PoolFit’s launch for Apple products in May 2020 was perfect timing, said the app’s creator. The on-demand water fitness subscription service allowed users to exercise from home while gyms and public pools were closed.
The app is the newest iteration in a line of aquatic fitness services from Mark Grevelding, who has over 26 years of experience in the fitness industry.
Back in 2014, Grevelding started a subscription service meant to train fitness professionals and instructors. But the site, fitmotivation.com, garnered a wider interest than just fitness instructors.
"Fitness consumers were discovering this, and they were signing up for fitmotivation.com so they could follow along with the videos,” Grevelding said.
But blending the professional and the consumer market on one site was difficult. So, in 2019, Grevelding started another site called poolfit.tv with videos strictly for everyday people who wanted an aquatic workout.
“I soon discovered a streaming site isn’t going to cut it for people to follow along in their pool for backyard workouts,” he said.
Streaming opens the door for buffering, and many people don’t have wifi in their backyards or at shared pools.
“An app had to be launched with one feature and one feature only,” he said. “The ability to download videos within the app.”
And so, in 2020, PoolFit became available for fitness consumers on Apple and Android devices. The water exercise workouts are comparable to land-based workouts, including high intensity interval training, kickboxing, cardio, strength training and aquatic yoga.
The app features over 100 workout videos led by Grevelding himself, as well as his colleagues, fitness professionals that he brings to Sarasota from all over the world.
When the pandemic hit, Grevelding began creating all of the content on his own. But his contractors have been slowly returning to film workouts in recent weeks.
In addition to these instructors, Grevelding works with six contractors who handle web tech, videography, marketing, graphic design and public relations.
PoolFit is bootstrapped and will be for the foreseeable future, but Grevelding said he wouldn’t rule out investors if it was in the best interest of the company.
The app has about 350 subscribers right now, mostly in English-speaking countries like the United States, United Kingdom, Canada and especially Australia. Grevelding said he plans to double this number in the next year as more people discover the company.
Promoting PoolFit has been a challenge, he said, adding it's a primary goal moving forward.
There's also the goal is to expand content, add a personal trainer category and create water rehabilitation videos with some of Grevelding’s aquatic physical therapist colleagues.
“Just like in a gym, not everyone wants to follow along with a class,” he said. “Some people are a little more self-directed.”
The personal trainer videos will be shorter and include recommendations for exercises and reps which viewers can do on their own time instead of following along, he said.
And aquatic rehab content is beneficial for people with injuries or joint pain because of the buoyancy of water.
The quality of PoolFit’s content makes it unique, and this is something in which Grevelding takes pride, he said.
“There is so much expertise involved from the people leading the videos,” he said. “These people are so educated and qualified with multiple certifications. It’s important for the user to know they’re in safe hands.”
