UPDATE 4/21/17: Skyfit recently rebranded as Aaptiv.
The number one reason people don’t lift weights?
They don’t know where to start. Ergo: Personal trainers … who are great. They teach. Motivate. Praise. But they also come with biases, schedules and price tags.
Skyfit is an app that aims to end that, by plugging you into 24/7 personal trainers who cater to your exact needs, all for around $4 per month.
“In the past, high-quality fitness instruction has been limited to group fitness, or you’ve had to hire a personal trainer — which is expensive and inconvenient,” explains Skyfit founder Ethan Agarwal. “The idea with Skyfit is that you should be able to have a trainer with you at any time, and it shouldn’t be limited to one type of workout.”
To that end, the app offers workouts both within and outside of a regular gym, from treadmills and ellipticals to outdoor running and 10K training to cycling and yoga. According to Agarwal, the app adds 150 classes per month.
If that sounds a little too gym-novice or female-leaning, well, first, shame on you. But starting July 1st, Skyfit is adding strength training and workouts for half and full marathons (including intensive 14- to 16-week training programs).
To approximate your favorite group gym class, all workouts are paired with a themed soundtrack (e.g., a jog to all Jay Z songs, a David Guetta elliptical class or the intriguing “Heavy Metal Run”).
Through the app, you can filter workouts by intensity, distance and difficulty. You can also get a bio of all the trainers, who undergo a rather rigorous vetting process. “We may have 12 trainers for every 400-500 applications,” says Agarwal (fun fact: one of the trainers is former New York Jets linebacker Mark Brown).
Good news is you can test the workouts for free for seven days, then subscribe monthly for $9.99, or longer for better value (a year works out to about $4/month).
In a way, the app’s throwback tech works in its favor. “People are like, ‘You’re doing audio in 2016?’” says Agarwal, laughing. “But if you want great HD workout videos, you can go to sites like Daily Burn or FitStar. That’s great for a certain demographic, but if you’re running, you can’t be staring at a screen. And you don’t necessarily want to bring your $500 iPad or a tiny phone to the gym to watch a workout video. Audio is very liberating.”
Having that voice in your ear might be the thing that finally motivates you.
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