A letter to the CEO of Fitbod
Many of us are stuck indoors facing the prospect of gyms being closed for many weeks or months. Few of us have home gym equipment so for those of us who like to train this pandemic has been incredibly restrictive.
I’ve always been a big fan of practicing free-weight exercises and basic calisthenics. Partly because I loathe queuing for the machines at the gym, and also it’s given me the licence to train anywhere (even when I’m on holiday!)
I was a massive advocate of Freeletics for a long time, because I could get tailored workouts without needing any equipment. But in recent years I’ve come to the conclusion that you need to vary your exercise between HIIT, weights and mobility to really make progress and look after your body. My mentor Tom Merrick (who’s one of the best in the business so check him out on YouTube) inspired me in 2019 to take up mobility and I’ve been practicing ever since.
I started using Fitbod last year when the gyms were open briefly, and I have to say I love it. Having been an avid fan of Freeletics for so long I never thought I would want to try anything else. But Fitbod are incredible at using your data to nudge you to improve. So I’ll start with all the good stuff and finish with where I think they can make improvements.
The good
- Celebration of the small wins
Fitbod use your data to show you even the smallest of improvements, from repetition records to how much you could feasibly lift in one rep. Aside from being incredibly motivating this keeps me on the right track and makes me want to beat my previous achievement. My one recommendation here is that it would be great to ‘socialise’ this data. How do I compare to others who use the app or people of my age. You could take this further my showing a leaderboard of records for those who opt in.
2. Great for partner workouts
Unlike a lot of other apps you can share your workout with a partner. I love this feature because I train with my partner all the time. My recommendations here would be 1. allow me to connect with my partner through the app so that you’re aware we’re training together and 2. recommend more partner exercises for free-weight exercises.
3. Algorithm which continuously challenges (but not too much)
Each new workout will aim to push you a little harder. You may not notice it but the aim of the algorithm is to get you to slowly increase your 1 rep max weight. The algorithm does this by changing up your weight vs rep targets to get you to either push more or push harder. Over time you see the benefits of this approach and it means you aren’t guessing. For me this is the key benefit of the app. My only recommendation here would be to tell me what achievement I will beat if I complete all the reps at the recommended exercise.
4. Connection with Apple Health
Fitbod not only uploads your workout to Apple Health but syncs data back from Apple Health to work out your recovery plan so that your workouts accommodate muscle recovery — genius! People too often over work muscle groups without realizing and become susceptible to injuries.
5. Completely tailored recommendations
Fitbod leans what equipment your gym has to tailor your workouts. You can tell Fitbod what equipment you have (even if you have none) and you will get a workout that you can do. I use many gyms around London (when they’re open), so this is a brilliant feature for me. You can also change your routine in the middle of a workout if you realise you don’t have the equipment (or strength!)
Needs work(ing out)
- Your videos are terrible
Might as well be blunt. you’ve only filmed them from one angle so they’re very difficult to follow sometimes. Also I’m pretty sure some of the demonstrations are wrong because the models are working out far too fast.
2. Most people can’t do handstand push ups
There are quite a few exercises that I keep being recommended that I don’t have the strength for. These include handstand push ups and pistol squats. Most people in my age bracket can’t do these, they’re advanced moves and require a lot of strength. They shouldn’t be recommended unless you ask for advanced moves because I’m pretty sure people can get injuries even attempting them.
3. Always factor in mobility
Most people, especially men, are incredibly inflexible. Especially those who weight train. I see people at the gym squatting with their knees bowed over their feet and their backs arched, or doing dumbbell lifts whilst swinging their back forwards and backwards almost every visit. Bad form causes long term injuries that as you get older cannot often be reversed. This remains the main benefit you get from having a real personal coach. The trouble with fitness apps is that they cannot monitor your form whilst your exercising. Until they find a way to do this exercises need to accommodate for poorer flexibility. For example most people cannot squat properly, so there should be guidance for a poor mobility squat.
4. Socialise the product
You can’t yet connect with people in the app. I think as you grow you should consider this. Imagine being able to see who’s training in my area, or even in my gym. It could be a great way for people to find gym buddies, promote some healthy competition and get a better understanding of one’s fitness level.
5. Consider different audiences to target and appeal to
Pretty much every fitness app targets 20 year olds who are in their prime. In reality most of your target market are either less fit 20 somethings who want to be like the people you’re targeting, or older people like me who still want to keep fit. You’d probably get a lot of traction by showcasing success stories from these other segments and appeal to a much broader range of people. Perhaps you could have a feature where users could upload their ‘FitBod story’ to show successes of many different demographics.
