By Pyc Fitness
©2004-2008
Some of the nation's top fitness trainers have an opening if you'd like to sign on, and they're willing to give you a pretty good block of time, too: A couple of customized workouts a day, every day, for $19.95 a month.
And you can bring your own music — the tunes that inspire and energize you.
That's the new world of workouts, courtesy of a Sandy-based company called Podfitness, tucked away at 235 W. Sego Lily. The combination of their 80 top trainers from across the nation, the variety of their offerings and their cutting-edge technological capabilities have captured the attention of heavy hitters, including Microsoft and Wal-Mart.
As for trainers, they've got some of the top names: David Kirsch, Ashley Borden, Jay Cutler, Bobby Strong, Danny Bonaduce (Remember the Partridge Family?) and Kathy Smith. The trainers have each applied the rules they personally adhere to as they've designed workouts to meet different goals and fitness levels.
The concept is pretty simple, according to Teri Sundh, the company's chief executive officer and co-founder. You fill out an online questionnaire that lists what you hope to achieve, your past exercise experience and how much time and effort you're willing to expend. You'll also tell them what kind of equipment you have access to, because there's a big difference in the moves you'll make in a gym, as opposed to working at home or outside.
You upload your favorite music — the stuff you already have on your iPod or Zoom or other MP3 player — and they stitch together a workout that you can then download and use at your convenience. When you're done exercising, you log in and provide feedback.
That's how they find out that you never, ever want to do an incline dumbbell chest press again, but you loved the ellipticals. The next time you download a workout, it's just that little bit more customized for you. As you stay with it, the workouts increase in intensity to take advantage of the fitness gains you've made.
No two workouts are ever the same, Sundh says.
It sounds a lot simpler than it is — on their end, at least. Putting together a Podfitness workout relies on the company's tech-savvy crew, who have 10 patents pending. They also all happen to be into fitness themselves. The on-site employee fitness gym is not only a full-service workout spot for the 37 full-time Podfitness employees, but a test lab. They try it all out.
It's the kind of workout that was never easy enough or affordable enough to be available to a general consumer before, Sundh says.
Directions for each exercise are merged to the music to provide precise, simple instructions you can follow as you go, no matter how used to the exercises you are — or aren't. If you don't need a lot of instruction, tell them, and they will decrease it. The technology allows the instructor's voice to work with the music you selected, not override or interrupt it.
In one of the offices at Podfitness, Josh Marchant explains the audio work, which involves a thick script book for each trainer, with step-by-step instructions for every exercise you can imagine. The trainers recorded the scripts at home on a flash microphone, then shipped the whole kit back to Sandy, where Marchant's division plugged it all into a computer and edited it, cutting it into regions and identifying each one. The result — thousands of small audio clips — makes up an extensive audio database that can be pulled together into a workout by type, intensity and the user profile.
While they do have genre music a customer can choose, "we're the only one who lets you take your music and blend it with your workout MP3 file," Sundh said.
The company, which incorporated in March 2005, launched a beta version of Podfitness last year. They've since moved on to a full-fledged product.
The relationship with Microsoft will add a new dimension. Microsoft recently announced its HealthVault, an online program that allows people to keep medical records together and in the consumer's control.
HealthVault has search capability, and they're building in the ability to merge it with your Podfitness program in order to include consideration of some of your physical and medical needs when constructing workouts. For instance, if you just had a baby, that could help shape your workout. That customization option will "go live" in January.
Podfitness is working on other enhancements, such as having a heart rate monitor integrated. WiFi technology removes the limits from the possibilities, Sundh says.
Wal-Mart and others come into the picture with bundling agreements. Buy certain pieces of exercise equipment, and you'll get a number of Podfitness workouts included with it as well.
If you hit a snag, the Podfitness customer service department is Utah-based, too. And it has an online community spot where you can exchange thoughts with others.
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