Three months out from January 1, and the New Years resolution crowd at the gym has dwindled as people lose the motivation to work out every day.
"What do they need to stay in order to stay engaged?" wondered David Hernandez (pictured above), founder of soon-to-launch app Pillar Fitness. Personal trainers are available at every gym, but often go underutilized. There are more workout options than ever before, as Barre studios, Crossfit gyms, SoulCycle classes, and Divvy stations pop up in neighborhoods across the city.
Hernandez, a former avionics technician in the US Navy, thought back to his time in the military and how he was able to stay motivated through tough workouts. "For me, it was the community," he said. "It was the people in my barracks, my buddies. We would all work out together. It was really easy to keep up with an exercise regiment when you have companionship, when you have a friend."
That's why he's launching Pillar, an app that offers users an on-demand workout buddy.
It's really easy to keep up with an exercise regiment when you have a friend."
Here's how it works. Users choose from a variety of activities, including yoga, running, tennis, swimming, kayaking, Crossfit, dance, and martial arts. Then, users drop a pin wherever they're looking to work out (near the lake, at tennis courts, on the 606) and Pillar will show workout "partners" available to join for an activity. Users choose a time from a partner's available schedule, and coordinate a meeting place through an in-app messaging and notification system.
"This is for the people who had the goal to get fit in the new year but right about at this time they're starting to drop off, they're starting to lose motivation this is a way for them to get back engaged and go after their fitness goals," he said.
Users and partners both sign up with an experience level (beginner, intermediate, or expert) and fill out a profile that updates with badges and workout hours. Once a workout is finished, users can rate and comment on their experience with a workout partner. If it seems like a partner isn't actually an expert, or isn't helpful in that activity, Pillar will refund a user for that session and issue a warning to the partner (after three warnings, they're asked to change experience level or leave the platform).
It can also be a way for workout fiends to make extra cash. Users pay $7 for a 30 minute session with a beginner partner, $14 for a 30 minute session with an intermediate partner, and $18 for a 30 minute session with an expert partner. Pillar keeps 20 percent of this transaction, and the partners get the rest. Hernandez has beta tested the app with about 60 people so far, and he's not yet profitable. Currently he's the only person working on the app, and has bootstrapped the startup so far.
In this way, Hernandez sees Pillar as the "Uber for fitness." People who sign up for the platform as partners can set their availability schedule, and the more people they accept for workouts, the more money they can make. But they're also at the mercy of an "on-demand" economy: whenever someone wants to work out, they have to be ready to deliver services. Users, on the other hand, have to pay for a workout but also get the extra help and motivation they need, exactly when they need it.
Initially Hernandez is starting with one-to-one workouts, but he'd like to expand to group workouts and fitness classes in the future. In addition, he is looking into adding a function to connect people with personal trainers for elite help.
He's launching Pillar March 28 in Chicago, and is also in talks to partner with fitness events companies such as Iron Man, Warrior Dash, and the Color Run to help people train for events.
"It trains these new group of users who would have no way to prepare," he said. "They can get started with the process, then offer incentives to participate in runs."
Images courtesy of David Hernandez/Pillar Fitness
