Kapoor said that the trainers would receive the majority of the profits from each class, but did not specify how much.
